Ryan Holiday

There is this idea that if you just make great stuff—if you’re authentic and cool—it will just happen.

Compulsion to do is the opposite of being. It’s the opposite of being present.

“Why am I telling myself that I’ve been harmed?”

The worries and anxieties of daily life seem to fall away when we stand next to the ocean or walk through a beautiful park.

We tell ourselves we don’t have time to prepare too much because we have other things going on, or we tell ourselves we’re not going to prepare because we haven’t been paid yet.

Most people with a public persona tell you that the downsides outweigh the upsides.

So fight it. A lot depends on whether you win the battle. Hopefully these books will help.

No Pressure. Just Write.

Gratitude for that nagging pain in my leg, gratitude for that troublesome client, gratitude for that delayed flight, gratitude for that damage from the storm. Because it’s making me take things slow, because it’s helping me develop better boundaries, because some flights are going to be delayed and I’m glad it wasn’t a more important flight, because the damage could have been worse, because the damage exposed a more serious problem that now we’re solving. And on and on.

Move to find stillness. And if not stillness, then at least insight.

You can always recognize a leader by their generosity towards others, particularly the people who work for and with them.

If you want to be a person who people respect, you have to stand for something.