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Problem Solving Quotes

    “Remove the branches of a thorn bush today and you’ll avoid a scrape this year. But next year, you’ll face the same problem again. Remove the root of the bush today, and the entire plant will die. Are you solving problems at the branch level or the root level?”

    James Clear, Blog

      “If you can’t solve the problem in front of you, solve an easier version of it—and then see if that solution offers you a starting point, or a beacon, in the full-blown problem. Maybe it does.” 

      Brian Christian, Algorithms To Live By

      The Daily Stoic [Book]

        The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday [Book]

        By: Ryan Holiday

        From this Book:  192 Quotes

        Book Overview:  Why have history’s greatest minds—from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with today’s top performers from Super Bowl-winning football coaches to CEOs and celebrities—embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics? Because they realize that the most valuable wisdom is timeless and that philosophy is for living a better life, not a classroom exercise.

        The Daily Stoic offers 366 days of Stoic insights and exercises, featuring all-new translations from the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the playwright Seneca, or slave-turned-philosopher Epictetus, as well as lesser-known luminaries like Zeno, Cleanthes, and Musonius Rufus. Every day of the year you’ll find one of their pithy, powerful quotations, as well as historical anecdotes, provocative commentary, and a helpful glossary of Greek terms.

        By following these teachings over the course of a year (and, indeed, for years to come) you’ll find the serenity, self-knowledge, and resilience you need to live well.

        Buy from Amazon! Listen on Audible!

        Great on Kindle. Great Experience. Great Value. The Kindle edition of this book comes highly recommended on Amazon.

        Post(s) Inspired by this Book:

          “It’s a kind of test, Mary, and it’s the only kind that amounts to anything. When something rotten like this happens, then you have your choice. You start to really be alive, or you start to die. That’s all.”

          James Agee, A Death In The Family, via Sunbeams (Page 150)

            “Not every problem needs to be overcome, just the ones stopping you from getting where you want to be.”

            Ann Hill, Twitter

              “Every great opportunity has many reasons why it could fail. You have to trust your ability to solve problems along the way. People who look for reasons why things won’t work, struggle to take action. People who look for reasons why things will work—and solve problems as they arise—make things happen.”

              James Clear, Blog

                “It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.”

                Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, via The Daily Stoic (Page 251)

                  “Today, make sure you take a walk. And in the future, when you get stressed or overwhelmed, take a walk. When you have a tough problem to solve or a decision to make, take a walk. When you want to be creative, take a walk. When you need to get some air, take a walk. When you have a phone call to make, take a walk. When you need some exercise, take a long walk. When you have a meeting or a friend over, take a walk together. Nourish yourself and your mind and solve your problems along the way.”

                  Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 189)

                    “Stoics do not seek to have the answer for every question or a plan for every contingency. Yet they’re also not worried. Why? Because they have confidence that they’ll be able to adapt and change with the circumstances. Instead of looking for instruction, they cultivate skills like creativity, independence, self-confidence, ingenuity, and the ability to problem solve. In this way, they are resilient instead of rigid. We can practice the same.”

                    Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 178)

                      “One has not understood until one has forgotten it.”

                      Suzuki Daisetz, via Sunbeams (Page 109)

                        “The level of the problem is never the level of the solution.”

                        Deepak Chopra, The Shadow Effect (Page 64)

                          “The time we spend worrying is actually time we’re spending trying to control something that is out of our control. Time invested in something that is within our control is called work. That’s where our most productive focus lies.”

                          Seth Godin, The Practice (Page 99)

                            “If the problem can be solved, why worry? And if the problem can’t be solved, then worrying will do you no good.”

                            Shantideva, via The Practice (Page 99)

                              “This comes up all the time in mechanical work. A hang-up. You just sit and stare and think, and go search randomly for new information, and go away and come back again, and after a while the unseen factors start to emerge.”

                              Robert M. Pirsig, Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, via Sunbeams (Page 18)

                              Mark Manson Quote on Problems and How A Problem-Free Life Should Never Be The Goal

                                “Problems never stop; they merely get exchanged and/or upgraded.”

                                Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

                                Beyond the Quote (274/365)

                                Let’s be clear: the goal shouldn’t be to live a problem-free life. There is no such thing as a problem free life. How could it be? The very act of staying alive and healthy is a forever shape-shifting landscape of compiling problems that confront us afresh every minute of every day. So, what is the goal then?

                                Read More »Mark Manson Quote on Problems and How A Problem-Free Life Should Never Be The Goal

                                  “The world is like muddy water.  To see through it, we have to let things settle.  We can’t be disturbed by initial appearances, and if we are patient and still, the truth will be revealed to us.” ~ Ryan Holiday, Stillness is the Key (Page 47)

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