Quotes from Robert Greene

Periodically return to your original vision and imagine the immense satisfaction you will have when it comes to fruition.

everyone lives in a world of his own. The world in which a man lives shapes itself chiefly on the way in which he looks at it

The same is true of adults: it is through your battles with others that you learn what works, what doesn't, and how to protect yourself. Instead of shrinking from the idea of having enemies, then, embrace it. Conflict is therapeutic.

entre más obviamente persigas a una persona, más probable es que la ahuyentes. Demasiada atención puede ser interesante un rato, pero pronto se vuelve empalagosa, y al final es claustrofóbica y alarmante. Indica debilidad y necesidad, una combinación poco seductora.

También debes mantener a la gente a prudente distancia, para evitar que te comprenda.

Una mezcla de cualidades sugiere profundidad, lo que fascina tanto como confunde.

Las ostras se abren por completo en luna llena; y cuando el cangrejo ve una, arroja en ella una piedra o alga marina y la ostra no puede volver a cerrarse, así que sirve de alimento al cangrejo. Tal es el destino de quien abre demasiado la boca y se pone de ese modo a merced del oyente. LEONARDO DA VINCI, 1452-1519

You will also want a degree of flexibility built into the process. At certain moments you reassess your progress and adjust the various goals as necessary, constantly learning from experience and adapting and improving your original objective.

Ideas as things to play with; if you hold onto them for too long, they become something dead...connecting to the world is more important than holding onto your ego

We often notice a similar sensation of confusion and helplessness when it comes to ourselves and our own behavior. For instance, we suddenly say something that offends our boss or colleague or friend— we are not quite sure where it came from, but we are frustrated to find that some anger and tension from within has leaked out in a way that we regret.

When you hold yourself back, you incur not anger but a kind of respect. You instantly seem powerful because you make yourself un-graspable, rather than succumbing to the group, or to the relationship, as most people do. As your reputation for independence grows, more and more people will come to desire you, wanting to be the one who gets you to commit. The moment you commit, the magic is gone. You become like everyone else. People will try all kinds of underhanded methods to get you to commit.

they are able to direct their focus and their love into their work, becoming great artists, creators, and inventors. Because their outward focus on the work is more intense, they tend to be successful in their ventures, which gives them the necessary attention and validation.

grasping at Option A as the single right answer, true strategy is positioning yourself to be able to do A, B, or C depending

The weakness stems from our natural tendency to overestimate our skills. We normally have a self-opinion that is somewhat elevated in relation to reality.

Daily Law: Remember that what you are after is a series of practical results and accomplishments, not a list of unrealized dreams and aborted projects. Working with smaller, embedded goals will keep you moving in such a direction. The Laws of Human Nature, 13: Advance with a Sense of Purpose—The Law of Aimlessness

Combine Your Fascinations

If the scapegoat appears too weak and his punishment too cruel, you may end up the victim of your own device.

Sus repliegues las vuelven misteriosas, y las engrandecemos en nuestra imaginación.

Playing with appearances and mastering arts of deception are among the aesthetic pleasures of life. They are also key components in the acquisition of power.

that we are far more mysterious, complex, and interesting than we had imagined.

Julius Caesar was perhaps the first public figure to understand the vital link between power and theater.

Conviction Bias I believe in this idea so strongly. It must be true.

You want to embrace negative experiences, limitations, and even pain as the perfect means of building your skill levels and sharpening your sense of purpose.

Rather than flattering Louis XIV, Fouquet's elaborate party offended the king's vanity. Louis would not admit this to anyone, of course—instead, he found a convenient excuse to rid himself of a man who had inadvertently made him feel insecure. Such is the fate, in some form or other, of all those who unbalance the master's sense of self, poke holes in his vanity, or make him doubt his pre-eminence.