How to Live by Derek Sivers
All misery comes from dependency. If you weren’t dependent on income, people, or technology, you would be truly free. The only way to be deeply happy is to break all dependencies.
Most problems are interpersonal. To be part of society is to lose a part of yourself. Cut ties with society. Don’t engage. Don’t even rebel, because that’s reacting. Instead, do what you’d do if you were the only person on Earth.
Updated: Jun 21, 2023
Rules and norms were created by the upper class to protect their privilege — to categorize people into high versus low society. None of it applies to you. Long ago, people had to follow norms to have high social status, otherwise they’d be ostracized and couldn’t survive. But now you can survive, mate, and thrive without social status. So it’s both irrational and unwise to follow those norms. Dogs bark. People speak. It doesn’t mean a thing. What they say and do has nothing to do with you, even if it seems directed your way.