Ryan Holiday Quotes

discipline means being disciplined in all things, especially little things.

Success breeds softness.

It also breeds fear: We become addicted to our creature comforts. And then we become afraid of losing them.

When intelligent people read, they ask themselves a simple question: What do I plan to do with this information?

Knowledge and experience are not at odds; the latter is simply another form of the former.

The world is complicated. Things are always changing. We are constantly learning, being exposed to things we didn't know or consider.

Our minds must be flexible and open enough to accommodate this.

I will keep constant watch over myself and — most usefully — will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil — that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.” — SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 83.2

Take inventory for a second. What do you dislike? Whose name fills you with revulsion and rage? Now ask: Have these strong feelings really helped you accomplish anything? Take an even wider inventory. Where has hatred and rage ever really gotten anyone? Especially because almost universally, the traits or behaviors that have pissed us off in other people — their dishonesty, their selfishness, their laziness — are hardly going to work out well for them in the end. Their ego and shortsightedness contains its own punishment. The question we must ask for ourselves is: Are we going to be miserable just because other people are?

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,

A person that thinks all the time has nothing to think about except thoughts.

The Stoics spent so much effort trying to limit their attachments to various comforts.

They worked hard at not needing the newest or fanciest or most expensive new luxury.

They understood that it was not only ungrateful – it was a quest that only ever ended in disappointment.

Just because you’ve begun down one path doesn’t mean you’re committed to it forever , especially if that path turns out to be flawed or impeded. At that same time, this is not an excuse to be flighty or incessantly noncommittal.

If the mind is disciplined, the heart turns quickly from fear to love. — JOHN CAGE

Why do you think that great leaders and thinkers throughout history have “gone out into the wilderness” and come back with inspiration, with a plan, with an experience that puts them on a course that changes the world? It’s because in doing so they found perspective, they understood the larger picture in a way that wasn’t possible in the bustle of everyday life. Silencing the noise around them, they could finally hear the quiet voice they needed to listen to.

It’s a temptation that exists for everyone — for talk and hype to replace action.

In Times of Crisis We Need More:

- Compassion
- Kinship
- Service
- Courage

And Less:

- Selfishness
- Distrust
- Ingratitude
- Dread