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Earnest is better than hip
I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term.
Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.
"Hip" people love parodies. But there's no such thing as a timeless parody, is there? I have more respect for the earnest guy who does something that can last for generations, and that hip people feel the need to parody.
When I think of someone who is earnest, I think of a Boy Scout who works hard and becomes an Eagle Scout. When I was interviewing people to work for me, and I came upon a candicate who had been an Eagle Scout, I'd almost always try to hire him. I knew there had to be an earnestness about him that outweighed any superficial urges towards hipness.
Think about it. Becoming an Eagle Scout is just about the only thing you can put on your resume at age fifty that you did at age fourteen - and it still impresses. (Despite my efforts at earnestness, I never did make it to Eagle Scout.)
Fashion, by the way, is commerce masquerading as hip. I'm not at all interested in fashion, which is why I rarely buy new clothes. The fact that fashion goes out of fashion and then comes back into fashion based solely on what a few people somewhere think they can sell, well to me, that's insanity.
My parents taught me: You buy new clothes when your old clothes wear out. Anyone who saw what I wore to my last lecture knows this is advice I live by!
My wardrobe is far from hip. It's kind of earnest. It's going to carry me through just fine.
Extracted from:
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
I'll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short-term. Earnest is long-term.
Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.
"Hip" people love parodies. But there's no such thing as a timeless parody, is there? I have more respect for the earnest guy who does something that can last for generations, and that hip people feel the need to parody.
When I think of someone who is earnest, I think of a Boy Scout who works hard and becomes an Eagle Scout. When I was interviewing people to work for me, and I came upon a candicate who had been an Eagle Scout, I'd almost always try to hire him. I knew there had to be an earnestness about him that outweighed any superficial urges towards hipness.
Think about it. Becoming an Eagle Scout is just about the only thing you can put on your resume at age fifty that you did at age fourteen - and it still impresses. (Despite my efforts at earnestness, I never did make it to Eagle Scout.)
Fashion, by the way, is commerce masquerading as hip. I'm not at all interested in fashion, which is why I rarely buy new clothes. The fact that fashion goes out of fashion and then comes back into fashion based solely on what a few people somewhere think they can sell, well to me, that's insanity.
My parents taught me: You buy new clothes when your old clothes wear out. Anyone who saw what I wore to my last lecture knows this is advice I live by!
My wardrobe is far from hip. It's kind of earnest. It's going to carry me through just fine.
Extracted from:
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
4 comments:
I completely agree with you! That is actually how I buy my clothes - when they wear out. Classics only, please.
Okay. Fine, sometimes I succumb (;
bisous! xx
go ahead and run with the earnest thing! it is a good thing! superficial, phony, and/or hipster-y stuff is for the birds. :)
I love his message. What a guy.
thanks for stopping by!
La Couterier - heh. i succumbed more often than i'd have liked.
drollgirl - lol. just love your clever sense of humour.
junksion - have you read his book? there're many more messages that'd speak to people of all ages. parents should read it.
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