we have two lives, and the second begins when we realise we only have one.

~ confucius

past performance increases confidence more than ability.

~ morgan housel

if you think less of yourself after doing it... don't do it again.

~ the stoic emperor

good things happen to those who wait but only the ones left behind by those who hustle.

~ abraham lincoln

it isn’t 10,000 hours that creates outliers, it’s 10,000 iterations.

~ naval

it's easier to hold your principles 100 percent of the time than it is to hold them 98 percent of the time.

~ clayton christensen

i understand there’s a guy inside me who wants to lay in bed, smoke weed all day, and watch cartoons and old movies. my whole life is a series of stratagems to avoid, and outwit, that guy.

~ anthony bourdain

we don’t know the days that will change our lives. probably just as well.

~ stephen king

yesterday i was clever, so i wanted to change the world. today i am wise, so i am changing myself.

~ rumi

everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. and you can change it, you can influence it… once you learn that, you'll never be the same again.

~ steve jobs

the reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

~ george bernard shaw

it isn’t 10,000 experiences that creates wisdom, it’s 10,000 reflections.

~ kyle tidbits

all of humanity’s problem stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

~ blaise pascal

confusion is a feeling that precedes learning something. it means you should pay closer attention, not disengage.

~ the stoic emperor

have no single point of failure. have no single path to success.

~ james clear

you can make a persuasive case that all your troubles are the fault of others. you will convince some people. you might even convince yourself. are your troubles now solved?

~ the stoic emperor

a healthy man wants a thousand things, a sick man only wants one.

~ confucius

before you begin, think as if you are a lazy person. imagine the competition will work harder. your only chance is a better strategy. after you begin, work as if you are a dumb person. imagine the competition is smarter and more talented. your only chance is to outwork them.

~ james clear

charm may attract friends, but it is character that keeps them.

~ the stoic emperor

if you're perfectly qualified to do something, you've already outgrown it.

~ angela jiang

let me tell you something you already know. the world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. it's a very mean and nasty place and i don't care how tough you are, it will beat you down to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. you, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. but it ain't about how hard ya hit. it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. how much you can take and keep moving forward. that's how winning is done! now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. but you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. cowards do that and that ain't you. you're better than that!

~ sylvester stallone

half doing something is an expensive way of not doing it.

~ angela jiang

money doesn't change people. it reveals them.

~ hacker (2016)

if you are easily offended you are also easily persuaded.

~ amused chimp

confidence grows with action and shrinks with idleness. you don’t need to feel confident to start. you need to start to feel confident.

~ the stoic emperor

reading the whole book is not important, understanding what you are reading is.

~ amused chimp

we must sometimes do things that we are not qualified to do. infants are not qualified to walk. growing up is a succession of tests we are not qualified to take. this is what growth demands.

~ the stoic emperor

don't have time? then don't: argue politics, self-help, econo-bs, 'news'. saved you a bunch of time, now go do what you want.

~ amused chimp

i never allow myself to have an opinion on anything that i don't know the other side's argument better than they do.

~ charlie munger

why do we fall sir? so that we can learn to pick ourselves up.

~ alfred pennyworth, the dark knight (2008)

you see this little hole? this moth's just about to emerge. it's in there right now, struggling. it's digging it's way through the thick hide of the cocoon... now, i could help it - take my knife. gently widen the opening. and the moth would be free - but it would be too weak to survive. struggle is nature's way of strengthening it.

~ john locke, lost (2004)