Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c1421IR // #c1421Synthesis

Judge a heavy decision on the longest relevant timescale, not your ego's.

— In our words · Source: Earth Abides (George R. Stewart)

[Use when]

You're agonizing over whether a project will be remembered: ask instead whether it keeps the people who depend on it fed and working next year.

[Why it matters]

Dying, Ish looks at the unchanged hills and stops grading his life by what he built: "Men go and come, but earth abides." Most strategic anguish comes from scoring yourself on a clock the world doesn't use.

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