Ryan Holiday Quotes

Remember: No one is having less fun than an overextended, overcommitted person with debtors at their door.

You know what’s better than building things up in your imagination? Building things up in real life.

Watch the stars in their courses and imagine yourself running alongside them. Think constantly on the changes of the elements into each other, for such thoughts wash away the dust of earthly life.” — MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.47

Focus on the moment, not the monsters that may or may not be up ahead.

We’ve all done it. Said: “I am so [overwhelmed, tired, stressed, busy, blocked, outmatched].” And then what do we do about it? Go out and party. Or treat ourselves. Or sleep in. Or wait. It feels better to ignore or pretend. But you know deep down that that isn’t going to truly make it any better. You’ve got to act. And you’ve got to start now.

The best journals aren’t for the reader. They are for the writer. To slow the mind down. To wage peace with oneself.

Do I need this? Or is it really about ego?

What matters to an active man is to do the right thing; whether the right thing comes to pass should not bother him. — GOETHE

It takes real work to grasp what is invisible to just about everyone else.

The less energy we waste regretting the past or worrying about the future, the more energy we will have for what’s in front of us.

The mind must be given relaxation — it will rise improved and sharper after a good break. Just as rich fields must not be forced — for they will quickly lose their fertility if never given a break — so constant work on the anvil will fracture the force of the mind. But it regains its powers if it is set free and relaxed for a while. Constant work gives rise to a certain kind of dullness and feebleness in the rational soul.” — SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND,

Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressive.

What matters most is not what these obstacles are but how we see them, how we react to them, and whether we keep our composure.

There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.

The purpose of knowledge is action.