Mega list of impactful quotes

Recently James Clear (@James Clear) author of "Atomic Habits" sent out a tweet wanting to one sentence that has stayed on. This tweet got 500+ responses. I've put up some chosen ones that resonated with me.

• We suffer more in imagination than in reality. - Seneca
• The pain of inaction stings longer than the pain of an incorrect action -James Clear
• Most failures are one-time costs. Most regrets are recurring costs. The pain of inaction stings longer than the pain of incorrect action - James Clear
• Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer - Machiavelli
• Make mistakes of ambition and not mistake of sloth - Machiavelli (Mistakes of amibition teach, mistakes of sloth comfort- James Clear)
• Your actions are your real priorities - James Clear
• Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. - Carl Jung

• Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddhaghosa
• Mental toughness is persistence, not intensity - James Clear
• Successful people are willing to do the things that unsuccessful people are unwilling to do – Anon
• Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become – James Clear
• Opportunity lies in the place that complaints are. - Jack Ma
• There is nothing noble about being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Hemingway
• Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth  – Mike Tyson

• Happiness is a choice you make and a skill that you develop – Naval Ravikant
• Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box - Italian Proverb

• Does the emerald lose its beauty for lack of admiration? — Marcus Aurelius
• The last thing you want to do is usually the first thing you should do – Tim Ferris
• Beginners get excited when they know the answer. Masters get excited when they don't - Anon 
• We suffer more in imagination than in reality. - Seneca
• Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it. -Mary Oliver

• Premature optimization is the root of all evil - Donald Knuth
• Infinite patience produces immediate results. — Wayne Dyer 
• Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement – James Clear
• We have Two Lives and the Second begins when we realize we only have one – Naval Ravikant
• Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go - T S Eliot

• The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug – Mark Twain
• It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog – Mark Twain
• Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life - Jerzy Gregorek
• All the benefits in life come from compound interest - relationship, money, habits - anything of importance – Naval Ravikant
• Discipline equals freedom – Jocko Willinik
• Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you see the world. - George Bernard Shaw

• You can have just about anything you want, but not everything you want - Ray Dalio
• If you are still thinking the answer is no – Naval Ravikant
• The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried – Stephen McCranie
• You are always one decision away from a completely different life – Anon
• A person who won't read has no advantage over one who can't read - Mark Twain
• People think they lack focus when in reality they lack clarity – Anon

• The days are long, but the years are short – Gretchen Rubin
• Time is all you have and you may find one day that you have less than you think. - Randy Pausch
• Step by step you get ahead, but not necessarily in fast spurts. But you build discipline by preparing for fast spurts.... Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. - Munger

Naval Ravikanth's Work and Life Lessons (quotes)

Lately, I'm following Naval Ravikanth (@naval), founder of AngelList -that helps startups, angel investors, and job-seekers looking to work at startups. His podcasts have achieved a great fan following. His messages are simple, yet profound. I'm presenting a few that resonated me very much (mostly from his tweets):

• The 5 most important skills are reading, writing, arithmetic, persuasion (talking) & computer programming. If you are good with computers, basic mathematics, writing, speaking and you like reading you are set for life
• A rational person can find peace by cultivating indifference to things outside of their control.
• The problem happens when we have multiple desires. When we have fuzzy desires. When we want to do ten different things and we’re not clear about which is the one we care about.
• All the benefits in life come from compound interest — money, relationships, habits — anything of importance
• A personal metric: how much of the day is spent doing things out of obligation rather than out of interest?
• Don’t do things that you know are morally wrong. Not because someone is watching, but because you are. Self-esteem is just the reputation that you have with yourself
• This is such a short and precious life that it’s really important that you don’t spend it being unhappy.”
• You make your own luck if you stay at it long enough.
• The power to make and break habits and learning how to do that is really important.
• Happiness is a choice and a skill and you can dedicate yourself to learning that skill and making that choice.
• The people who succeed are irrationally passionate about something
• If it entertains you now but will bore you someday, it’s a distraction. Keep looking
• Clear thinkers appeal to their own authority
• You can change it, you can accept it, or you can leave it. What is not a good option is to sit around wishing you would change it but not changing it, wishing you would leave it but not leaving it, and not accepting it. It’s that struggle, that aversion, that is responsible for most of our misery. The phrase that I use the most to myself in my head is one word: accept.”
• I don’t have time is just saying it’s not a priority.
• Technology is applied science. Science is the study of nature. Mathematics is the language of nature. Philosophy is the root of mathematics. All tightly interrelated
• The first rule of handling conflict is don’t hang around people who are constantly engaging in conflict.
• People who try to look smart by pointing out obvious exceptions actually signal the opposite.
• You’re never going to get rich renting out your time.
• People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing.
• Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself
• A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought — they must be earned
• The secret to public speaking is to speak as if you were alone
• Work becomes flow at the limits of ability. The flavor of life is on the edge
• The fundamental delusion — there is something out there that will make me happy and fulfilled forever.
• Success is the enemy of learning. It can deprive you of the time and the incentive to start over. Beginner’s mind also needs beginner’s time

Quotable Quotes

Some more interesting quotes, this time from stoicism:

• "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One.” – Marcus Aurelius
• "We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” – Seneca
• "If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it.” – Marcus Aurelius
• "We all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.” – Marcus Aurelius
• "It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." - Epictetus
• "You shouldn't give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don't care at all." - Marcus Aurelius. 
• "Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions." - Marcus Aurelius
• "The man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive." - Seneca

Accountability

We tend to blame everything and everyone, because it is so easy. Pl. consider this ..

Quotable Quotes

Recently I finished reading this very instructive book "Tools for Titans". As usual I highlighted phrases that resonated. Here are a few.

• The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.
• The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism
• If the best in the world are stretching their asses off in order to get strong, why aren’t you?
• Money can always be regenerated. Time and reputation cannot
• You must want to be a butterfly so badly, you are willing to give up being a caterpillar.
• If you want great mentors, you have to become a great mentee. If you want to lead, you have to first learn to follow
• We do not rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training
• When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be
• A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have
• Life is a series of choices—take accountability for yours

What is your dream, and how are you going to turn it into reality?

Here are Sir Richard Branson's top 10 quotes on "dreaming".

10. "It may be that those who do most, dream most." – Stephen Leacock

9. "Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

8. "Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream." – Peter McWilliams

7. "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." – Eleanor Roosevelt

6. "There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure." – Paulo Coelho 

5. "Dreams are the touchstones of our characters." – Henry David Thoreau

4. "If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse." – Walt Disney

3. "I don't dream at night, I dream all day; I dream for a living." – Steven Spielberg

2. "The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams." – Oprah Winfrey 

1. "20 years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." – Mark Twain

What is your dream, and how are you going to turn it into reality?

Quote Hanger

Dr.T-isms

I'm an unabashed fan of Dr. T (who isn't). You have to work very hard NOT to get inspired when he is around you. In 2014-15 I was fortunate to be a part of our prestigious LDS training program that Dr. T himself personally leads.  (it happens only once every two years and very difficult to get I'm. Only Gowrisha and I have had the privilege of attending it so far from NIB R&D). On the last day of the training, on popular demand, Dr. T shared some of his beliefs that is popularly known as Dr. T-isms. Here are they. Things in braces are my notes from the session.

• Ooch your way (start small and build on it, as opposed to starting with something grandiose and not getting enough support)
• Iron Will (Dr. T believes we at NI make the "impossible possible; and possible, easy". Having an unshakeable will, surely is a necessary component to do this, especially when the going gets tough)
• Be the biggest optimist and pessimist (when planning be as pessimistic as possible,  but execute with optimism)
• Genius of the AND (do not look for either/or solutions, clubbing the best of both can give you great solutions)
• Option Play (have a Plan A, B and C for everything, so that you can switch quickly should some assumptions go wrong)
• Start from where you are (do not make incorrect assumptions)
• Good, Better, Best (be aware of how we can segment the market to cater to the demands of various cutomers)
• "Talent does what it can; Genius does what it must"
• "The nicer you are, the tougher you can be"
• "Everyone is right if you look from their perspective"

Quotable Quotes

• Working smart instead of hard sounds great until you realise that you're competing with a lot of very smart people that work extremely hard
• A river cuts thru the rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence. Chase your DREAMS every single day.
• We can't direct the wind, but can adjust our sails
• You can have brilliant ideas, but if you can't get them across, your ideas won't get you anywhere. 
• Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lifes, but no idea how to lead their own.
• The smallest deed is better than the grandest intention
• The only person you need to be better than is the person you were yesterday.
• Where you are headed is far more important than how fast you are going
• Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere!!
• SUCCESS IS A MINDSET

Quote Hanger

This page is a collection of quotes, as and when I run into those:

• I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. -  Henry David Thoreau
• The master of the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and his religion. He simply pursues his vision of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both. - Lao Tzu
  
• Change will leade to insight far more often than insight will lead to change. - Milton H Erickson
• Irrelevance comes from always doing the things you know how to do in the way you've always done them. - Tom Peters
  
• Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do - Benjamin Franklin
  
• The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure - Henry David Thoreau
• I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught - Winston Churchill
• In preparing for battles I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable - Dwight D. Eisenhover
  
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  Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress, therefore, depends on unreasonable people - George Bernard Shaw
  

  
  
• The difference between great and average or lousy in any job is, mostly, having the imagination and zeal to re-create yourself daily. - Tom Peters
  
• It is not worth an intelligent man's time to be in the majority. By definition, there are already enough people to do that. - G H Hardy
• What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say - Ralph Waldo Emerson