“Education is supposed to juice your curiosity, not diminish or sate it.”
– Walter Isaacson

Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) is a professor at Tulane University, and the president and CEO of The Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute based in Washington, DC. He has been the chairman and CEO of CNN and the editor of TIME magazine. He is the author of many biographies I have recommended, including The Innovators, Steve Jobs, Einstein: His Life and Universe, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, Kissinger: A Biography, and his most recent, Leonardo da Vinci.

In this episode, you learn life lessons and tactics from Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, Leonardo da Vinci, and more. Walter ties it all together beautifully.

We had a lot of fun in this conversation, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Want to hear another podcast with incredible life advice? — In this episode, I talk with Adam Robinson, Ramit Sethi, and Josh Waitzkin and discuss a variety of topics on business, wealth, and happiness (stream below or right-click here to download):

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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

• Connect with Walter Isaacson:

The Aspen Institute | Twitter | Facebook

Show Notes

• Is it possible to be a Renaissance man (or woman) like Ben Franklin or Leonardo da Vinci in today’s world? [05:43]
• On noticing and marveling at life’s “ordinary” things. [08:58]
• What is Walter most curious about now? [11:06]
• What benefit does Walter see in experiencing historical places and artifacts up close rather than just viewing them virtually? [12:50]
• With so much already on his plate, why does Walter write biographies? [15:54]
• Walter’s one rule about writing. [19:35]
• What Walter does between his first draft and first edit. [21:56]
• Walter talks about going to school in New Orleans with fellow author Michael Lewis. [23:11]
• Mentors and inspirations. [25:41]
• On what we can learn from da Vinci and Steve Jobs about blurring the line between the possible and the impossible. [29:28]
• Was there anything that stood out to Walter when he was going through da Vinci’s thousands of pages of notes? [32:35]
• What was da Vinci’s workout routine? [35:03]
• Was da Vinci’s drive to experiment innate or developed? [38:50]
• On the uses and misuses of education. [40:41]
• What Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, and da Vinci understood about the importance of building a good team for collaboration. [48:58]
• Does Walter think da Vinci was fulfilled? [55:30]
• Ben Franklin’s life hack for gratitude. [57:09]
• How does someone move from success to significance? [59:58]
• What writing biographies of others has taught Walter about his own place in the universe. [1:02:57]
• What has helped Walter get through dark times? [1:05:32]
• The benefits of having something on paper versus a computer screen. [1:10:16]
• As an educator, what three books would Walter give to every graduate? [1:12:13]
• The books Walter gifted the most. [1:16:07]
• What would Walter’s billboard say? [1:18:30]
• Parting thoughts. [1:24:07]

People Mentioned

Posted on: October 14, 2017.

Please check out Tools of Titans, my latest book, which shares the tactics, routines, and habits of billionaires, icons, and world-class performers. It was distilled from more than 10,000 pages of notes, and everything has been vetted and tested in my own life in some fashion. The tips and tricks in Tools of Titans changed my life, and I hope the same for you. Click here for sample chapters, full details, and a Foreword from Arnold Schwarzenegger.