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    “Your true self does not speak in words or banal phrases.  Its voice comes from deep within you, from the substrata of your psyche, from something embedded physically within you.  It emanates from your uniqueness, and it communicates through sensations and powerful desires that seem to transcend you.  You cannot ultimately understand why you are drawn to certain activities or forms of knowledge.   This cannot really be verbalized or explained.  It is simply a fact of nature.  In following this voice you realize your own potential, and satisfy your deepest longings to create and express your uniqueness.   It exists for a purpose, and it is your Life’s Task to bring it to fruition.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

      “There are many paths to mastery, and if you are persistent you will certainly find one that suits you.  But a key component in the process is determining your mental and psychological strengths and working with them.  To rise to the level of mastery requires many hours of dedicated focus and practice.  You cannot get there if your work brings you no joy and you are constantly struggling to overcome your own weaknesses.  You must look deep within and come to an understanding of these particular strengths and weaknesses you possess, being as realistic as possible.  Knowing your strengths, you can lean on them with utmost intensity.  Once you start in this direction, you will gain momentum.  You will not be burdened by conventions, and you will not be slowed down by having to deal with skills that go against your inclinations and strengths.  In this way, your creative and intuitive powers will be naturally awakened.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

        “If there is any instrument you must fall in love with and fetishize, it is the human brain—the most miraculous, awe-inspiring, information-processing tool devised in the known universe, with a complexity we can’t even begin to fathom, and with dimensional powers that far outstrip any piece of technology in sophistication and usefulness.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

          “Mastery is not a function of genius or talent.  It is a function of time and intense focus applied to a particular field of knowledge.  But there is another element, an X factor that Masters inevitably possess, that seems mystical but that is accessible to us all.  Whatever field of activity we are involved in, there is generally an accepted path to the top.  It is a path that others have followed, and because we are conformist creatures, most of us opt for this conventional route.  But Masters have a strong inner guiding system and a high level of self-awareness.  What has suited others in the past does not suit them, and they know that trying to fit into a conventional mold would only lead to a dampening of spirit, the reality they seek eluding them.  And so inevitably, these Masters, as they progress on their career paths, make a choice at a key moment in their lives: they decide to forge their own route, one that others will see as unconventional, but that suits their own spirit and rhythms and leads them closer to discovering the hidden truths of their objects of study.  This key choice takes self-confidence and self-awareness—the X factor that is necessary for attaining mastery.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

            “When you move toward mastery, your brain becomes radically altered by the years of practice and active experimentation.  It is no longer the simple ecosystem of years gone by.  The brain of a Master is so richly interconnected that it comes to resemble the physical world, and becomes a vibrant ecosystem in which all forms of thinking associate and connect.  This growing similarity between the brain and complex life itself represents the ultimate return to reality.” ~ Robert Greene, Mastery

              “Want to drive yourself crazy? Try to fix everyone around you. Try to make them so perfect that they can’t annoy you in any way whatsoever. Make them so morally perfect and righteous that they will always make the right decision and will go out of their way to help you.  Or, if you prefer to keep things simple, rigidly examine your own shortcomings and biases. Correct your own faults first.  Trying to escape your own faults will take a lifetime.” ~ Matt Karamazov, High Existence

                “If your opinion of yourself means more to you than other’s opinions of you, you won’t feel the degradation if someone disagrees.” ~ Matt Karamazov, High Existence

                  “When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own – not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine. And so none of them can hurt me. No one can implicate me in ugliness. Nor can I feel angry at my relative, or hate him. We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions.” ~ Marcus Aurelius, Meditations