- Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage. Confucius
- Your good fortune is not to need good fortune. Seneca (On Providence)
- The only way, is to learn to fight. Alain de Botton
- Failure-resistant is achievable; failure-free is not. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Bed of Procrustes)
- It’s when our back is against the wall that we most often find a new door. Neil Strauss
- How unlucky I am that this should happen to me. But not at all. Perhaps, say how lucky I am that I am not broken by what has happened, and I am not afraid of what is about to happen. Marcus Aurelius
- In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson
- It is a sign of weakness to avoid showing signs of weakness. Nassim Nicholas Taleb (The Bed of Procrustes)
- You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice. Bob Marley
- Learn to love the pain of improvement. It is the most beneficial addiction you can have. Angela Jiang
- You ought not to fear that over which you have no control. Aristotle
- Life is hard and unfair. That’s why you must get up one more time. That’s why you must keep going no matter what. Maxime Lagacé
- Whoever then wishes to be free, let him neither wish for anything nor avoid anything which depends on others: if he does not observe this rule, he must be a slave. Epictetus (Enchiridion, Amazon book)
- What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche
- I say, drop all your defences. Anyone can make a mistake — even you. Do not defend your mistakes; just accept them and move on. When you are totally defenceless, that is when you will be completely strong. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
- 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)
- Good things take time. Bad things don’t. Angela Jiang
- If you aren’t big enough to stand criticism, you’re too small to be praised. Earl Deason
- I didn’t let my desire for comfort rule me. David Goggins (Can’t Hurt Me, Amazon book))
- Do not let the body be dragged along by mind nor be dragged along by the body. Miyamoto Musashi
- I don’t stop when I’m tired. I stop when I’m done. David Goggins (Can’t Hurt Me)
- Talent is insignificant. I know a lot of talented ruins. Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck, but most of all, endurance. James Baldwin
- People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of. Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist, 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)
- It’s possible to transcend anything that doesn’t kill you. David Goggins
- 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
- Take the long view. This is going to be a nine-inning game. There will be highs and lows. Focus on what you can control. Brad Stulberg
- Vulnerability is a strength. Gary Vaynerchuk
- If it scares me, there’s magic on the other side. Kamal Ravikant
- Holding on won’t make you strong, letting go will. Thibaut