I don’t know if this generation is the last mortal generation, or the last one before we blow ourselves up.

We are evolved for frequent, visible, small wins and to ignore the infrequent, hidden, catastrophic risks.

Large groups are no place for smart people.

You can have the mind or you can have the moment.

A busy mind can often rob you of peace of mind. The peace that we seek is not peace of mind, it’s peace from mind.

The scariest moment is always just before you start.

A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.

One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.

You want to rest your mind. You want to learn how to settle into your mind. Now, I look forward to solitary confinement. You leave me alone for a day, it will be the happiest day I’ve had in awhile. That is a superpower that I think everybody can attain.

What I find is that 90 percent of thoughts that I have are fear. 90 percent are fear based. The other 10 percent are probably desire based.

You have to get out of that relative mindset because if you get into that relative mindset, you’re always going to hate people who do better than you, you’re always going to be jealous, you’re going to be envious of them.

The fewer desires I can have, the more I can accept the current state of things, the less my mind is moving because the mind really exists in motion towards the future or the past.

Everything is perfect exactly the way it is. It is only in our particular minds that we’re unhappy or not happy and things are perfect or imperfect because of what we desire.

The advantage of meditation is not that you’re suddenly going to gain the superpower to control your internal state, it’s that you will recognize just how out of control your mind is.

On the mind: It is like a monkey flinging feces, that’s running around the room, making trouble, shouting, breaking things. It’s completely uncontrollable. It’s an out-of-control mad person.

You have to see this mad creature in operation before you feel a certain distaste towards it and you start separating yourself from it. In that separation is liberation.

I think the number one thing that clouds us from being able to see reality is that we have preconceived notions of the way it should be.

A busy mind accelerates the perceived passage of time. Buy more time by cultivating peace of mind.

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.

To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly.

Only the new, accepted deeply and totally, can transform you.

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.

Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.

Let your smile change the world, but don’t let the world change your smile.

The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress.

To change the world I have to change myself, break away from my conditioning.

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.

You can’t start the next chapter of your life if you keep re-reading the last one.

The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

If you want to be effective in business, you need a clear, calm, cool, and collected mind.

A clear mind, leads to better judgement, leads to better outcome.

Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most.

You have one life. You’re dead for tens of billions of years, and you’re going to be dead for tens of billions of years.

The reality is life is a single-player game. You’re born alone. You’re going to die alone. All of your interpretations are alone. All your memories are alone. You’re gone in three generations and nobody cares. Before you showed up, nobody cared. It’s all single-player.

If you can’t see yourself working with someone for life, don’t work with them for a day.

All the real benefits in life come from compound interest.

Slow down, life is long.

Live below your means for freedom.

Ruthlessly cut meetings out of your life.

Change before you have to.

Relax you’ll live longer and perform better.

Live the life you want other people to live.

All the great endeavors in life are creative.

We all get shaped by adversity. All the great things that have happened to me in my life that I consider highly positive… they all started with something highly negative.

The flavor of life is on the edge. 

You have to do hard things to create your own meaning in life.

The three big ones in life are wealth, health, and happiness. We pursue them in that order but their importance is in the reverse.

My number one priority in life, above my happiness, above my family, above my work, is my own health. It starts with my physical health. Second, it’s my mental health. Third, it’s my spiritual health. Then it’s my family’s health

On what is the purpose of life: To keep growing and learning in the short period of time that you have. To seek truth and to accept things the way they are. To see the world the way it really is. Then, just to live your life. I think that’s it. Any deeper meanings or goals just lead to ideologies, which lead to desires, and belief systems, and disappointments and conflict.