I have learned that to be with those I like is enough. — Willa Cather

I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.

Author: Willa Cather

Insight: We live in a culture obsessed with optimization—the perfect vacation, the most impressive friends, the networking opportunity that might change everything. So there's something quietly radical about simply wanting to be around people you actually like and calling that enough. Not people you should impress, not connections you're supposed to cultivate, but the humans who make you feel genuinely comfortable being yourself. Cather stumbled onto something most of us have to learn the hard way: that presence beats prestige almost every time. A Saturday afternoon with a friend who makes you laugh, with no agenda or performance required, often nourishes us more deeply than an exhausting social climb ever could. And yet we keep guilt-tripping ourselves for not networking harder, for skipping events, for preferring a quiet dinner with one person we trust over a crowded party full of strangers. The twist is that this isn't lazy or antisocial—it's actually a form of honesty. When you stop chasing the wrong relationships or forcing togetherness out of obligation, you have more energy for the connections that genuinely matter. You show up better for the people you actually like. Maybe that's the real luxury: knowing what's already enough.

Source: My Ántonia, 1918