Portable Wisdom

Author: Milton Glaser

Quotations


Belief is the end of Observation

What you do is you have an idea, and you hold it in your mind as long as it’s useful. And then when it turns out not to be useful, discard it. But the idea of clinging to belief as a basis for your life – which is what most people do – is terrifying, because belief is the end of observation. You believe something, you stop seeing everything else. Clearly, that is not desirable. And yet it’s the way most people live.

From the interview “Design is Not Appearance: My Interview with Milton Glaser”

— 27 Jun 2020


Design is not Appearance

Design is not appearance, but a way of thinking about information and conveying ideas to others. That’s really what I do. I am so interested in having ideas. That idea that your role in the culture is to inform and delight is so sweet. Not to persuade, not to persuade!

From the interview “Design is Not Appearance: My Interview with Milton Glaser”

— 27 Jun 2020


The lie of retirement

One of the great lies of American culture is the lie of retirement: that at a certain point in your life, at 65 for god sakes, you’re ready to go to Florida and stare out the window for the next 30 years. Where in the world did that idea come from?

Well, we know where it came from. The government was trying to have young people enter the workforce, right? So it invented this thing called retirement where people stop doing the most essential things of their lives. I mean, lose their purpose. I have so much purpose left.

From the interview “Design is Not Appearance: My Interview with Milton Glaser”

— 27 Jun 2020

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