Brian > Brian's Quotes

“Yet mark his perfect self-contentment, and hence learn his lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy.”
― Edwin Abbott Abbott, Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions

“In short, I am convinced, both by faith and experience, that to maintain one's self on this earth is not a hardship but a pastime, if we will live simply and wisely; as the pursuits of the simpler nations are still the sports of the more artificial. It is not necessary that a man should earn his living by the sweat of his brow, unless he sweats easier than I do.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walking

“Achievement is talent plus preparation”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

“If it were worth the while to settle in those parts near to the Pleiades or the Hyades, to Aldebaran or Altair, then I was really there, or at an equal remoteness from the life which I had left behind, dwindled and twinkling with as fine a ray to my nearest neighbor, and to be seen only in moonless nights by him. Such was that part of creation where I had squatted;”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden, or Life in the Woods

“...If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires. (151)”
― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

“Step by step walk the thousand-mile road.”
― Musashi Miyamoto, The Book of Five Rings

“Therefore: In dwelling, choose modest quarters, in thinking, value stillness, in dealing with others, be kind, in choosing words, be sincere, in leading, be just, in working, be competent, in acting, choose the correct timing. Follow these words and there will be no error.”
― Laozi, Tao Te Ching

“One of my favorite Tibetan sayings is “Even if you’re going to die tomorrow, you can learn something tonight.”
― Sakyong Mipham, Turning the Mind Into an Ally

“Growth comes at the point of resistance. We learn by pushing ourselves and finding what really lies at the outer reaches of our abilities.”
― Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

“A key component of high-level learning is cultivating a resilient awareness that is the older, conscious embodiment of a child’s playful obliviousness.”
― Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

“It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Complete Prose Works Of Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The staggering babies embody the deepest truth about deep practice: to get good, it's helpful to be willing, or even enthusiastic, about being bad. Baby steps are the royal road to skill.”
― Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else

“When you bring your full attention to each moment, a day is a complete lifetime of living and learning,”
― Mark Divine, The WAY OF THE SEAL UPDATED AND EXPANDED EDITION: Think Like an Elite Warrior to Lead and Succeed

“Russians are easy to spot, even if you dress them like Buckingham Palace guards. They are “the white people who look seriously ticked off,” as Army Ranger vet Ellis Jones, RKC, has put it on our forum.”
― Pavel Tsatsouline, Enter the Kettlebell!: Strength Secret of the Soviet Supermen

“In omnibus negotiis prius quam aggrediare, adhibenda est præparatio diligens—In all matters before beginning a diligent preparation should be made.”
― J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein, The Art of Public Speaking

“I'm traveling 90 kilometers per day as usual, but I only get 37 kilometers closer to Schiaparelli because Pythagoras is a dick.”
― Andy Weir, The Martian