"Apple's stock going down every time after time someone thinks Steve Job is sick? That's a huge ego play for Steve - he shouldn't do that. Steve should have a bench of eight people who are leading the tribe in eight really useful different directions so it won't matter - he's going to retire one day and you have to plan for that."

"The lyric is pure torment. One of the things that was happening at the time was the collision in my own mind between being faithful to your art or faithful to your lover. What if the two are at odds? Your gift versus your domestic responsibility? [...] I remember thinking: 'Is the life of an artist? Am I going to have kids and settle down and betray my gift or am I going to betray my marriage?'"

"I thought these tensions were going to destroy me but actually, in truth, it is me. The tension, it turns out, is what makes me an artist. Right in the centre of a contradiction, that's the place to be. [...] If I had cut loose, what would have become of me? I remember looking at [artists who had] acted with abandon, and had lost marriages, bands, friendships, all in pursuit of the muse. But the muse is taciturn and can abandon you, leaving you with nothing. My muse has different demands. If I'd gone that route, many of my best songs would have gone unwritten. Or if I'd taken the other road, which is straightforward, given myself over to the domestic side of life, the songs would have been lost. It's the tension between the two that keeps me sharp. You don't have to resolve them, just don't go too far either way."

Curiosity is, by definition, the willingness to explore something new without knowing if there's benefit in doing so (otherwise it's pragmatic self-interest).

Will you learn something if you listen to a particular podcast, subscribe to a certain blog, go to that conference or read that new book? Will you benefit from trying a different method, meeting that new person or collaborating with a given group of people?

Most people never find out - they remember the time that their curiosity was not rewarded, view curiosity as a poor investment and opt for mainstream, low risk experiences.

If, however, you approach curiosity as a long series of small investments - try many podcasts, many blogs, many conferences, many books, many methods, meet many new people and/or collaborate with many groups - you'll find that in spite of some experiences being useless, your attitude of curiosity pays handsome dividends in the long term - new knowledge, perspectives, insights & opportunities.

Perhaps, then, an attitude of curiosity is actually pragmatic self-interest after all.