The next great thing may be closer than you think.

The temptation is always to rush past the ordinary on our way to the remarkable. But work that lasts begins with an attention to the materials that are already present: people, questions, constraints and the small openings that others overlook.

To build well is to practice patience. It is to understand that a life, like a structure, carries the evidence of its foundations. This is why the most important work is often quiet at first. It is the work of preparing the ground for something useful to stand.

We do not need more noise. We need more people willing to make their gifts answer a question bigger than themselves.