Ryan Holiday

It’s not a way to live. It’s not a way to do big things. It’s a way to fail big.

Nobody grows by flattery. No one benefits from chasing down a flawed dream they are not suited for or can’t properly defend.

Reading is like eating, sex and meditation. The whole point is that it’s pleasurable and meaningful. It’s like listening to music. You’re not supposed to rush through it.

Not everything that’s hard is good of course, but almost everything good is very hard.

Don’t worry as much about disruption and chaos—it might simply mean interesting things are happening—fear stability and complacency because it means decay.

Today, in a society obsessed with content, outrage, and drama, it’s even easier to get lost in the echo chamber of the debate of what’s “better.”

Life is full of things that, technically speaking, we are able to do, but that reasonable, considerate people refrain from doing—because it negatively impacts the other people around us.

“Powerful people,” he writes, “impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.” I think of this law when I am about to tweet, when I am considering an email, when I am coming up with marketing materials. Less is almost always more.

Even if they are serious opportunities, even if it will only take 15 minutes, even if it’s something that everyone else does, I’d like to avoid it.

Be inspired by the people who truly changed the world for the better, and learn lessons from the writers and thinkers who have deeply studied the topics and personalities and problems of the past.

Making money is easier than most people think—knowing why and what for, and not being driven in the wrong direction to get it? Much harder.

It’s never been easier to talk, to distract ourselves, to puff ourselves up.