Mantras That Guide My Life
Reminders used to solidify my values.
2025-09-23
The wise man knows the Self, and he plays the game of life. But the fool lives in the world, like a beast of burden.
- Dhamma is in your mind, not in the forest. You don't have to go and look anywhere else.
- The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge.
- There is no great genius without a touch of madness.
- I am not what happens to me. I am what I choose to become.
- Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
- Happiness is not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort.
- Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a stateman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.
- Do not talk about giftedness, inborn talents! One can name great men of all kinds who were very little gifted. They acquired greatness, became 'geniuses' ... they allowed themselves time for it
- The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.
- If you bring fourth what is within you, what you bring fourth will save you. If you do not bring fourth what is within you, what you do not bring fourth will destroy you.
- The whole glory of man lies in activity.
- Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; We must do.
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society
- Almost nothing material is needed for a happy life, for he who has understood existence.
- I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.
- Perception is reality in the absence of fact.
- Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That's because they were able to connect experiences they've had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they've had more experiences, or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that's too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven't had very diverse experiences. So they don't have lots of dots to connect, and they end up with a very linear solution without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one's understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.
- Birds born in a cage think freedom is crime.
- Isolation is punishment while solitude is bliss.
- Oppourtunity lies where responsibility has been abdicated.
- Pain that is not transformed gets transmitted.
- Produce or be consumed.
- Satisfied people do not question the system.
- The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.
- When you don't create things, you become defined by your tastes rather than ability. Your tastes only narrow and exclude people. So create.
- You can either suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.