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# People are awesome...
- URL: https://cje.io/2016/04/22/people-are-awesome/
- Published: 2016-04-22T15:58:02.000Z
- Updated: 2025-07-08T00:41:05.000Z
- Author: Casey Ellis
- Tags: Thinking, leadership, Hot Takes, Building

…and I’m not just talking about those kick-ass Youtube videos that pop up each year.

I have a core belief that people are intrinsically valuable. Sometimes the manifestation of that value — their extrinsic value — speaks to the intrinsic, sometimes it doesn’t.

That’s irrelevant… the intrinsic value is pre-eminent.

Therefore, there is something to connect to, something to learn from, and a deposit of your own value that can be made in every interaction you have — right from the President to a homeless person… Their more immediately obvious extrinsic value has no bearing on this.

Life is beautiful when you adopt this idea. People are complex, dangerous, and sometimes even hurtful; but they are also truly amazing.

#respectiskey