Being self-reliant is critical. To make yourself less dependent on others and so-called experts, you need to expand your repertoire of skills. - Robert Greene

Her seductive power, however, did not lie in her looks [...]. In reality, Cleopatra was physically unexceptional and had no political power, yet both Caesar and Antony, brave and clever men, saw none of this. What they saw was a woman who constantly transformed herself before their eyes, a one-woman spectacle.

Her dress and makeup changed from day to day, but always gave her a heightened, goddesslike appearance. Her words could be banal enough, but were spoken so sweetly that listeners would find themselves remembering not what she said but how she said it.

Find the deepest pleasure in absorbing knowledge and information. Feel like you never have enough.

A false path in life is generally something we are attracted to for the wrong reasons — money, fame, attention, and so on. If it is attention we need, we often experience a kind of emptiness inside that we are hoping to fill with the false love of public approval.