“Don Juan assured me that in order to accomplish the feat of making myself miserable I had to work in a most intense fashion, and that it was absurd. I had now realized I could work just the same in making myself complete and strong. ‘The trick is in what one emphasizes,’ he said. ‘We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.'”
Carlos Casaneda, Journey To Ixtlan, via Sunbeams (Page 60) (Read Matt’s Blog On This Quote)
“[Listen] to the heart consciously, alertly, attentively. And follow it, go wherever it takes you. Yes, sometimes it will take you into dangers—but remember, those dangers are needed to make you ripe. Sometimes it will take you astray—but remember again, those goings astray are part of growth. Many times you will fall—rise up again, because this is how one gathers strength, by falling and rising again. This is how one becomes integrated.”
Osho, Courage (Page 10)
James Allen Quote on The Portals To Heaven and The Kind Of Strength That Will Take You There
“To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all – such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor.”
James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
Beyond the Quote (190/365)
The people who put you through hell aren’t strong—they’re weak. And this isn’t an attack on their character, per se. They may be weak through no fault of their own—they might be a product of their environment. After all, if you grow up in hell how does one not carry feelings of hell with them? It is no easy feat to make your way from hell to heaven—but, that’s the point. It’s hard. It requires deliberate daily effort. It requires strength. People who are in heaven and treat others in “heavenly ways”—they are the ones who are strong.
Read More »James Allen Quote on The Portals To Heaven and The Kind Of Strength That Will Take You There
“Mental toughness is persistence not intensity.”
James Clear, Blog
Jocko Willink Quote on How Your Greatest Strength Can Also Be Your Greatest Weakness
“As with many of the dichotomies of leadership, a person’s biggest strength can be his greatest weakness when he doesn’t know how to balance it. A leader’s best quality might be her aggressiveness, but if she goes too far she becomes reckless. A leader’s best quality might be his confidence, but when he becomes overconfident he doesn’t listen to others.”
Jocko Willink, Extreme Ownership (Page 281)
Beyond the Quote (165/365)
One of my greatest strengths, I believe, is my ability to empathetically connect to and listen to others. When somebody talks to me about how upset they are that their dog died, I feel the upset. When people call me to express their frustrations towards other people, I feel their frustrations. When the people around me get angry, I can feel their anger in me. Basically, I feel like I have an uncanny ability to put myself in other people’s shoes and feel what they’re feeling even if I’ve never been in their exact situation myself. This is something that I have noticed after many years of introspection and while it can certainly be a strength, it also comes with its fair share of drawbacks and challenges that can turn it into a weakness if left unchecked.
Read More »Jocko Willink Quote on How Your Greatest Strength Can Also Be Your Greatest Weakness“if you were born with
the weakness to fall
you were born with
the strength to rise”
Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (Page 156)
“None of us knows how strong we are until being strong is the only option we have left. We spend so much of our lives avoiding discomfort that we don’t realize that in those uncomfortable situations, our best selves emerge.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 63)
“We never really get over our traumas, and as much as we heal, scars will remain. That doesn’t mean we need to view those scars as reminders of our injuries; instead, we can see them as proof of our resilience.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 30)
“You are only as mentally tough as your life demands you to be. An easy life fashions a mind that can only handle ease. A challenging life builds a mind that can handle challenge. Like a muscle that atrophies without use, mental strength fades unless it is tested. When life doesn’t challenge you, challenge yourself.” ~ James Clear, Blog
“Going forward it became very important to me to rehash my life, because when you examine your experiences with a fine-toothed comb and see where your issues come from, you can find strength in enduring pain and abuse. I realized that each episode of child abuse that could have killed me made me tough as hell and as sharp as a Samurai’s blade.” ~ David Goggins, Can’t Hurt Me
“All of us have to recognize that being a man is first and foremost being a good human. That means being responsible, working hard, being kind, respectful, compassionate. If you’re confident about your strength, you don’t need to show me by putting somebody else down. Show me by lifting somebody else up.” ~ Barack Obama, The Independent
