The Way of the Warrior: An Ancient Path to Inner Peace

by Erwin Raphael McManus

the world within you will create the world around you.

Peace does not come because you finally have control over your life; peace comes when you no longer need control.

We struggle with loneliness because we are searching for love rather than giving it.

You lose the present when you hide from your past and run from your future.

Peace comes when you stop trying to control the world around you and instead take responsibility for the world within you.

most people would rather live in the predictability of captivity than risk the uncertainty that comes in a fight for freedom.

When we are young, we are drawn by the fight far more than compelled by the training. We love the sound of victory far more than the grind of discipline. When you understand that wisdom is your greatest strength, you do not neglect the work necessary to sharpen your edge.

If you are passionate about the process and not just the outcome, that’s a marker that you are on the right track.

Every day is a competition against who they were yesterday.

It’s a peculiar realization to know that you have forgotten most of your life. Most of the experiences, the moments, the details—they all disappear, hidden behind selected memories that we call our past. But for every moment we remember, there must be at least a thousand others that we have forgotten. And we don’t forget consciously; it happens without us even taking notice. We just forget to remember, and that is much easier than remembering to forget.

There is no surer way to lose yourself than to spend your life thinking about yourself. When you fully know yourself, the focus of your mind moves toward serving others. To know yourself is to know the world.

If you find yourself living in a world where there is only cynicism, negativity, and distrust, you need to realize that it’s a world of your own making. There is a more beautiful world out there to be known, but you have to be able to see it. You have to want it. You must be willing to risk, to step outside of what you know, to live in a more extraordinary unknown.

We don’t simply find the world we are looking for; we create it. This is why the warrior must know their mind. Your mind is where your future is formed.

When your mind is shaped by hope, you do not see simply two paths; you see an endless number of paths filled with opportunity, possibility, and beauty. However, if your mind-set is shaped by cynicism or fear or doubt, then the only paths you see in front of you are the ones that are filled with pain and disappointment, with failure and hardship.