Italy Breaks Your Heart

Frank Bruni, writing for the New York Times:

“It’s unbelievable,” said Paolo Crepet, an Italian psychiatrist and lecturer whom I met on this trip. “We’re a creative people. We’re known around the world for our creativity.” But what he detects in his patients and audiences isn’t dynamism; it’s helplessness. “They’re waiting for somebody to lead them out,” he said. “They’re waiting for Godot.” Listening to him, I felt my stomach clench. Is fatalism what comes after too many years of pessimism? Is that where America is headed?

An interesting perspsective on Italy, and America.

It used to be that hard work alone got you somewhere. Now you need hard work and insight.

Successful people love to show off their insight — but hard work is often invisible. Everyone has to do work they don’t enjoy: do the work you hate so that you can do the work you love.