If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them. The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

- Ernest Hemingway

  A Farewell to Arms

The Tao Of Yao (Ming)

"How does a single blade of grass thank the sun?"


"It is not a violent strength like fire or something aggressive. It is like the ocean, very peaceful, very quiet when you look at it. But you can never underestimate the power that is in there."

On the Ethos of Norse Heroes and Myths

The only sustaining support possible for the human spirit, the one pure unsullied good men can hope to attain, is heroism; and heroism depends on lost causes. The hero can prove what he is only by dying. The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.  

- Edith Hamilton

Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes

On One's Restless Quest in the World

All that is gold does not glitter. Not all those that wander are lost.

- John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings

Abraham Maslow: Humanistic Psychology

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.


If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail


A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.


What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.


We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.


The fact is that people are good, Give people affection and security, and they will give affection and be secure in their feelings and their behavior.


The human being is simultaneously that which he is and that which he yearns to be.


The loss of illusions and the discovery of identity, though painful at first, can be ultimately exhilarating and strengthening.


The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.


Victory depends on whether or not a duelist has the courage to fight until the bitter end.

On Handling Fear

The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero uses his fear, projects it onto his opponent, while the coward runs. It's the same thing, fear, but it's what you do with it that matters.

- Constantine "Cus" D'Amato

Boxing Coach/Manager

Trainer of Champions

On Enduring Designs

Simple is elegant . . .

Simple is timeless. . .

Simple works!

10 Potent Thoughts from Bruce Lee

Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.

Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.

Simplicity is the key to brilliance.

A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.

As you think, so shall you become.

Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.

If there is a God, he is within. You don't ask God to give you things, you depend on God for your inner theme.

Obey the principles without being bound by them.

Real living is living for others.

On Being Steadfast

In this world, anything that stands tall enough gets worshipped. Now I never claimed I towered over anyone else, but I’ve always had a problem with kneeling down.

On Truly Living in the Moment

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.

- Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Hagakure

On Being Courageously YOU

Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness. And they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy... or they become legend.

- Jim Harrison
Legends of the Fall

On Brilliance

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex... It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.

- Albert Einstein

"Remember, remember the 5th of November..."

"People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

- "V"

V for Vendetta
Alan Moore

On The Middle Way

On realizing that the ultimate truth and freedom from the wold's ills is not found in the extremes of earthly pleasures of his former princely life, nor in the severe bodily mortifications of an ascetic, he overheard a master of the lute passing on the river remark:

If the string is too tight, it will break. If it is too loose, it will not play.

- Gautama Siddartha

The Buddha

On Contentment

"Contentment is a quality found only among the gods. Why? Because they have cursed man to constantly better himself."