“if you can imagine someone surpassing you, you should do it yourself.” — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
Like having a child, running a startup is the sort of experience that's hard to imagine unless you've done it yourself. — Paul Graham Child Copy Share Image
“If you want to make money, you tend to be forced to work on problems that are too nasty for anyone to… — Paul Graham Money Copy Share Image
“The stated purpose of schools is to educate the kids. But there is no external pressure to do this well.” — Paul Graham Education Copy Share Image
“Don't ignore your dreams; don't work too much; say what you think; cultivate friendships; be happy.” — Paul Graham Dream Copy Share Image
One startup I dream of funding is the one that kills the record companies. — Paul Graham Business Copy Share Image
Small-business customers are very conservative and very cheap. We don't have to explain ourselves for the most part. — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“If you can’t find ten Lisp hackers, then your company is probably based in the wrong city for developing software” — Paul Graham Cybersecurity Copy Share Image
“You can't distinguish your group by doing things that are rational and believing things that are true. If you want to set… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“People who write about politics, whether on the left or the right, have a consistent bias: they take politics seriously.” — Paul Graham Politics Copy Share Image
Dressing up is inevitably a substitute for good ideas. It is no coincidence that technically inept business types are known as 'suits'. — Paul Graham Business Copy Share Image
“I'm not saying there's no such thing as genius. But if you're trying to choose between two theories and one gives you… — Paul Graham Genius Copy Share Image
“We often like to think of World War II as a triumph of freedom over totalitarianism. We conveniently forget that the Soviet… — Paul Graham Freedom Copy Share Image
If you could replace high-school yearbooks, that could be a lot of money. It's so clearly waiting for someone to come along. — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“It’s easier to get people to fight for an idea. And whichever side wins, their ideas will also be considered to have… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“I don’t predict the demise of object-oriented programming, by the way. Object-oriented programming offers a sustainable way to write spaghetti code.” — Paul Graham Programming Copy Share Image
“Paying attention is more important to reliability than moving slowly. Because he pays close attention, a Navy pilot can land a 40,000… — Paul Graham Advice Copy Share Image
“If you disagree with something, it's easier to say 'you suck' than to figure out and explain exactly what you disagree with.… — Paul Graham Desperation Copy Share Image
“So the optimal plan, if you can manage it, is to have a few trusted friends you can speak openly to. This… — Paul Graham Choosing friends Copy Share Image
I get a lot of criticism for telling founders to focus first on making something great, instead of worrying about how to… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“It's important for nerds to realize, too, that school is not life. School is a strange, artificial thing, half sterile and half… — Paul Graham Education Copy Share Image
“This is a good plan for life in general. If you have two choices, choose the harder. If you're trying to decide… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“Suppose you are a little, nimble guy being chased by a big, fat, bully. You open a door and find yourself in… — Paul Graham Bullying Copy Share Image
“Could civil liberties really be a cause, rather than just an effect? I think so. I think a society in which people… — Paul Graham Civil liberties Copy Share Image
“The difference between design and research seems to be a question of new versus good. Design doesn't have to be new, but… — Paul Graham Different directions Copy Share Image
If you really understand something, you can say it in the fewest words, instead of thrashing about. — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.” — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
You know your business model is broken when you're suing your customers. — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“To be happy I think you have to be doing something you not only enjoy, but admire.” — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
We don't have to go that far to sell our beer because our immediate accounts sell so much. Places that sold 10… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“The phrase “personal computer” is part of the language now, but when it was first used it had a deliberately audacious sound,… — Paul Graham Computers Copy Share Image
Everyone by now presumably knows about the danger of premature optimization. I think we should be just as worried about premature design… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“Cobol, for all its sometime popularity, does not seem to have any intellectual descendants. It is an evolutionary dead- end a Neanderthal… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“We need a language that lets us scribble and smudge and smear, not a language where you have to sit with a… — Paul Graham Communication Copy Share Image
“Unknowing imitation is almost a recipe for bad design. If you don’t know where your ideas are coming from, you’re probably imitating… — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“Object-oriented programming offers a sustainable way to write spaghetti code. It lets you accrete programs as a series of patches.” — Paul Graham Programming Copy Share Image
“If a writer rewrites an essay, people who read the new version are unlikely to complain that their thoughts have been broken… — Paul Graham Humor Copy Share Image
“Just fix things that seem broken, regardless of whether it seems likes the problem is important enough to build a company on.” — Paul Graham Copy Share Image
“Few smart kids can spare the attention that popularity requires. Unless they also happen to be good-looking, natural athletes, or siblings of… — Paul Graham Nerds Copy Share Image
“Being strong-willed is not enough, however. You also have to be hard on yourself. Someone who was strong-willed but self-indulgent would not… — Paul Graham Determination Copy Share Image
