Terry Teachout

Whatever you end up doing in this life, make sure above all that it's interesting. Because most likely you're going to spend a third of the rest of your life working for a living. And if what you do bores you, that means you're going to spend a third of the rest of your life being bored.

The world is hungry for professionalism. If you're professional and they're not — if you show up on time every morning and get the job done and they show up two hours later spouting clever excuses — then nine times out of ten, you will win and they will lose.

There's a lesson in this: never start out asking for someone you'd eventually settle for.