what you respond to in any work of art is the artists struggles against his / her limitations.

live by the harmless untruths that make you brave and kind and healthy and happy.

We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful what we pretend to be.

Our life experience will equal what we paid attention to. Whether by choice or default.

Meditation is less about inwardness and more about openness.

There’s more to life than talking to yourself about yourself

It’s hard to be an ordinary person when you’re not an ordinary person

“to seek is to suffer. to seek nothing is bliss. when you seek nothing you’re on the path.”

Warren Buffett often suggests the following thought experiment: assume that every human being currently alive, all eight billion souls on Earth, is a marble placed in a massive jar. If given the opportunity, would you put your marble in with the others, shake the jar, take another marble at random, and live that life instead? If the answer is no, then you know you have a blessed life.

“How did it get so late so soon?”

religious texts are not meant to be interpreted as history books

do you need to see it to believe it or believe it to see it?

“It may seem difficult at first but everything is difficult at first.” // Miyamoto Musashi

having an opinion for others can be helpful because it forces them to agree or disagree which elicits their opinion. it doesn’t matter how often you’re actually right. it’s probably better to be wrong more in that context.

talismans: some people want to read about a topic to actually learn about it and others want to do it to resolve anxiety they have about not knowing about it / not having read it.

would you do what you’re about to do if you could never tell anyone about it?

“not wanting something is as good as having it”

people think they can’t change themselves but they can. people think they can change other people but they can’t.

you will get whatever outcomes in life are acceptable to you. have high standards.