Quotes from Robert Greene

El problema es que, por lo general, estamos demasiado absortos en nosotros mismos: pensamos más en lo que queremos de otras personas que en lo que ellas podrían querer de nosotros.

Everything in nature has a structure, a way that the parts relate to one another, which is generally fluid and not so easy to conceptualize.

This reveals the power you have to short-circuit envy by placing attention on other people instead of yourself and engaging with them on a meaningful level.

Un verso [de un poema] quizá pueda llevarnos horas; pero si no parece una inspiración del momento, todo el trabajo habrá sido en vano. LA MALDICIÓN DE ADÁN, WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS, 1865-1939

See yourself as an explorer.

Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it. —Albert Einstein

Ideas are things to play with.

One master said, "He doesn't just look for the best move. He looks for the move that will disturb the man he is playing.

Elevate yourself above the battlefield.

circumstances never repeat themselves exactly.

We have seen that it can be better to surrender than to fight; faced with a more powerful opponent and a sure defeat, it is often also better to surrender than to run away. Running away may save you for the time being, but the aggressor will eventually catch up with you. If you surrender instead, you have an opportunity to coil around your enemy and strike with your fangs from close up.

The essence of deception is distraction.

Most men are ruled by the heart, not the head. Their plans are vague, and when they meet obstacles they improvise. But improvisation will only bring you as far as the next crisis, and is never a substitute for thinking several steps ahead and planning to the end.

feelings are nothing final or original; behind feelings there stand judgments and evaluations which we inherit in the form of . . . inclinations, aversions. The inspiration born of a feeling is the grandchild of a judgment—and often of a false judgment!—and in any event not a child of your own!

Daily Law: Do something today that you used to love doing as a kid. Try to reconnect with your impulse voices. Robert Greene in conversation at Live Talks Los Angeles, February 11, 2019

The way to recover the meaning of life and the worthwhileness of life is to recover the power of experience, to have impulse voices from within, and to be able to hear these impulse voices from within. —Abraham Maslow

In fact, whenever you must learn a new skill or alter your career path later in life, you reconnect with that youthful, adventurous part of yourself.

No one can argue with a demonstrated proof. As Baltasar Gracián remarks, "The truth is generally seen, rarely heard.

If you have no enemies, find a way to make them

Avoidance of conflict becomes a habit, and you lose the taste for battle. Feeling guilty is pointless; it is not your fault you have enemies.

In other words, concentrated practice over time cannot fail but produce results.

We forget the role that luck may have played in the success, or the contributions of others.

Spiritualize your warfare.

It is a deadly but common misperception to believe that by displaying and vaunting your gifts and talents, you are winning the master's affection.