When someone has a strong opinion about something, it usually says more about them than whatever or whomever the opinion happens to be about.
Do now what nature demands of you. Get right to it if that’s in your power. Don’t look around to see if people will know about it.
If we expect to be leaders, we must see that thankless service comes with the job. We must do what leaders do, because it’s what leaders do – not for the credit, not for the thanks, not for the recognition. It’s our duty.
There is plenty that you could do right now, today, that would make the world a better place. There are plenty of small steps that, were you to take them, would help move things forward.
Play for the name on the front of the jersey, he says, and they’ll remember the name on the back.
Creativity is a matter of receptiveness and recognition. This cannot happen if you’re convinced the world revolves around you. By removing the ego – even temporarily – we can access what’s left standing in relief. By widening our perspective, more comes into view.
There is clarity in simplicity.
Musashi understood that the observing eye sees simply what is there. The perceiving eye sees more than what is there.
Every obstacle is unique to each of us. But the responses they elicit are the same: Fear. Frustration. Confusion. Helplessness. Depression. Anger. You know what you want to do but it feels like some invisible enemy has you boxed in, holding you down with pillows.
As they say, this moment is not your life. But it is a moment in your life. How will you use it?
The little compulsions and drives we have not only chip away at our freedom and sovereignty, they cloud our clarity. We think we’re in control – but are we really? As one addict put it, addiction is when we’ve “lost the freedom to abstain.” Let us reclaim that freedom. What that addiction is for you can vary: Soda? Drugs? Complaining? Gossip? The Internet? Biting your nails? But you must reclaim the ability to abstain because within it is your clarity and self-control.
That’s what’s next for you. Move forward, move onward. Another book isn’t the answer. The right choices and decisions are. Who knows how much time you have left, or what awaits us tomorrow?
That on which you so pride yourself will be your ruin,” Montaigne had inscribed on the beam of his ceiling. It’s a quote from the playwright Menander, and it ends with “you who think yourself to be someone.
What was so special about Belisarius was that he accepted the bargain. Doing the right thing was enough. Serving his country, his God, and doing his duty faithfully was all that mattered. Any adversity could be endured and any rewards were considered extra.
In Aristotle’s famous Ethics, he uses the analogy of a warped piece of wood to describe human nature. In order to eliminate warping or curvature, a skilled woodworker slowly applies pressure in the opposite direction – essentially, bending it straight. Of course, a couple of thousand years later Kant snorted, “Out of the crooked timber of humanity, nothing can be made straight.” We might not ever be straight, but we can strive for straighter.
Consider every action and every thought – think of them as building blocks of your indestructible character. Then work to make each one strong and significant in its own right.
An artist is given many different canvases and commissions in their lifetime, and what matters is that they treat each one as a priority. Whether it’s the most glamorous or highest paying is irrelevant. Each project matters, and the only degrading part is giving less than one is capable of giving.
But the more you say no to the things that don’t matter, the more you can say yes to the things that do. This will let you live and enjoy your life – the life that you want.
All of us, including Marcus – who is passed over by just as many unaware pedestrians – last for just a day, at most.
For even peace itself will supply more reason for worry. Not even safe circumstances will bring you confidence once your mind has been shocked – once it gets in the habit of blind panic, it can’t provide for its own safety.