“This man has conquered the world! What have you done?” The philosopher replied without an instant’s hesitation, “I have conquered the need to conquer the world.”

If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.

Resistance is greatest just before the finish line.

The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.

The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.

The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her.

Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.

Playing the game for money produces the proper professional attitude. It inculcates the lunch-pail state of mind that shows up for work despite rain or snow or dark of night and slugs it out day after day.

Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.

We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it.

As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.

There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.

Don’t cheat the world of your contribution. Give it what you’ve got.

The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration.

Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.

Seeking support from friends and and family is like having people gathered around at your deathbed. It’s nice, but when the ship sails, all they can do is stand on the dock waving goodbye.

The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.

I’ve always believed that a lot of the trouble in the world would disappear if we were talking to each other instead of about each other.

Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.

Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.

The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.

The finest day i ever had was when tomorrow never came.

Never be ashamed of your tears. Be proud that you are still natural. Be proud that you can express the inexpressible through your tears.

I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate – it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn.

Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind.