No one builds anything great alone

In our society, we LOVE the hero narrative. It’s easy to forget that no one achieves greatness alone. While individuals like founders, leaders, or prophets often serve as catalysts, the reality is that no one builds anything truly significant on their own.

At every level — social, intellectual, and technological — we rely on the work of countless others. Every innovation or discovery builds on the knowledge and efforts of people who came before us, often from generations past. The inventions and advancements we take for granted today are the cumulative result of centuries of human effort, from people we’ll never meet.

This is one of the most inspiring things about being human: we are constantly collaborating, even unknowingly, with those who lived before us and those who will live after us. The work never ends; we are all part of a long chain of progress, each contributing our part and paying it forward.

The lesson here is that if you want to build something great, you must seek out people — those who challenge, support, and complement your strengths.