State violence

State violence cannot be destroyed by decree, only by truth and love. Maybe state violence was necessary for previous generations; Maybe it is even necessary now, but people should conceive of a kind of future government in which violence will not be necessary.

~ Leo Tolstoy

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Understanding hope and fear

It’s not about overcoming our fears but understanding that both hope and fear contain a dangerous amount of want and worry in them. And, sadly, the want is what causes the worry.

~ Ryan Holiday

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Consistency

If you’re looking for a formula for greatness, the closest we’ll ever get, I think, is this: Consistency driven by a deep love of the work.

~ Maria Popova

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Philosophy

In truth, there is no divorce between philosophy and life.

~ Simone de Beauvoir

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Culture, passion, curiosity

If culture is sufficient to establish what we eat, how we speak, and ten thousand other societal norms, why isn’t it able to teach us a process to make art? Isn’t it possible for the culture to normalize goal setting and passion and curiosity and the ability to persuade? It can. And you don’t have to wait for it to happen. You can begin now.

~ Seth Godin

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Assertion

Your spirit must constantly assert itself because your body is constantly exerting itself. As soon as you stop working at your spirit, then your body will have complete power over you.

~ Leo Tolstoy

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The way

There is no way to happiness— Happiness is the way.

~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

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A great many troubles

I am an old man, and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.

~ Mark Twain

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First principle

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.

~ Richard Feynman

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The best of their thoughts

I was aware that the reading of all good books is indeed like a conversation with the noblest men of past centuries who were the authors of them, nay a carefully studied conversation, in which they reveal to us none but the best of their thoughts.

~ René Descartes

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