Real work and real satisfaction come from the opposite of what the web provides. They come from going deep into something—the book you’re writing, the album, the movie—and staying there for a long, long time.
~ Steven Pressfield
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Quotes
A long long time ago I began collecting inspirational quotes and aphorisms which became my collection of quotes.
Our deepest fear
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?
~ Marianne Williamson
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My other faults
If anyone tells you that a person speaks ill of you, don’t make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: ‘He does not know my other faults, or he would not have mentioned only these.’
~ Epictetus
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Control
I learned then that even when I felt powerless to control my job or education — or anything else that seemed out of my hands — I always had control over my own mind and how I treated others. Even when I had nothing else, I could still be kind, just, generous, honest, loving and compassionate.
~ Susan Fowler
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Teach them
If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery
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Always pass on good advice
I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.
~ Oscar Wilde
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The character of your mind
Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind.
~ Marcus Aurelius
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Excellence is a habit
We are what we repeatedly do, therefore, excellence is not an act but a habit
~ Aristotle
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Think for oneself
A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.
~ Oscar Wilde
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What is a cynic?
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing.
~ Oscar Wilde
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Inward loosening
Martial art is not merely the physical act of filling time and space with precision-like movements. Machines can do that, too. As he matures, a martial artist will realize that his kick or punch is really not so much a tool to conquer his opponent, but a tool to explode through his consciousness, his ego, and all mental obstacles. Indeed, the tools are ultimately a means for penetrating the depth of his being so that he will restore the equilibrium of his inner center of gravity. With this vital inward loosening flows his outward expression of his tools. Behind each physical movement of an accomplished martial artist is this wholeness of being, this all-inclusive attitude.
~ Bruce Lee
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The triumph of principles
A political victory, a rise in rents, the recovery of your sick, or return of your absent friend, or some other quite external event, raises your spirits, and you think good days are preparing for you. Do not believe it. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace by the triumph of principles.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
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The power to break your back
If you can lighten your burden you must do so. There is no straw which lacks the power to break your back.
~ unknown
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All comes out even at the end
Weak as I am, I carry on the war to the last moment, I get a hundred pike thrusts, I return two hundred and I laugh. I see near my door Geneva on fire with quarrels over nothing, and I laugh again; And, thank god, I can look upon the world as a farce even when it becomes as tragic as it sometimes does. All comes out even at the end of the day, and all comes out still more even when all the days are over.
~ Voltaire
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Let the news come
And what better use could you make of that time? A day that could be your last — you want to spend it in worry? In what other area could you make some progress while others might be sitting on the edges of their seat, passively awaiting some fate? Let the news come when it does. Be too busy working to care.
~ Ryan Holiday
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The muse
Show up, show up, show up, and after a while the muse shows up, too.
~ Isabel Allende
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True and steadfast judgment
This can be swiftly taught in very few words: Virtue is the only good; There is no certain good without virtue; And virtue resides in our nobler part, which is the rational one. And what can this virtue be? True and steadfast judgment.
~ Seneca
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Never think you’ve got it all
Children teach you that you can still be humbled by life, that you learn something new all the time. That’s the secret to life, really – never stop learning. It’s the secret to career. I’m still working because I learn something new all the time. It’s the secret to relationships. Never think you’ve got it all.
~ Clint Eastwood
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Walk only in really pleasant company
Smoke like a chimney, work like a horse, eat without thinking, go for a walk only in really pleasant company.
~ Albert Einstein
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One who acts naturally
One who tries to stand on tiptoe cannot stand still. One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk. One who advertises himself too much is ignored. One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him. One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves. One who is too proud is soon humiliated. These are condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity. Therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremems.
~ Book of Tao
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