“Man’s mind and his behavior are one, his inner thought and outer expression cannot contradict each other. Therefore a man should set up his right principle, and this right mind (principle) will influence his action.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 40)
“Our body limits the spiritual divine spark which we call our soul. In the way that a vessel gives form to the liquid or gas which is put into it, our body gives form to our spiritual being. If the vessel is broken, that which was in it no longer retains the form it had and flows out. Does it receive a new form? Is it united with other beings? We know nothing of this. After death the soul becomes something different, something indescribable.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The only reason Alan [Watts] talks about mysticism, philosophy, or Eastern traditions is because he enjoys it. He sees himself like a ‘spring bubbling from the side of the mountain’ – if a traveller drinks from the spring and enjoys it, that’s fine. But that’s not the purpose of the spring. The spring just exists.”
Ali Abdaal
“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is eliminate the task. Downsize. The rooms you don’t have, don’t need to be cleaned. Donate. The items you don’t own, don’t need to be organized. Delete. The projects you don’t take on, don’t need to be finished. Is this a problem that needs to be solved? Or is it a problem that can be eliminated all together?”
James Clear, Blog
“Almost always, when we look deep into our souls, we can find there the same sins which we blame in others. If we do not find a particular sin in our soul, then we should look more closely, and we will find even worse sins there.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“The man who cannot forgive destroys a bridge which he will have to cross, because every person needs forgiveness.”
Edward Herbert, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 224)
“Our grand business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 31)
“The function and duty of a human being, a ‘quality’ human being, that is, is the sincere and honest development of potential and self-actualization.”
Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts (Page 28)
“Some people use the 80/20 rules, meaning they stick with ‘clean’ eating 80% of the time and then the other 20% of the time they eat whatever they want. The problem is that the 80/20 becomes 60/40, then 40/60, then 20/80 and then all bets are off. Don’t follow the 80/20 rule. Follow the 100% rule—that might turn into the 99% rule and that is okay. But the 80/20 rule isn’t a rule. It’s a step down the slippery slope.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 196)
“Everyone wants to know: What should a workout actually consist of? And first of all—let me say this: the most important thing to do is SOMETHING. ANYTHING. Walk. Jog. Calisthenics. Swim. Lift some weights. Hike. Stretch. Do burpees. Play a game of basketball or go get on the jiu-jitsu mat. Some people aren’t sure what to do for a workout—but that is often just an excuse. Exercise doesn’t need to be some complex, multi-level, multi-dimensional, scientifically proven methodology. But it does need to be SOMETHING.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 161)
“If you add up all the hesitation from your life… If you compile all the missed opportunities… All the things you wish you would have done or know you should have done, but didn’t… If you combine all those things together and put them into a big pile, imagine how big that pile would be. Imagine what an accumulation of unrealized potential you would see in front of you. Don’t allow that. Don’t hesitate. Go.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 133)
“Where do you find happiness? Is it out there somewhere waiting to be discovered? Under a rock? Out in the woods? Buried in the desert? Where do you find it? You don’t find happiness. You make it. You put forth effort. You work for it. You take on responsibility. You put yourself out there; you take risk to achieve a worthy goal. And in that pursuit, if you pay attention, if you look around, you will find happiness.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 131)
“Ultimately, nobody can manage our attention but ourselves. We can get mad at Netflix or Spotify or the Senate. But ultimately, these systems are loose reflections of our own attention habits shining back at us. Change our attention, change the systems. There’s an old saying that people “vote with their feet.” Well, today you need to vote with your eyeballs and mouse clicks. Don’t watch the next episode of that poorly written piece of garbage that keeps teasing you with characters almost dying. Don’t listen to the next half-assed album with 27 different two-minute tracks. Don’t click on clickbait. Don’t mindlessly scroll through TikTok and YouTube, rewarding people for attention-grabbing stunts. And don’t watch or respond to politicians and pundits who try to blather on and on about pet issues but never actually get anything done.”
Mark Manson, Blog
“What is it stopping you? Didn’t get enough sleep? Are you too tired? Do you not have the right gear? Do you not have enough energy? Do you not have enough money? Do you not have enough time? Is it one of these things that is stopping you? Or is the thing that is stopping you, you?”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 129)
“The body is the first student of the soul.”
Henry David Thoreau, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 217) | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
“If I were to speak truthfully when people asked me how I was doing, I would tell them: ‘It doesn’t matter how I’m doing.’ Because that’s the truth. It doesn’t matter if I feel good or bad or excited or bored or happy or sad. It doesn’t matter. I am going to do what I am supposed to do.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 105)
“People ask where discipline comes from. I tell them it comes from within. But there is a level deeper. Discipline comes from The Truth. The Truth is the framework of discipline. And if you lie to yourself, you will not find discipline. If you lie to yourself, you will not be disciplined.”
Jocko Willink, Discipline Equals Freedom (Page 99)
“There is no love in the future. Love can exist only in the present moment. A man who does not manifest love in the present does not love at all.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 215)
“When the suffering of another creature causes you to feel pain, do not submit to the initial desire to flee from the suffering one, but on the contrary, come closer, as close as you can to him who suffers, and try to help him.”
Leo Tolstoy, A Calendar of Wisdom (Page 214)