Praise for 'Two Thoughts: A Timeless Collection of Infinite Wisdom'
Available for pre-order!
News! We have received more than $10,000 worth of pre-orders for Two Thoughts: A Timeless Collection of Infinite Wisdom in the past month or so.
If you were one of them, thank you! You will be one of the first to receive the book and other goodies in a few weeks. I can’t wait to hear what you think.
Don’t forget, you can still pre-order the book from www.infinitebooks.com and get the digital and audiobook versions included for free! The audiobook includes exclusive, very fun interviews with our friends Morgan Housel, Anna Gát, and Rory Sutherland.
We are currently in the final stages of getting the book ready for launch and available on Amazon and other retailers by early Feb. The ship carrying our first print run from Italy is currently somewhere on the Atlantic Ocean and should be with us any day now 🚢. We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, over the holidays, we sent out gift copies to our friends. Their response has been awesome. I’d love to share some of the messages we’ve received on 𝕏 and elsewhere with you.
"Two Thoughts" contains countless gems of wisdom from some of the greatest minds throughout history. From Marcus Aurelius to Charlie Munger, you'll discover dozens of valuable quotes worth reading and remembering.
– Alex Wieckowski (Alex & Books)
In an era that constantly praises originality, our contemporaries can nevertheless feel quite lonely when they feel alone with a new thought that has just popped into their heads. For our benefit, Jim and Vatsal have created a thought-provoking tableau of some of the wittiest minds of the past and the present so that through their quips and zingers we can be reassured whatever our issue might be there is wisdom available. Innovators and poets, people of business and science offer their advice on these beautifully designed pages, and their insights never get old…
– Anna Gát
The world is too noisy with often bad advice. Two Thoughts cuts right through the noise of the newly, self-proclaimed 'expert' and boils down simple principles to help you understand the world, from actual experts.
– Ben Tossell
Jim's purpose is to provoke deep thought and provide encouragement. He's done that for me and I see it woven throughout Two Thoughts. This is a book for those who need a spark and an invitation to explore themselves and the world around them more carefully.
– Brent Beshore
Two Thoughts is ideal inspiration because you’ll yearn for more, then supply it yourself.
– Derek Sivers
The highest word to insight ratio I’ve found in a book.
– George Mack
Everybody should have a copy of Two Thoughts.
– Morgan Housel
Though I've encountered thousands of famous quotes throughout my life, Two Thoughts still managed to surprise me with so many new ones. The collection of ideas that Jim and Vatsal have curated here is simply excellent. Their work will leave you feeling wiser and inspired to live life to the fullest. If you love learning from history's greatest thinkers and crave ideas you won't find elsewhere, then don't miss Two Thoughts.
– Nick Maggiulli
Two Thoughts is a warren of rabbit holes. Through his tweets and now this book, Jim pulls some of the best thinkers' best thoughts into one place. Reading it, I've been reminded of quotes and people I'd forgotten and discovered quotes and people I'd never encountered. It's an expensive book though: I've bought four more while reading it, to burrow deeper into the curiosity Two Thoughts sparked.
– Packy McCormick
Jim and his team have created a beautiful and inspiring book. Flipping open any page feels like I'm getting to see the world through Jim's brain, one of the most curious people I've met. I love the creative and playful way they've approached the book and it has me imagining new possibilities for sharing our ideas into the world.
– Paul Millerd
There is a kind of Darwinian selection at work on quotations - the survival of the aptest. Only the very best and most enduring survive. And they deserve to survive and be celebrated in works of this kind because they are such incredibly effective forms of data compression - the largest quantity of wisdom conveyed in the fewest possible words.
– Rory Sutherland
Some of the highest value-per-page I’ve ever come across. Two Thoughts is filled with history’s most interesting, curiosity-sparking ideas, each delivered in a beautiful package designed to stick with you long after you finish reading. You’ll find yourself sharing this book with everyone you know.
– Sahil Bloom
Wisdom lies in understanding what truly matters. In distilling the most profound insights of the world's greatest visionaries, Jim and Vatsal deliver this priceless wisdom.
– Tom Morgan
A clever insight expressed in a few well composed memorable words is a spark that accelerates learning and creativity. Two Thoughts is a resource you can use to amplify your progress in life.
– Tren Griffin
I’ve been following Jim’s Two Thoughts on Twitter/ X for years. It has become a habit to check his feed for the sweet dopamine of insights from Tolstoy, Huxley, Dickinson, Rushdie, Hemingway and so many more. Was hoping that Jim would eventually put the best quotes in one book and am so happy he did.
– Trung Phan
A delightful little volume of provocations for any mood. Jim’s trademark curatorial trick of juxtaposing pairs of thoughts from individual thinkers adds some unexpected dimensionality to each jolt of inspiration.
– Venkatesh Rao
This might sound excessive, but it's true: if you've ever had the pleasure of chatting with Jim O'Shaughnessy, it's a lot like what you'd imagine any of history's great autodidacts might be like. He's endlessly curious and has a bottomless well of wonderful references from his decades of reading. Even a cursory skim through this book is like a guided tour from an earnest, knowledgeable friend who's spent a lifetime poring through the 'greatest hits' section of humanity's library. Not only are you guaranteed to find salient new thoughts to consider, you'll surely be enticed to explore bodies of work that may have been previously opaque to you. Bon voyage!
– Visakan Veerasamy
Ben Franklin, Marie Curie and Leonardo da Vinci didn’t live to see the age of Twitter, and that’s probably a good thing. But Jim’s curated collection of bite-sized wisdom shows us what a social media feed might feel like if one were able to “follow” all the great minds of history. All signal, no noise.
– Brom Rector
What distinguishes this collection of quotations is that you're not reflecting on solitary quotes (which is what's most often done). Rather, you're invited to contemplate a carefully selected pair in tandem. This dual contemplation gives a different sort of reflective experience. For me, this isn't a book to be skimmed, but rather one to be absorbed at the rate of a single page each morning. Excellent work, Jim.
– Curt Jaimungal
Timeless wisdom from one of the wisest people I know!
– Anthony Pompliano
Two Thoughts is a beautifully-designed collection of quotes. Each one has the potential to change the way you see the world.
– Herbert Lui
Timeless and inspiring for any lifelong learner, just like Jim, who has assembled a unique pantheon of sages living and gone. An awesome double dose of worldy wisdom on every page and a must-have for any serious reader's collection.
– Josh Wolfe
As Brian Eno once told Kevin Kelly, 'An artist is now a curator. An artist is now much more seen as a connector of things, a person who scans the enormous field of possible places for artistic attention [and finds] a meaningful pattern.' By this definition, Jim O'Shaughnessy is one of the most potent artist-curators at work in the info tsunami of this decade: someone who has changed countless lives for the better with his constant work to surface profound insights through history, to empower promising creators, and to foster the emergence of great ideas from the noise field of the global economy. In both newsletter and book form, Two Thoughts is a potent, fruitful, illuminating bouquet of distilled human brilliance. Kudos to Jim for his curation.
– Michael Garfield
Two Thoughts is a testament to the power of curiosity. These curated insights are thought-provoking, inspiring, and timeless. A transformative read for anyone seeking wisdom across disciplines.
– Polina Marinova
Two Thoughts showcases the power of brevity from some of history’s most interesting minds. Each quote distills complex ideas into a few poignant words, offering readers a direct line to both timeless wisdom and unusual perspectives. The right two thoughts at the right time might be all it takes to spark a lifetime of curiosity and exploration.
– Sam McRoberts
Two Thoughts oozes both wisdom and wit, delivering a delightful experience for the reader seeking to rise above the din. By curating trenchant quotes from an eclectic roster of thinkers, both modern and ancient, Jim O’Shaughnessy and Vatsal Kaushik do us all a service with this wealth of insights into the timeless human condition. Two Thoughts is a wonderful (and fun!) companion I will revisit many times and give to others who I am certain will find moments of inspiration.
– Brian Portnoy
Reading Two Thoughts is like being a flâneur in a city of thoughts, languidly turning pages containing the greatest insights culture has ever produced.
– Erik Hoel
Two Thoughts is more than a collection of thought-provoking quotes. It is like getting a new set of keys to enter and explore humanity's infinite library. Its pages are filled with trails of breadcrumbs leading to unexpected rabbit holes. Use it as a lantern to explore the maze of great thinkers and ideas. Two Thoughts reflects Jim's endlessly curious mind and generous spirit. Most importantly, it is a joy to explore and revisit.
– Frederik Gieschen
A beautiful collection of bitesize wisdom, from some of the best brains there have been. Brief in volume, big on impact.
– John Sills
Jim O’Shaughnessy brilliantly captures history, nostalgia, and advice in his compelling compilation, Two Thoughts. Jim illuminates the power and mastery of soundbites spoken by iconic and unconventional thinkers from both contemporary and past eras. Adding bios and context personalizes and memorializes these insights for future generations. Two Thoughts is packed with wisdom gleaned from the scrapes, hardships, and failures of risk-takers who break through fear and consensus to give birth to legacies. Your bathroom mirror will be plastered with sticky notes of inspiration lifted from each page.
– Julia Bonafede
When you crack open Two Thoughts, you’ll find yourself transported to a cocktail party with a who’s who of history’s greatest minds. As you introduce yourself to the other guests, you might witness J.P. Morgan dispensing business advice as freely as the cocktails, before hearing a whisper in your ear about how to find the strength within yourself to confront even life’s most seemingly insurmountable challenges from Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl.
No matter what opportunities and challenges you find on your plate each day, the wide variety of wisdom compiled in Two Thoughts ensures you’ll discover a helping hand from men and women who’ve been there before. Any time you feel like you could use a word of advice, try opening Two Thoughts to a random page and seeing what you gain from it. If you’re anything like me, you’ll get a jolt of inspiration and come up with novel solutions to your own challenges by approaching them with the help of humanity’s greatest thinkers every time you do.
– Liz Hall
I often see a single quote in the wild and it subconsciously narrows my vision of the author. So I love seeing two thoughts on twitter, particularly when the thoughts are diverse or contradictory - as we all know people are much more complex than a single quote or tweet could ever contain.
This collection takes that abstraction to the next meta level, essentially collapsing the concept of the author altogether and reframing the focus onto the thoughts themselves. In that sense, it reminds me of Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, and I expect to be plucking quotes out of this for a long time.
And - due to the large width and quality of both the authors and the quotes - we do get a sense of the remixer, the DJ, the producer of this wonderful tome - Jim - who reminds us that the most interesting conversations often arise out of a kaleidoscopic mash-up of ideas. And that nothing is stopping all of us from thinking in color.
– Max Arbitrage
Here are two thoughts: 1. Buy two copies of this book. 2. Give one to a friend...It's that good!
– Mebane Faber
When I received an advance copy of “Two Thoughts” my first thought was “a book made from quotes? We’ll see.” Then I started reading it; and my second thought was “wow! This is amazing!” Beautifully constructed and wonderfully curated, Jim and his team have put together an evergreen book that will both delight and inspire.
– Pete Weishaupt
“Two Thoughts” offers a vital exploration of the mind's twin forces—the Thinker who decides, and the Prover who defends—revealing how understanding their entanglement can transform how we see the world.
– Stanley Qiufan Chen
Provocative thoughts from deep thinkers in a beautiful layout. I loved this book.
– Tobias Carlisle
With insights from history’s most remarkable minds, Two Thoughts serves as both a daily companion and a wellspring of ideas, encouraging you to approach life with curiosity, courage, and a sense of wonder.
– Vitaliy Katsenelson
From the first moment I met Jim, it was clear he was filled with timeless wisdom so no better person to put together thousands of pieces of timeless wisdom from some of the greater human thinkers. I look forward to this book being a great conversation starter in my home!
– Zachary Resnick
Two Thoughts is what I like to think of as a Coffee Table Rabbit Hole: It’s a beautiful book that you might easily find on a coffee table, and assuming it might be innocuous, you open it only to be slapped with profundities, casually phrased and drawing from every corner of life to make you question your own.
– Tinkered Thinking
This book is a treasure chest of wisdom; centuries of insightful observations curated by a discerning mind into a single, lavishly presented tome. Reading it, I could almost feel my mind expanding inside my head. Each of the book’s quotes offers a profound insight into an aspect of life. What’s more, the presentation of the quotes as couplets works wonderfully because the mind instinctively searches for a connection between them, and in so doing, yields new insights. This is a book where the spaces between what is said are just as important as what is said. It is truly a book for thinkers.
– Gurwinder Bhogal
Jim is a cartographer and this book is his map. Whereas most maps sketch mountains & valleys, fields & streams, lakes & oceans, his locates pairs of interest to the practice of life. The details are left for you to flesh out yourself. The map is an invitation — and a dare.
– Johnny Nelson
It’s not often that you find Mae West and Nikola Tesla getting up close and personal with Albert Camus and Epicurus between the covers. Yet here they all are, gathered together alongside a strange and wonderful collection of friends and dissidents, clowns and sages, both living and departed. Each giving you their 2c worth. The whole, though, is worth so, so much more than the parts. This little book invites you to join in the ultimate fantasy cocktail party and stay up until morning marinating in the conversation.
– Bronwyn Williams
The book is fantastic. The quotes are paired with author bios, so the reader really gets a sense of who is saying what, and why. There are lovely illustrations throughout. The book provides perfect, bite-sized snippets that ends up creating a very long reading list by the end! It’s a perfect curiosity tool.
– Kyla Scanlon
“Keep a copy by your nightstand and read a page or two before going to bed instead of doomscrolling social media, you'll be wiser and happier for it.”
– Jason Crawford
“There’s a parallel between Two Thoughts and Jim’s podcast Infinite Loops. Each episode ends with a thought experiment: the guest becomes the benevolent emperor of the world and gets to incept the entire population (via magic microphone) with two ideas they’ll actually act on. From this context, Jim O’Shaughnessey is giving that same magic microphone to the greats of history. Each idea pair is dense with meaning and the power to incept us towards action—to write, think, dare, imagine, and invent.”
– Michael Dean
Jim O’Shaughnessy and Vatsal Kaushik have distilled centuries of human insight into a collection that feels both profound and personal. In an era overwhelmed by noise, Two Thoughts serves as a quiet and profound sanctuary of timeless wisdom.
– Rob Henderson
“You can needle-drop anywhere in this book and find a piece of wisdom from a most unlikely source. It belongs on the nightstand with the meditation books and daily reading. My goal is to get my own two thoughts into the sequel.”
– Jared Dillian
Two Thoughts is a beautifully distilled collection of evergreen ideas that will make you pause, reflect, and think deeply about life’s biggest questions. I’ve been a fan of Jim’s thought-provoking work since he first began sharing it, and this book offers a peek into his endlessly curious mind. It’s the kind of book you’ll return to often, always discovering something new.
– Ana Lorena Fabrega
People think you need volumes upon volumes to communicate profound ideas. Yet a single thought (or two) with just the right turn of phrase is a better key to the human soul. Jim has brought us an entire treasure chest of such keys: accessible enough to inspire a few thoughts before bed, but profound enough to keep you thinking for the rest of your life.
– Johnathan Bi
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Wow! Really happy so many people like it. That was a long scroll! 💚 🥃