Quotes from Robert Greene

Fear creates its own self-fulfilling dynamic- as people give into it, they lose energy and momentum. Their lack of confidence translates into inaction that lowers confidence levels even further, on and on.

Seduction is a game of psychology, not beauty, and it is within the grasp of any person to become a master at the game. All that is required is that you look at the world

The vast majority of people conform to whatever is normal for the time.

With such a deep rooted interest you can withstand the setbacks and failures, the days of drudgery, and the hard work that are always a part of any creative action. You can ignore the doubters and critics. You will then feel personally committed to solving the problem and will not rest until you do so.

I give my mind the liberty to follow the first wise or foolish idea that presents itself

Try to persuade a person by appealing to their consciousness, by saying outright what you want, by showing all your cards, and what hope do you have? You are just one more irritation to be tuned out.

Hesitation creates gaps. Boldness obliterates them.

Understand this: The world wants to assign you a role in life. And once you accept that role you are doomed. Your

In a speech Abraham Lincoln delivered at the height of the Civil War, he referred to the Southerners as fellow human beings who were in error. An elderly lady chastised him for not calling them irreconcilable enemies who must be destroyed. "Why, madam," Lincoln replied, "do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

Our continual connection to social media makes us prone to new forms of viral emotional effects. These are not media designed for calm reflection.

So much of power is not what you do but what you do not do—the rash and foolish actions that you refrain from before they get you into trouble.

Chance favors only the prepared mind.

Anger is the most destructive of emotional responses, for it clouds your vision the most.

It is time to reverse this prejudice against conscious effort and to see the powers we gain through practice and discipline as eminently inspiring and even miraculous.

As Abraham Lincoln said, "I don't like that man. I must get to know him better.

For what the leaders are, that, as a rule, will the men below them be. —Xenophon (430?–355? B.C.)

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.

What if we could find out what causes us to lie about who we are, or to inadvertently push people away?

Still uncertain as to our identity, we think that what matters in the work world is gaining attention and making friends. And these misconceptions and naïveté are brutally exposed in the light of the real world.

They all overvalued the importance of stability.

To have a good enemy, choose a friend: He knows where to strike. DIANF DE POITIERS, 1499-1566, MISTRESS OF HENRI II OF FRANCE

Never pick a fight with someone you're not sure you can defeat.

What excites me about America is its social mobility, people continually rising from the bottom to the top and altering the culture in the process. On another level, however, we remain a nation that lives in social ghettos. Celebrities generally congregate around other celebrities; academics and intellectuals are cloistered in their worlds; people like to associate with those of their kind. If we leave these narrow worlds, it is usually as an observer of another way of life.

What draws attention draws power