- After crosses and losses men grow humbler and wiser. Benjamin Franklin
- Pray not for a lighter load, but for stronger shoulders. Augustine of Hippo
- What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. Mother Teresa
- This life is all a f*cking mind game. Realize that. Own it! David Goggins (Can’t Hurt Me)
- If it scares me, there’s magic on the other side. Kamal Ravikant
- The most spiritual men, as the strongest, find their happiness where others would find their destruction: in the labyrinth, in hardness against themselves and others, in experiments. Their joy is self-conquest: asceticism becomes in them nature, need, and instinct. Difficult tasks are a privilege to them; to play with burdens that crush others, a recreation. Knowledge – a form of asceticism. They are the most venerable kind of man: that does not preclude their being the most cheerful and the kindliest. Friedrich Nietzsche (The Anti-Christ)
- You are only free when you realize you belong no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great. Brené Brown (Braving the Wilderness, Amazon book)
- Realize that nothing needs to change, except yourself. Thibaut
- We must gain victory, not by assaulting the walls, but by accepting them. Only when this surrender is made can we assure ourselves of inward quietness, and locate the next step on the road to ultimate victory. James Gordon Gilkey
- It’s impossible to improve yourself when you see yourself as a victim in every situation. Bill Masur (See also: love yourself quotes)
- Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down. Eleanor Roosevelt
- How to develop old school mental toughness: 1. Resist impulses 2. Get uncomfortable 3. Workout 4. Eat healthy 5. Sleep 6. Set goals 7. Get organized 8. Meditate 9. Manage time 10. Live in gratitude 11. Relentless determination. Ralph Napolitano
- Diligence overcomes difficulties, sloth makes them. Benjamin Franklin
- Many think they need to be stronger before they take the next step. But the truth is you need to take the next step before you get stronger. Thibaut
- It is preposterous to take to heart that which you should throw over your shoulders. Baltasar Gracián
- We gain the strength of the temptation we resist. Ralph Waldo Emerson
- The most important skill you can acquire: a mind calm under all circumstances. @orangebook_
- Don’t go to the doctor with every distemper, nor to the lawyer with every quarrel, nor to the pot for every thirst. Benjamin Franklin
- People who wade into discomfort and vulnerability and tell the truth about their stories are the real badasses. Brené Brown (Rising Strong, Amazon book)
- To welcome with affection what is sent by fate. Marcus Aurelius
- Your brain is the most powerful weapon in the world. David Goggins
- You make yourself strong because it’s expected of you. You become confident because someone beside you is unsure. You turn into the person others need you to be. Jodi Picoult (Vanishing Acts)
- While it’s admirable to have a strong personality that’s consistent for all, one who can’t adjust to the moment is at a serious disadvantage. Ed Latimore
- Failure-resistant is achievable; failure-free is not. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Bed of Procrustes)
- But what is philosophy? Doesn’t it simply mean preparing ourselves for what may come? Don’t you understand that really amounts to saying that if I would so prepare myself to endure, then let anything happen that will? Otherwise, it would be like the boxer exiting the ring because he took some punches. Actually, you can leave the boxing ring without consequence, but what advantage would come from abandoning the pursuit of wisdom? So, what should each of us say to every trial we face? This is what I’ve trained for, for this my discipline! Epictetus (Discourses, Amazon book)
- The fragile wants tranquility, the antifragile grows from disorder, and the robust doesn’t care too much. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Bed of Procrustes)
- When you over value compliments you become vulnerable to insults and judgement. Gary Vaynerchuk
- Not taking things personally is a superpower. James Clear (See also: inner peace quotes)
- It’s when our back is against the wall that we most often find a new door. Neil Strauss
- When one has not had a good father, one must create one. Friedrich Nietzsche