True statement. All palaces are temporary palaces. Any guesses where I found it? On the side of a very high-end furniture store in one of our most upscale neighborhoods.
Fitting.
I don’t think we can be reminded enough of how the things we tend to hold in such high regard- status, capital, political power, influence, followers- those things don’t last. Whoever’s on top in almost any arena probably won’t be in ten years.
It doesn’t mean that building things, leadership, and ability are meaningless. But it does mean that they get their meaning from being bigger than any one person, and in order to do truly meaningful work, it can’t be just about yourself.