Hi, I’m David Perell.
Welcome to my online home. I write, host a podcast, and run a writing school called Write of Passage.
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As seen in
Essays
Most of my essays are about business, education, and what it means to be a citizen of the Internet. These essays are a record of my intellectual quest to make sense of the world. They’re the diary of my contemplative life.
Latest essay
How I’ve Studied the Bible
Years ago, I realized that the Bible is the foundational book of Western civilization. If I was going to be an educated person, I needed to know what it said.
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Practice Analytically, Perform Intuitively
There’s a famous saying in golf: “Drive for show, putt for dough.”
How Learning Happens
From music, we learn what humanity has always known but schools have forgotten: learning begins with inspiration.
Peter Thiel’s Religion
Human culture was fueled by rage and rivalry, which led to violence. Managing that violence is the secret reason for all religious and political institutions.
Notebook
My notebook is where I develop my ideas in public. If my essays are finished paintings, these are my intellectual sketches. They’re a low-stakes place where I share ideas that are longer than a tweet, but too immature for a full-on essay.
Latest note
A Divine Intuition
Under a secular mindset, intuition is all about you — your wants, needs, passions, and desires. A heavenly, God-inspired intuition is different.
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The Paradox of Abundance
Information abundance, like all markets of abundance, is bad for the average person but great for a small number of people.
Intellectual Loneliness
I have a confession to make: I leave most parties early because I’d rather read a book.
Should You Write Every Day?
When I started working out, I hated it. I wanted to gain muscle but dreaded working out. Eventually, a friend got fed up with my laziness and told me what I needed to hear: “If you want to build the habit, go to the gym every single day without fail.”
