Any person capable of angering you becomes your master.
It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
When something happens, the only thing in your power is your attitude toward it. It is not the things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance. Things and people are not what we wish them to be nor are they what they seem to be. They are what they are.
Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible.
Don’t be concerned with other people’s impressions of you. They are dazzled and deluded by appearances. Stick with your purpose. This alone will strengthen your will and give your life coherence.
It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
What is learned without pleasure is forgotten without remorse.
Neither the victories of the Olympic Games nor those achieved in battles make the man happy. The only victories that make him happy are those achieved against himself. Temptations and tests are combats. You have beaten one, two, many times; still fight. If you defeat at last you will be happy your entire life, as if you have always defeated.
Be careful whom you associate with. It is human to imitate the habits of those with whom we interact. We inadvertently adopt their interests, their opinions, their values, and their habit of interpreting events.
Wealth consists not in having great possessions, but in having few wants.
Keep your attention focused entirely on what is truly your own concern, and be clear that what belongs to others is their business and none of yours.
There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.
From this instant on, vow to stop disappointing yourself. Separate yourself from the mob. Decide to be extraordinary and do what you need to do — now.
It is better to die of hunger having lived without grief and fear, than to live with a troubled spirit, amid abundance
Who exactly do you want to be? What kind of person do you
want to be? What are your personal ideals? Whom do you admire? What are their special traits that you would make your own It’s time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to become wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become. If you have a daybook, write down who you’re trying to be, so that you can refer to this self-determination. Precisely describe the demeanor you want to adopt so that you may preserve it when you are by yourself or with other
people.
Books are the training weights of the mind.
Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words.
You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will, and their motives may not be the highest.
He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.
Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it.
Progress is not achieved by luck or accident, but by working on yourself daily.
Any person capable of angering you becomes your master; he can anger you only when you permit yourself to be disturbed by him.
No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.
Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.
Renew every day your conversation with God: Do this even in preference to eating. Think more often of God than you breathe.
