Stephen charm

'When you're paying attention you know and when you stop paying attention you don't know anything. Even life is like that. Bob Lefsetz, in his recent newsletter, talked about the mess made by ambition. He said we should stop waiting to be chosen. That's not how it works. Someone was telling me about her successful friends and how she felt like a failure because everyone she knew was publishing. I said I look in front of me and I'm the only one that's never gotten a decent book advance. But, if I look behind me I see a lot of people who can't finish books, or get them published. Or they publish but their book doesn't get read. The point is simply that it's about where you focus. You can focus on people who have more than you, and be bitter, or those who have less and realize how lucky you are.'