Rodney Ohebsion

The Forum: A Synthesis of World Teachings Primarily on Self-Cultivation and the Right Way of Life

Use material things to benefit yourself and humanity; and not vice versa.

Express and be in harmony with your own unique individuality.

Surround yourself with good examples—but go beyond them, emulate rather than imitate, and use them more to spur yourself on than to follow.

Properly combine your nature and training. The right parts of your nature lead to right raining, and right training leads to the right parts of your nature.

People differ greatly from one another. They decide and act based on their own particular motives and character. Do not assume or generalize anything about a person.

Choose the right environment, have an adequate variety of role models and companions, and aim for the kinds of interaction best for you with each particular person. Magnanimously regard, appreciate, respect, and delight in other people's goodness.

Consult and consider others’ frank, worthy assessments when it comes to their areas of expertise.

Make right alliances with and get good assistance from others. Do not misapply their help. Do not demand too much from one individual. Combine individual responsibility with teamwork.

Be rightly sociable, considerate, loyal, tolerant, and dutiful to others.

Many people lack character. Be cautious of being excessively lenient to, favoring of, familiar with, self-humbling towards, tolerant of, seemingly dependent on, or truthful and truth-seeking with them.

Set a good personal example—but in certain situations, be cautious of doing so in the presence of people who, out of pettiness or envy, will resent you for your worthiness and seek some sort of retaliation.

Confine your duty to others to its proper limits. Do not allow yourself to be harmed or led astray by others people'a non-rightness. Do not un-rightly harm yourself for others’ benefit.

Others will not necessarily be understanding, or be obliging towards you and your desires.

Remain composed when others do not know.

Let petty people know you mean business, and be tactful with them in order to avoid the problems that will inevitably ensue if you are too lenient or tolerant.

Be very selective when it comes to outwardly stating what goes against common opinion.

Be self-possessed and dignified.

Bondage and liberation are both within you. Fight the fight within. A true conqueror is one who conquers his Self through his Self. Self-rightness is the root of all rightness. The practice of rightness is from a person himself.

Direct yourself to rightness rather than depending on externals to do so.

Be ready to rightly use opportunities and key moments when they arrive.

Utilize opportunities that come on their own, create opportunities that do not come on their own.

Needs differ from person to person, and within a person at different times.

Do not try to do too much at once, neglect the greater rightness just because you cannot maintain all of it, or have excess concern for far off plans or obstacles.

Do not assume something is completed. It's seldom enough to begin things, give them their direction, and put them into movement. Some do much in starting and progressing, but stop without pushing advantages to victory, and often choose to give up much accumulation in order to accept a trivial return.

Perseverance isn't everything. Useless activity can be done forever.

Be content with following the Way. Make decisions based on what is most integral and essential to it, what comes next, and so on. Avoid being led astray or worn out by sacrificing, impeding, or neglecting major, important, and central advantages, needs, and matters in order to overvalue and apply yourself excessively to the minor.

Some things are worth doing perfectly, others excellently, others OK, and some not so well.

Rightness should be reached in the right way, whether easy or difficult.

Do everything in the right order.

Be broad enough for the essentials and adequate variety, and narrow enough to stay with the essentials and stick to the same thing when right to do so.

Reach and do not surpass rightness.

Know and base your beliefs and actions on the real sphere of your activity and condition. Avoid vain imaginings and unbalanced expectations, hopes, and fears. Do not allow a high aim to cause you to miss the mark of solid expectations. Know how to soar high and press forward, but also know how to adapt and limit yourself.

Do not underestimate situations, and neglect consideration, preparation, and vigilance. Do not make things more difficult than they are, or let your view magnify actual difficulties.

Anticipate and properly deal with matters in their early states.

Combine spontaneity and adaptability with planning and goals.

Make calculations and plans based on all potential possibilities and variables--but do not live in "what if."

Be prepared for and prevent dangers and problems.

Be ready and vigilant in noticing what is really happening, and acting accordingly.

Aim to impartially and accurately weigh all pros and cons of all options. Ask yourself the right questions. Distinguish various drawbacks and choose what has the least, knowing that even the greatest actions ususally have some drawbacks, and that to do a great right, it is usually necessary to do a little non-right.

Rightness and avoidance of major ills often requires taking certain risks and exposing yourself to minor ills. By guarding against everything, we cannot accumulate the right that will help us guard against wrong. Better to risk some than lose more.

In order to have rightly directed efforts, avoid excess demands, self-doubt, concern about criticism, or sensitivity to minor matters.

Offense is often a part of an effective defense, and speed is sometimes safest.

Rightly combine go-at-it with finesse.

Sometimes it is best to give some ground, yield, let things alone and to their course, and/or not strive.

Sometimes you get a better hold on a problem by leaving it for a while and totally dismissing it from your mind.

Beings have innate and trained habits.

What is repeatedly done becomes easier to repeatedly do, especially in the absence of what conflicts it. With great repetition, an action or thought becomes so strong that it is almost automatically done, and requires effort to not do.

Stronger habits supercede weaker ones.

Properly feed your rightness with rightness in order for it to grow into right habits.

Guard against continuously doing non-right. Use resolute initiative and right reinforcement to eliminate non-right habits, and to develop right habits that replace them.

Advancement in learning skills and making progress often has periods of stagnation or loss, followed by sudden major elevation often made when the person is not noticing.

Internal experiences of great victory often precedes their occurrence in reality. Have strong, deep, intense, persistent, vigorous, diligent, auspicious desire, determination, conviction, resolution, faith, expectations, and effort. Constantly affirm your rightness power, cultivate a right attitude, internally live in the ideal, mentally live in the ideal, have right beliefs, thoughts, visualizations, autosuggestions, and affirmations, and instantly obliterate all inauspicious ones.

It is what it is. What it is is what it is.

Rather than being for or against something, just follow what's right, and prioritize it over everything, including teachings, teachers, understanding, the past, and conclusion making, and whether something is ordinary or not, old or new, copied or original, and/or from a source you revere or hate.

Attend to the root.

Know and deal with distinctions.

Perspectives, parts, and impressions contain only partial data. Comparisons, analogies, categories, names, and general precepts have their limits. Cycles and constants exist, but not absolutely in everything. An effect is caused by a combination of causes.

Time actions rightly.

Don't merely expect the present to be like the past, and the future to be like the present.

The past isn't what we think it was. The future will turn out differently than we expect.

Notice, honor, and appreciate the present. Moments that go by never return. Tread rightness now.

Confine foresight and review to their right times and limits.

Rightness is better done late than never at all.

Have mental, emotional, physical, and soul self-discipline, equanimity, toughness, and resoluteness. Be ever vigilant against present and future harms. Keep yourself free of delusion.

Be confident yet careful, and self-assured yet self-protective. Use intrepidity to preserve composure and liberty.

Deal with and be superior to the problems and difficulties life presents you. Think of making things right as best you can. Be iron. Avoid aimless fear or worry.

Rightness is and results in a pure self. Rightness is its own reward; non-rightness is its own punishment. Properly cultivate and use your power to do what's right. Follow what's known as right. Rectify non-rightness through rightness, and abandoning non-rightness. Know, prefer, will for, long for, approve of, revere, like, love, delight in, do, persist in, and develop yourself with rightness. Guard against, abandon, avoid, restrain yourself from, fear, hate, be ashamed of, and do not desire, like, pamper, be attached to, or do non-rightness. Train yourself so that you only want rightness, until you delight in it, possess the ease that comes from being naturally right, and cannot be swayed from it by anything.

Follow the way of simultaneous right faith, right knowledge, and right actions.

Care about what's right, and not fame, reputation, and poisition. Rather than being universally approved of or hated, it is better to have people’s right opinions approve of you, and their wrong opinions disapprove of you.

Recognize that you know what you know, and recognize that you do not know what you do not know.

Learn through examples, words/teachings, and personal experience.

What is simple and easy to do might be difficult and complex to explain, understand, and analyze.

Most of our wisdom lies deep.

Do not excessively judge yourself while doing something.

Taking your mind off irrelevancies and being focused on the process—this is not putting your mind on the fact that this is so.

Concentration is not really something that involves effort or activity—it is more like the opposite, like how an actor forgets himself in portraying a character.

Concentration is an interest in the thought and engrossment in the subject, and leads to perception, insight, knowledge, and rightness power.

“Non-action” is to produce without acting, and obtain without seeking.

Do not contest with Nature, think too deeply about the deepness of its way, use your ability to investigate its greatness, or scrutinize its mystery.

Adjust yourself to, move, and yield to Nature’s way, in order to distinguish distinctions and instantaneously respond to changes.

Treat right as right and wrong as wrong.

Personally and earnestly consider.

It can be great to remember, but it is often more valuable to forget what should be forgotten.

Properly combine mind and heart.

Live pure amidst impurities.

It is what it is. What it is is what it is.

Confucius said: "When the superior person deals with the world, he does not bias his mind for or against anything-he just follows what is right.

Tzu Yu said, "The superior person is concerned with the root. Once the root is established, Tao unfolds."

Abide in the real, not the superficial.

Throw away bias and replace it with objectivity.

Be rooted in your immediate experience and what is actually there. Do not take a burden of preconceived ready-made general ideas first, and use them to deal with your experience. Do not jump to conclusions based on your experience.

Do not live life according to a formula.

Let your heart experience what is there, rather than what others tell you is there.

The person who clings to an idea or belief as the absolute and un-modifiable truth, so that he disbelieves everything else, will neglect experiencing the authentic truth when it comes directly to him.

Do not make assumptions.

Do not get caught up in names, words, and labels.

Do not make generalizations.

Once is not frequently. Twice is not always.

There is no such thing as a sure thing.

A possibility is not an assurance.

Comparisons, similarities and categories can be useful, and cycles and constants do exist. However, generalizations are wrong. There are an infinite variety of variations, degrees, points of view, and circumstances.

One uniform action is not necessarily universally and completely effective if it only works in some cases, or because it has had certain benefits.

Confucius was very virtuous and excellent. Perhaps he was the most virtuous and excellent person ever. However, even Confucius had some faults. For a person to become enamored with Confucius's virtue to the point that he interprets Confucius's faults as virtue-this is wrong. For a person to look at some of Confucius's virtue and conclude that Confucius was absolutely virtuous-this is wrong.

Adolph Hitler was sadistically cruel. Perhaps he was the most sadistically cruel person ever. However, even Adolph Hitler had some benevolence. For a person to become enamored with Adolph Hitler's sadistic cruelty to the point that he interprets his benevolence as sadistic cruelty-this is wrong. For a person to look at some of Adolph Hitler's sadistic cruelty and conclude that Adolph Hitler was absolutely sadistically cruel-this is wrong.

If a sports team wins a game, that does not mean they did everything right. If a sports team loses a game, that does not mean they did everything wrong. The game is composed of numerous people, and numerous acts by those people. To generalize them all in one way is wrong.

If someone is patient and benefits, that one example does not necessarily indicate that patience is absolutely good. For one thing, the person's benefit was not necessarily from the patience. And the word patience itself can be used to label things that differ significantly. And the degree of patience, situation it is used in, and person who uses it all also play a role. So to say that patience is absolutely good, is an immense overgeneralization.

An effect is caused by a combination of causes.

Holding to one point will disregard hundreds of others points, and hinder Tao.

In order to properly understand Tao, avoid becoming clouded and obsessed with one small section of Tao.

To obtain the complete and genuine nature of anything, it would be necessary to check and see all angles and points of view. Multiple viewpoints are needed for reality. Everything is composed of an infinite number of points of view and perspectives. Everything has endless characteristics.

The same thing can be expressed from different perspectives. Any description of a thing would be true from one perspective, but it cannot be concluded from this that other perspectives cannot be right.

In a perspective, there is only partial truth, but in denying everything else, that statement can result in untruth.

Three blind each felt only one portion of the elephant. The man who only felt the ear said that an elephant is flat and wide like a big fan. The man who only felt the elephant's tail said that an elephant is actually thin and narrow like a rope. The man who only felt the elephant's middle body said that an elephant is actually solid and thick like a wall. And so, each man had a widely different conception of what an elephant is.

Two friends standing on opposite sided of the road each saw only one side of man's two-color coat that was split down the middle-red on the right, and blue on the left. One friend said that the coat was red, the other said the coat was blue, and they both got in a fight over the disagreement, even though they were both accurately telling what they saw.

A man standing near a river heard someone from the other side say, "How can I get across the river?"

The man responded, "You are across the river."

Three workers were laying bricks, and someone asked each of them what they were doing.

One said, "I am laying bricks."

Another said, "I am making $15 an hour."

The third said, "I am building a cathedral."

A picture of a tree is indeed a picture of a tree. However, you can take an infinite number of pictures of the same tree from other angles, and they will still all also be pictures of the same tree.

Arnold has a son named Bill, and Bill has a son named Carl. If everyone calls Bill "dad," then that will result in falsehood, because from the perspective of Arnold, Bill is also a son. If everyone calls Bill "son," then that will result in falsehood, because from the perspective of Carl, Bill is also a father.

If Mahavira is on the middle floor of a three-story house, and his father on the top floor says "Mahavira is downstairs," and his mother on the bottom floor says "Mahavira is upstairs," they are both right from their point of view.

Guide yourself by learning. Learn widely. Question and investigate earnestly. Reflect personally.

Review the old and continue to learn the new.

Know what you know and know what you do not know.

The mind's capacity is as boundless like space, and cannot be described with any contained labels.

In learning, a person cannot extend to everything with earnestness. Be most earnest about attending to what is most important.

To maximize what is good and righteous, copy and transmit the good from the past, and institute and originate the good there is to be cultivated in the present.

Learn from experience and other means. Genuine education includes everything as part of the curriculum, and makes the whole world a library. A book, a date, a game, a dance, a person, a conversation, a joke-these are all included in the lessons. Anything that comes our way is. It is wrong to only learn from experience, and it is also wrong to neglect the learning that comes from experience.

Diligently seek the proper learning. Be willing to ask for the required information.

He who asks is a fool for a few seconds or perhaps longer; but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.

The superior person learns more from the lesser person than the lesser person learns from the superior person.

Learn from all. Do not have an only teacher.

Listen to valuable statements, even if they come from your enemy's mouth.

Mo Tzu was talking to Ch'eng Tzu, and he cited Confucius.

Ch'eng Tzu remarked, "You condemn Confucianism-so why did you just cite Confucius?"

Mo Tzu said, "This only has to do with what is right and cannot be altered. If a bird realizes there is a hazard of heat and drought, it will fly high. If a fish realizes there is a hazard of heat and drought, it will swim low. In situations like these, even the decision-making of Yu and T'ang would do the same. Should I never cite Confucius?"

Do not believe anything just because it is public opinion, common rumor, longtime tradition, something you heard, something you read, backed by the authoritativeness of yours teachers or elders, proven by closed strict logic and inferences, affirmed by an opinion you are fond of, or supported by someone you revere and think must be followed.

Do not give so much credit to one source and accept it entirely. Do not be satisfied with and superficially attached to the first information received, and give less credit to any that come afterwards. Leave room for more accounts. Investigate and weigh.

Information needs care. Sources have various motives and footings. Information is altered as it travels.

Overrating outward appearances and momentary impressions will result in misdirected judgment.

Your emotions are important. Do not neglect, discredit, or belittle them.

The world does not make any promises to anybody.

Al Sharpton said, "You should not assume that just because you have a dream, the whole world is going to fold to your dream."

I have heard and experienced that bondage and liberation are both within yourself.

Your soul can be the producer of joy or misery. Your soul is your friend when it travels on the right path, and your enemy when it travels on the wrong path.

It is better to gain victory over yourself than to conquer millions of enemies on the battlefield. A real conqueror is he who conquers himself.

Fight the fight within. Why fight external foes? He who conquers himself through himself will obtain supreme joy.

It is difficult to conquer oneself-but when that is conquered, everything is conquered.

Conquer and master yourself.

Move carefully like a horse harnessed and trained, and thereby attain quick liberation.

Pursue the path of right faith-viewpoint-attitude-disposition, right knowledge, and right actions.

Control yourself. Practice self-discipline. This is how to achieve the supreme goals, produce gain in all worlds, keep the senses and mind and emotions from being tainted, be freed from affliction and bondage, and be liberated.

Control your mind, body, and tongue.

Give up lack of self-control, and practice self-control.

It is better to control yourself with restraint and enhancements, than to have others control you with whips and chains.

Conquer free will and imagination.

The human mind is a tough foe. It is unfathomable. It is difficult to apprehend. It is a vicious, unruly, and dreadful horse that runs here and there.

I control my mind with the discipline of righteousness. I make it like a well-trained kanthaka steed-a high quality variety of horse.

An uncontrolled mind will not be able to stay free from evil thoughts.

Eliminate and avoid inauspicious thoughts. Have and be full of auspicious thoughts.

Eliminate and avoid poorly timed thoughts. Have and be full of well-timed thoughts.

Avoid thoughts that cause delusion.

Through mind-control, the soul obtains mind-concentration, and then obtains mind-equanimity, practice of restraint, and mind-protection from bad design.

Through mind-discipline, the soul obtains devotion, and then obtains right knowledge and right faith, and destroys wrong knowledge and wrong faith.

Do not use bad reasons to be abusive to yourself. Why should you?

Confucius said, "Not properly cultivating virtue that is present; not thoroughly developing what is learned; not following what is known as right; and not being able to change what is not good-these are the things that worry Confucius."

Righteousness brings a being's soul to its pure genuine nature. Righteousness is what leads to joy and liberation and self-realization. Righteousness is what develops and retains character. The root of righteousness is needed for liberation.

Sinning and courting unrighteousness results in having a hellish existence.

Roam in righteousness like a wild animal roams by itself in the woods.

Take in righteousness, and guard against unrighteousness.

Ceaselessly and continuously gather what is right.

Do not let teachings, teachers, or conclusion-making get in the way of what is right.

Abandoning righteousness and inviting unrighteousness is like being a charioteer that knowingly leaves a smooth road and takes a rough road, and then laments when his axle breaks.

Enjoy yourself by righteousness. Do not enjoy yourself by unrighteousness.

The vulgar person who never fixes his mind on the self's authentic welfare, and instead courts unrighteousness, will be enslaved like a fly that is caught by glue.

Abandon unrighteousness, just as a snake casts off the slough of its body and goes along free and easy, and just as a strong fish breaks through a weak net.

Dislike unrighteousness, just as a bird dislikes its cage.

Righteousness is less about theory and more about life. Live righteousness, instead of only reasoning about it.

Righteousness is needed for right knowledge, right faith, and right actions.

Train yourself so that you only want to see, hear, say, think, do, desire, and feel what is right. Do this until you authentically learn to love and enjoy what is right, and nothing can sway you or take you off course from what is right.

Conquer your senses, thoughts, emotions, and self so that they will all be for what is right.

Supreme wisdom is recognizing righteousness.

Destroy impure alterations to yourself.

Purify your soul.

Karmas are an accumulation of powerful particles unperceivable by the senses. They come from beginningless time.

When karmas get associated and boded to a soul, they cause it to be in bondage. Liberation, freedom from karmas, and purity of soul are all the same thing. Activity that purifies the soul also destroys karmas and also leads to liberation.

Karmas get into the soul through impure activity of mind, body, and speech. Impurities of activity can cause both auspicious and inauspicious karmas. Auspicious karmas are far better than inauspicious karmas. And auspicious karmas can be acceptable in early spiritual stages, and can lead to liberation. But pure activity is far better than any karma causing activity.

Totally destroy karmas. Obliterate already acquired karmas, and stop the influx of new karmas. Do this through the path of the self-conquerors. Having been born a human, do this, and do not waste human life.

The soul is the supreme substance and reality.

Contemplate the soul's genuine quality.

Contemplate that your soul has and is the source of infinite power and joy.

Your soul is eternally your soul.

I am one and alone. Nobody belongs to me, nor do I belong to anybody.

Every being is independent. Every being is born alone and dies alone.

Many people live with a person as he lives, but none will accompany him after death.

In this world, living beings are individually responsible for their own deeds.

Each being is responsible for his own karmas. No people and no possessions can save a person and relieve him of the misery when he suffers from his own karmas.

Rather than using millions of lives to eliminate the effects of karmas, use discipline and spiritual wisdom to obliterate and destroys the effects of karmas as soon as possible.

A person has the free will to acquire karmas on his soul. A person has the free will to stop karma influx on his soul and obliterate already acquired karmas.

Everything that is done has its outcome. You cannot escape what you do. You cannot escape the effects of your own actions.

Enjoy yourself through righteousness.

Give up wrong actions, and practice right actions. Be persistent in right actions, and develop your character with them.

At the end of the day, contemplate what right actions you have done and not done, and what right actions you could have done but did not do and are still left to be done.

Using right methods, destroy and throw out your attachments and shackles, and free yourself from them. Move about and live liberated, with lightness and joy, free to achieve major gains.

The mean is shunning excesses and shunning deficits. It is avoiding extremes. It is to add to where there is not enough, and lessen from where there is too much.

Confucius said, "While practicing virtue during normal situations, the superior person always makes further effort when there is a deficiency, and never goes over the limit where excess is approaching."

The mean is objective, balanced, righteous, and always present and attainable.

The mean has supreme virtue and effectiveness, but people rarely follow it for a long time.

The mean is not deprivating of needs, but is does require discipline, and can be more difficult than extremes, particularly for those who make extremes a habit

The mean differs from person to person, and differs within the same person at different times. Not everyone requires the same amount of sleep, exercise, reading, etc.; and even the same person's needs do not remain fixed.

The mean is widely auspicious. It is conducive to self-control, gain of natural control, repeated accumulation of power, entering the path of purity, and avoidance of misfortunes and pain.

Variety can be both auspicious and inauspicious.

It can be inauspicious to constrict and limit yourself to a severe lack of variety in life and environment, and to sacrifice everything for one aim, and to have a limited range of interests.

On the other hand, it can be inauspicious to have too many desires needed to obtain joy, and it can also be inauspicious to search for variety when the doing the same thing is what is effective.

It should be enough to be yourself, be authentic and sincere, follow your heart, and keep it real. A person should be satisfied with being a person.

Many people often do not consider this enough, and often discard some of it in order to seek social recognition, honors, glory, fame, financial greed, title, reputation, status, social power, social approval, social praise, and a post life reputation. This is unrighteous.

It is self-imprisoning to base you life on what you think others want you to hear, think, feel, want, do, and be; and to neglect what you want.

Why torture and neglect your mind, body and spirit, in order to spend your life chasing what you think will make the world be pleased with you, so that you might obtain a few fleeting moments of vain, shallow, and superficial praise?

Nothing can replace the joy of living. Do not be at a variance with your genuine and righteous inclinations.

Carefully observe which way your heart draws you, and then choose that way with all your strength.

People who know their minds do not necessarily know their hearts. The head is ever the dupe of the heart. That is why a person often believes he is leading when he is actually being led. His mind seeks one goal, while his heart unknowingly drags him towards another. The head cannot play the part of the heart for long.

I am authentic, empty, and simple. I am adrift like one who has no one place to stay. I am desolate like the sea.

Confucius said, "Isn't it a mark of a superior person to feel no discomposure even if others do not recognize him?"

People's opinions are far from infallible. And people often have some degree of bias, mean motives, and even malevolence when judging others. This is especially evident when you hear how often people speak depreciatingly of others secretly behind their backs, or when they are not obliged to fear the person-and in both of those cases, they are usually speaking out of a higher degree of sincerity than in other cases.

In certain aspects of their life, people often get so used to imitation and disguise, that they often become somewhat disguised to their own self.

In the bigger scope of things, the world will eventually take you at your own valuation, and will believe in you if you believe in yourself.

Authenticity is a supreme virtue.

Authenticity can only be extracted from the present.

Authenticity cannot be extracted from unnatural learned ideas of what we are.

Authentic authenticity is an openness of heart, and it is not a disguise put on to win other people's confidence.

Abide by your authentic unique individuality, and perfect and extend it instead of abusing it.

Black Elk said, "Grown men can learn from very little children-for the hearts of little children are pure. Therefore, the Great Spirit may show them many things that older people miss."

Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln were both completely different kinds of speakers, yet they were both powerful and effective speakers. Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, and Evander Holyfield are very different fighters, yet they are all great fighters.

Raw nature and training should be properly combined in a person.

People usually show only certain parts of themselves when they interact with others, and they often put those parts in a certain light. 80% of the human world is an act. People and their motives, views, and feelings are more concealed than revelaed. We seldom know others as they are, but we often think we do. It's easy to be misled.

There are many different types of friendships. Many friendships appear to be one thing, but are something else altogether. And many friendships are misrepresented by the world.

The world cares about what we are, but it also cares about our social standing, occupation, nationality, family background, wealth, etc.

People usually aren't that objective. Self-interest, vanity, the desire to appear consistent, points of view, early impressions, authoritative impressions, repetitive impressions, customs, and trends influence them greatly and take up much of their attention. They are often reluctant to admit anything that goes against their self-interest or vanity.

Most people are very trainable. They're trained to adhere to certain customs and standards.

Base your actions on what is right and effective, whether it is custom or not, whether it is common or uncommon, whether it is ordinary or not, whether it is habitual or not, or whether it is an old idea or a new idea.

Something that is uninteresting by itself can be made interesting if it is associated with something else that is interesting.

Place yourself on the right path. Always be vigilant and careful. Always advance on the path of righteousness by restraint and wisdom.

Be prudent. Protect yourself at all times. Guard yourself. Move free from carelessness. Be careful and remain alert even among the careless, idle, and indolent. Trust nothing and nobody.

Knowing that time is treacherous and body is vulnerable, move about as watchful and alert as the multi-headed bharanda bird Step carefully in life. Take everything to be a trap set for you.

Never expose yourself unnecessarily to danger. Fear what you should fear. Foresee evil and protect yourself from it.

It is better to lose a minute in your life than your life in a minute.

Be confident yet careful, self-assured yet self-protective, and prepared yet spontaneous.

To think you have a totally secure position can cause vulnerability. To think you have eternal order can cause disorder.

Do not forger danger when you are secure. Do not forget disorder when you are in order.

Caution is a supreme, but over-caution can be dangerous. Why? For one reason, making an effort to protect oneself against any and all kinds and levels of harm is trying to do the impossible, and those who endeavor to do so might unknowingly and inadvertently make themselves more concerned with guarding against minor misfortunes than major ones, and consequently make themselves susceptible to a major one. It is sometimes very necessary to endure one kind of harm to prevent a much more significant kind.

Additionally, an over-cautious person who tries to guard against everything, will guard against both the right and the wrong, and will consequently neglect accumulating right that will help him guard against wrong.

When a baby learns to walk, it runs the risk of falling-however, it can also be said that gaining the abilities to walk, run, and jump will help him avoid lots of harm later.

There is not much to be got anywhere in the world. It is filled with misery and pain, and if a person escapes these, boredom lies waiting for him at every corner. The world and mankind are mostly cruel, evil, biased, and even pathetic.

In a world like this, be rich in your own self and what you are. Be like a bright, warm, joyous room, when outside is winter frost and snow.

The most joyful destiny on earth-but not necessarily always the showiest one-is to have a rich individuality and a love of learning, and do to your utmost to avoid pain.

Joy and pleasure themselves are in actuality just the absence of pain. Pain is what is undeniably real.

Add absence of boredom to freedom from pain, and joy on earth is attained. Of course, certain endeavors that lead to the elimination of boredom can result in the risk of pain.

If a person is free from pain except for only one painful aspect, or if he succeeds in everything except one category where his ambition frustrated, then he will almost always be focused on that one aspect, and will probably even forget all the other things that he is successful at.

A person is not usually properly conscious of when he has succeeded in being free from pain. It is when this feeling is over that he then realizes the real feeling of pain.

Pleasures are chimerical. It is frivolous and ridiculous to mourn over the loss of pleasures, if you have succeeded in avoiding pain.

An optimistic viewpoint on pleasure and pain can become the source of much misery.

A person who rushes towards pleasures might find himself their dupe.

In moments free from pain, a person's restless wishes will present a mirror image of a happiness that has no counterpart in reality. If this delusion seduces him to follow it, in doing so he might bring the undeniably real experience of pain upon himself. Then the real feeling of pain tells him of the now-vanished paradise of joy that he has gambled away and failed to retain, which he will suffer pains of self-blame and regret over, and then vainly long to undo what has been done.

Avoid pain instead of seeking pleasure. Aim at the greatest possible freedom from pain rather than aiming at joy. Sacrifices pleasure in order to avoid pain or the chance of incurring pain. Shun and avoid the world's evils. They are indeed very real. Take all precautions in your power to avoid misfortune. This is a clear way to gain. This is auspicious. This is the clearest, best, and safest way to joy.

There is some wisdom in having a gloomy of view of the world being a kind of Hell, and then confining your efforts to securing a little room that will not be exposed to the fire. There is some wisdom in regarding the world as a kind of penitentiary or penal colony.

Joy usually comes without invitation and is not formerly announced, but slips in quietly by itself without way, often making his appearance in circumstances that society would deem unimportant and in the commonest company. It comes now and then, not according to rule or law.

Since joy is often where one is not looking for it, people's efforts to obtain joy might cause them to miss it.

Much of what society promotes as joy often is more of an outward show, sign, and pretense of joy, but lacks much of any actual joy itself.

Imagine what would happen if the world was a paradise of ease, everything people did automatically became successful, every wish people had automatically was fulfilled as soon as it arose, and every person's life was relieved of all need, adversity, and hardship.

If this did happen, it would almost certainly cause people to commit suicide or violently attack others-and then mankind would inflict more suffering on itself than it now has to accept at the hands of nature. It could be said that this paradise of ease would actually make people rise to the height of folly and derangement, similar to the way our bodily frame would burst into pieces if the atmospheric pressure were removed.

And so, there is the matter of a person's necessity for a certain amount of care, pain, or trouble-similar to the way that a ship without ballast will not go straight.

Franz Kafka said, "No sooner is it a little calmer with me than it is almost too calm, as though I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."

So what is to make of this? I say that this shows the necessity of self-discipline, self-control, and equanimity-and how they are the supreme virtues.

A person's desires and needs are important, and should not be neglected.

In most cases, the largest foundation is what offers the most security. But in the architecture of life-management towards joy, the opposite is true. Requiring a foundation of needing too many things for joy is vulnerable to being toppled by accidents. And accidents are always happening.

People would earnestly desire few things if they clearly knew what they desired.

Very few people really know what they want, even fewer really know why they want it, and almost no people at all really know why they should and should not want it.

People's real desires are few and very manageable. People's imaginary desires are boundless and insatiable.

Know distinctly what you want and is most auspicious and is immediately necessary your safety and liberation before anything else right now, and then what comes next, and what takes the third and the fourth place, and so on.

Steady your desires. Control your desires.

Greed is desire that deviates from righteousness. It is caused by wanting the wrong things, or wanting too much at once. It lacks considering righteousness and after-effects. It can cause delusion, misdirected judgment, and pain. It is boundless like the sky.

It is like a dog that fights with other dogs over a bone that he has already eaten the flesh off of. It is like a person continues to eat and drink until it makes him sick. It is like a person who tries to quench thirst with salty ocean water.

No matter what you do and no matter what you are, some people will definitely criticize you for it at least in some degree at some times. It is futile to try to suit yourself to everyone's acceptance and approval. Obliterate a desire to avoid all criticism and please everyone. Just follow your heart, cultivate authenticity, and follow righteousness.

Most people's fear of criticism is petty and trivial.

A man and his son were traveling with their donkey. While the man walked and the son rode the donkey, some observers criticized the boy for being selfish and disrespectful for making his father have to walk. Feeling embarrassed, the man and his son switched spots. However, not much later, some observers condemned the man for being heartless and abusive for forcing his young son to walk. In order to avoid more criticism, both the man and the son rode the donkey. But then some bystanders remarked how cruel they were for forcing a poor donkey to bear the weight of two people. And so, the man and his son decided to both walk in order to avoid anyone's disparagement. But as they did so, they heard another group of people laughing and jesting about how foolish and stupid the man and his son were for both walking under the scorching hot sun while neither of them rode the donkey. @

Perhaps only one out of every few hundred million people are truly completely indifferent to approval and rejection. Even many ideal virtue sages have not achieved this state, because it is very difficult to do so. It is also unrealistic to expect to attain this in one step.

But there are indeed many of those with the virtue of not being controlled by and dependent on approval and rejection. Rejection might hurt them, but only for a fraction of a second, and only a little bit.

Each person has his own opinion and judgment. Be independent of any one of them. Do not regulate everything according to one person's ideas. Do not alter your plans in order to appease one person's stupid opinion. What one person applauds and appreciates, another will condemn and disparage-and vice versa. Do not feel so happy or so sad due to one person's opinion.

There are many who love to criticize others, and who often intently search for other people's faults while hiding their own.

Criticism can provide feedback-but most criticism is unjust, biased, and one-sided, and often stems from a person's mean motives.

People will form opinions of you. To accomplish great achievements and live your own life, act in spite of harmless unjust opinions others might have of you, and do not allow dirt-like accusations and mind-soaking slanders overtake you.

Take the mean and be both sociable and independent, both socially interactive and reclusive, both a society person and a person removed from society, and both based in solitude and based in company.

Confucius said, "The superior person is in harmony, but does not follow the crowd. The lesser person follows the crowd, but is not in harmony."

Confucius said, "The superior person is dignified but does not fight for it. He is sociable, but not exclusive to one social clique."

Confucius said, "The superior person is a dignified without being an asshole. The lesser person man is an asshole without being dignified."

Human interaction has a power.

A human has a natural need for social interaction and companionship, attention and appreciation and love of at least some others, attention and appreciation and love by at least some others, and expression to at least some others.

Human interaction is important in a person's development, empowerment, and health.

A person in solitude too much is vulnerable to many doubts and uncertainties at each moment.

Aim for right social interaction.

A person's life is not just what he makes of it, but is also dependent on the companions and associates he chooses and interacts with.

Good companions usually have a tendency to bring in more good companions, while bad companions usually have a tendency to prevent a person from having good companions.

The meng dove constructs its nest with hair tied together feathers, and hangs the nest on the ends of stems. But if wind comes, then the stems will break, the eggs will be destroyed, and the baby birds will die. This is not because the nest is flawed. Rather, it is the thing it is hanging from that is flawed.

The yekan tree has a trunk that is only a few inches high. It grows at the top of mountains, and can see all the way down to incredibly deep valleys. It is not the height of its trunk that gives it this view. Rather, it is the place where it stands that does this.

The chih fragrance is made with the root of a type of flower. If that root were immersed in urine, nobody would get near it or choose to wear it. It is not the root that deters people from it. Rather, it is what it is soaked in that makes it flawed.

Thus, the superior person prudently picks the community he lives within, and chooses the proper people to associate with.

Like water in a container becomes fragrant when it comes in contact with a lotus, and becomes spiritless and tasteless when it comes into contact with fire, so also does a person's wisdom become strengthened by the company of the righteous and virtuous, and does his understanding become impeded by the company of the wicked.

Bad influences can cause a person to neglect virtues, have a distorted impression of the importance of things, and have a susceptibility to encountering problems even if he uses all his energy and mind.

Avoid people that generate misconduct. Do not have associates that will pull you down.

Seek the company of the holy, virtuous, and righteous.

Associate most with the sincere, strong, self-respecting, upright, observant, objective, caring, supportive, respectful, and understanding.

Associate less with the insincere, groveling, obsequious, glib-tongued, uncaring, abusive, unsupportive, discrediting, slandering, un-understanding, and belittling.

No person is wholly good or bad.

Seek the company of the righteous virtuous, but do not be unreasonable in your demands of others. Everyone has weaknesses and errors. We should mutually pardon each other's follies. People cannot remain friends for long if they cannot forgive each other's little failings. The person who cannot accept friends with faults will never have any real friends.

Pick the right people to be around, but do not restrict yourself to an inadequate variety of people to interact with.

It is inevitable you will encounter and deal with the people who are less than virtuous. Deal with them without letting them bring you down, just as the sun passes over filth and is not dirtied.

One of the best ways to deal with the vulgar is to emphasize and make the most of their good qualities, and do not show any sign of being dependent on them, or being too close with them.

David Brinkley said, "A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her."

The superior person is being a lesser person if he cannot adapt to the lesser person.

Barbara G. Harrison said, "There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships."

Carl Jung said, "The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed."

Khawwas said, "All wisdom can be expressed in two phrases: What is done for you-allow it to be done. What you must do yourself-make sure you do it."

Take advantage of advantages, and counteract disadvantages. If you know of a major advantage, pursue it. If you know of a major misfortune in its early stages, stop it. To not do either of these is a lack of adequate offense and defense.

Good intentions are not enough. Seize opportunities. Opportunities come and are plentiful, but they do not necessarily linger.

In great matters, it is usually more important to utilize the opportunities that present themselves than it is to try to create opportunities.

It is advantageous to be ready and prepared to adapt; it is not necessary to live too much in 'what if.' It is advantageous to anticipate and plan for the future; it is not necessary to live in the future.

It is advantageous to consider the future for planning, but it is not accurate to try to actually be in the future. Nobody can meet the future firsthand. A person should meet the moment and establish priorities.

Those who properly utilize 'what if' thinking will anticipate possible occurrences to know how to respond, and will consider the big picture to assess risk and avoid future positions of vulnerability. Those who improperly use 'what if' thinking will destroy true confidence of mind and spirit, and not take advantage of advantages."

The superior person uses negative anticipatory thinking to make good decisions. The lesser person uses negative anticipatory thinking to sabotage something he is doing.

Andre Agassi said, "You've got to believe you can win. But I believe respect for the fact that you can lose is what you always have to keep in your mind so that nothing surprises you."

Sugar Ray Robinson said, "To be a champion, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will."

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

Being prepared is half the victory.

Plan, but also attend to the now. Imagine, but also deal with the real.

One problem with perfectionism is that most perfectionists deal with the less important details before they deal with what is of primary importance. Another problem with perfectionism is that it makes a person unrealistically try to be everything and the best at every category, resulting in a dissipation of effectiveness. Another problem with perfectionism is that in an effort to perfect some minor detail, it opens the door for a person to neglect a much more important one. Another problem with perfectionism is that it can cause someone doing proper actions to invite wrong actions in their lives.

A man was sowing seeds on his farm, and was concerned that his feet were stepping on the ground and hampering the farm. So, he hired four men to hold him in a chair while he sowed the seeds from the air. But all this did was exchange the trampling of his two feet for the tramping of the eight feet of the four men holding him up in the chair.

Acquire what is valuable, and avoid what is worthless.

Get your priorities in the proper order, and attend most earnestly to what is of the greatest importance, so that your self-interests will be handled in the suitable order of their value.

Do not pursue so many things at the same time due to greediness, that while attending too earnestly to the trifling, you miss the great. Overvaluing minor advantages and applying oneself too closely to trifling things will impede major advantages and prevent great affairs from being accomplished. A lack of tolerance in trifling matters might lead to the disruption of great project.

It is only when someone refuses to do certain things will he be capable of doing great things. He who accomplishes great deeds does not sacrifice the great for the trifling.

Doing big things can often be as easy as turning around the palm of your hand. Why? How?

Consider the shepherds. You can put a young boy in charge to shoulder a whip and easily drive a hundred sheep. They will obey him in any way he wants.

But even if you have people as wise and might as Confucius, Mike Tyson, and Bill Clinton drag each sheep one by one, they will barely manage to advance more than a few yards.

Thus, a person who manages important matters and accomplishes great things cannot extend to small insignificant ones.

It is not true that "what is worth doing at all is worth doing well." Some things are worth doing at a level approaching perfection, while others are worth doing excellently, while still others are worth doing OK, and there are even dome things worth doing half-assed.

A person cannot apply all energy everywhere. He cannot extend to everything.

Hard work is not necessarily right. Why? Because a person can work stupidly but hard, and yield inauspicious results. This is why I say that the superior person exercises right laziness-which is an earnestness to save work, time, and mental, physical, and material resources. This is the way to be efficiently effective. Efficiency is just a kind of laziness.

Achievements doesn't always come through the toughest and roughest road.

Effort is important, but knowing where to make the effort is what is of supreme importance.

Avoid, withdraw, and decline your self from people and affairs that are unnecessary and waste precious time.

Eliminate what wastes your energy, hampers your advancement, and holds you back.

Do not tear down the east wall to repair the west wall. Do not burn a penny candle looking for a halfpenny. Do not wait for your ship to come in if you have not sent one out. Do not dig a hole to bury excess dirt in. Do not carry around an umbrella with holes in it because you think it will not rain.

Do not look for copper outside when you have gold in the house. Do not abandon the supreme treasure in order to search for something less valuable.

Do not exchange what is better for what is worse.

Do not cross the stream to find water. Do not remain thirty in the midst of water.

All know the Way, but few actually walk it.

The answers to most of your problems are usually staring you right in the face.

When facing impossible conditions, sometimes it is in your best interests to retreat.

A penny saved is a penny earned, but sometimes a penny is better spent than saved.

Sacrifice the insignificant in order to gain the significant. Do not sacrifice the significant in order to gain the insignificant.

Sometimes you need to give a little ground in order to gain a lot of ground. Every once and a while you need to take one step back to gain footing so that you can take many steps forward. Yielding is sometimes the best way of progressing.

Like you need to wait for water to be still and clear up so you can see what is in it, sometimes you need to do nothing in order for certain solutions to present themselves.

At certain times, certain problems are worsened by attempted cures, and the real skill consists in knowing when it is dangerous to use them.

Carol Heiss Jenkins, "You can want it too much. You can try too hard. There's a point where you just have to let your muscle memory kick in."

A bow bent to far will break instead of produce more power. You do not need to cut a tree down to get its fruit. There are fine things that are more brilliant when they are unfinished than when they are finished too much. Overdoing can cause problems.

Step-by-step is the best way to achieve the great. Do not underestimate its power.

A long journey begins with one step. A big tree grows from a small sprout. Incremental efforts have an impact as benefits accumulate.

Travel from one stage to another. Do one thing at a time. Build upon early foundations to secure the tremendous.

The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once.

Calvin Coolidge said, "We cannot do everything at once, but we can do something at once."

It is a tremendous waste of energy and effectiveness to try to do too many things at once.

The person chasing two rabbits at the same time will not catch either of them. The person trying to clean all four corners of his room at the same time will never get his room cleaned. The person attempting to travel two roads at once will get nowhere.

Gather your weapons together in order to provide against the unforeseen.

Develop virtue, do what you need to do, and endeavor to be ready when the moment arises.

Prevention is better than curing. Prevention is better than regret.

Consider problems, and prevent them. Solve one problem, and you keep a hundred others away.

Take preventive action before problems arise. Secure order before disorder has begun. Thus, you can accomplish the greatest things while never becoming overwhelmed.

Anticipate difficult things while they are still easy. Do easy things before they become difficult.

Difficult things arise from a previous state when they were easy. Great things arise from a previous state where they were small.

Foresee difficulty even in what seems easy, and thus avoid any difficulties.

Repetition is the mother of knowledge.

Habit is powerful, and often defeats other motives.

Allow yourself to benefit from good habits, tolerate harmless habits, and eliminate bad habits and replace them with good habits.

Make automatic and habitual, as soon as possible, as many useful actions you can. Cultivate good habits now, so that when you need them, you will do the proper thing automatically and almost without thought. Always be on guard against the forming of undesirable habits.

In forming a new habit, or in breaking an old one, throw yourself into the task with as much enthusiasm as possible, in order to gain the most ground before the energy expends itself when it meets with friction from the opposing habits already formed. Begin by making as strong an impression as possible upon the subconscious mentality. Then constantly be on guard against temptations to break the new resolution. Each time you resist temptation the stronger does your resolution become. Act upon your resolution as early and as often as possible. It will become stronger with every manifestation of thought in action. You are adding to the strength of your original resolution every time you back it up with action.

The mind can be likened to a piece of paper that has been folded. From then on it has a tendency to fold in the same crease, unless we make a new crease or fold, when it will follow the last lines. And the creases are habits. Every time we make one it is so much easier for the mind to fold along the same crease afterward. Let us make our mental creases in the right direction.

Mental habits, though difficult to control, can be controlled as soon as possible by substituting constructive thought for destructive thought.

Cultivate the results of your initiatives, and make follow-ups. Otherwise, there will be a waste of time, energy, and progress.

The person who does the bulk of the job but does not finish the job usually gets little reward for his work. Stop when you ought to stop. Otherwise, finish.

Why slacken so near the shore? Be steady to attain your goal.

Many have been on the verge of great achievement, but have not passed it. Few have gone past that verge.

Temporary defeats almost always come before great achievements, and sometimes come just one step before them.

If you are building something and a nail breaks, should you stop building altogether, or should you change the nail?

Two frogs fell in a bowl of milk and began treading. One got tired and decided to accept death and sink. The other, while also tired, continued to tread, until finally the milk turned to butter, and he used it to jump out to safety.

The basis of accomplishment is in never quitting. However, perseverance is not the only ingredient to winning. A person can do useless activity for an eternity.

A young man found some valuable aloe wood, and took it to sell at the bazaar. However, he put an extremely high price on it, and was unable to procure any buyers. Growing discouraged and desperate, he noticed that a charcoal seller nearby was doing brisk sales. Observing this, the young man decided to burn his aloe wood into charcoal. He then easily sold the charcoal, but the money he got for it was not even close to that value of the aloe wood he originally had.

Some aspiring people practice diligently at first to achieve right goals, but grow discouraged at some obstacle, and choose to abandon great things and give up a great deal in order to accept a trivial sum.

It is wrong to be presented with numerous advantages or teachings, and not take a single one because you cannot take and maintain all of them. This would be like a thirsty man who does not drink from a river because he cannot finish the entire river.

It is wrong to abandon righteousness just because you have done one thing contrary to it. This would be like a cow herder who cared greatly for his cows, but then after a tiger ate one of the cows, the herder thought, "One of them has been killed, so what is the use of maintaining the rest," and so he killed all of his cows.

Do not be liable to be changed solely due to people's opinions. Do not be liable to be deflected by first obstacle you encounter. Do not always be at the mercy of the opposition, or of people who do not agree with you. Do not be able to be laughed down, talked down, or written down. Be able to deal with problems. Do not depend on others for your spirit and strength. Have belief in yourself and mission, and your ability to overcome obstacles and deal with your environment. If you can do all of this, then what can anything or anybody do to stop you?

In the gold rush days of mid 1800s, a man went to the west with a definite aim for gold. He dug for weeks, until he found a shiny ore. He partnered with his nephew, who borrowed money to acquire the needed machinery to bring the ore to surface.

Both of them went back to work the mine, and after the first car of ore was mined and shipped to a smelter, the returns indicated that they perhaps had one of the richest mines in Colorado. It seemed only a matter of time before they would clear the debts and reap huge profits.

With high hopes, the man and his nephew drilled-but then to their utter dismay, the vein of gold ore disappeared. They desperately tried to pick up the vein again, but found nothing. In hopeless despair, they sold the machinery to a junk man, and took the train back home to Maryland.

The junk man decided to consult a mining engineer. The engineer made some calculations, and advised that the project had failed because the owners were not familiar with fault lines, and that the vein would be found just three feet from where they stopped drilling. And lo and behold, that is exactly where it was found! The junk man took millions of dollars in ore from the mine, by doing a little investigation before giving up.

The nephew, meanwhile, had borrowed and lost a great deal of money in the gold venture, and spent years repaying it.

Shortly after the nephew's gold mining experience, he was present on an occasion that showed him that no does not necessarily mean no. One afternoon, he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm where a number of African-American sharecrop farmers lived.

Quietly, the door was opened, and a small African-American child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door.

The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly, "What do you want?"

Meekly, the child replied, "My mammy say send her fifty cents."

"I'll not do it," the uncle retorted, "Now you run on home."

"Yas sah," the child replied. But she did not move.

The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he did not pay enough attention to the child to observe that she did not leave. When he looked up and saw her still standing there, he yelled at her, "I told you to go on home! Now go, or I'll take a switch to you."

The little girl said "yas sah," but she did not budge an inch.

The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour into the mill hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started toward the child with an expression on his face that indicated trouble.

The nephew held his breath. He was certain he was about to witness violence. He knew his uncle had a fierce temper, and that African-American children were not supposed to defy white people in that part of the country.

When the uncle reached the spot where the child was standing, she quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into his eyes, and screamed at the top of her shrill voice, "My mammy's gotta have that fifty cents!"

The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then slowly laid the barrel stave on the floor, put his hand in his pocket, took out half a dollar, and gave it to her. The child took the money and slowly backed toward the door, never taking her eyes off the man whom she had just conquered.

After she left, the uncle sat down on a box and looked out the window into space for more than ten minutes, pondering with awe over the whipping he had just taken. The nephew also contemplated. He had never seen an African-American child deliberately master an adult white person. How did she do it? What strange power did she use to enable her to conquer a fully-grown man? What happened to the uncle that caused him to lose his fierceness and become so submissive?

The nephew later became one of the greatest insurance salesmen in the world, mainly due to the power, perseverance and equanimity he developed from his experiences stopping three feet from gold, and watching the little child master his uncle.

Remembering that he lost a huge fortune because he stopped three feet from gold, he profited from the experience primarily by using the simple method of saying to himself, "I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop because people say 'no' when I ask them to buy insurance."

And remembering what he learned from the child who mastered his uncle, he pointed out, "Every time a prospect tried to bow me out without buying, I saw that child standing there in the old mill, her big eyes glaring in defiance, and I said to myself, 'I've gotta make this sale.' The better portion of all sales I have made, were made after people had said 'no.'"

Health is of supreme value.Take measures to follow nature and the laws of health, and be healthy, strong, and clear. Do not abuse your body, mind, or emotions.

Almost all illnesses do not suddenly appear out of nowhere. They actually steadily develop through long-term deteriorative unrighteous practices.

Prevent illnesses rather than treating illnesses.

Use medicines and surgeries as an absolute last resort rather than as a first resort.

Be careful of what you eat. Eat plain healthy food. Eat an adequate variety of food. Eat to live and sustain life and health. Do not cling to the appetite. Do not eat in a deprivating or excessive manner. Satisfy your day-to-day needs.

Exercise daily but not excessively.

The excessively and continuously anxious and depressed mind will weaken and degenerate the body, especially where the body is already weakened by another cause.

The healing process is greatly thwarted by the mental depression associated with a malady. This depression often stands in the way of recovery more than the physical causes do, and often obliterates the wonderful healing power of nature from the person's consciousness. This power is essential to recovery.

Cheerfulness is important in the maintenance of health and the cure of disease. It has a medicinal power to do good, but without the side effects of drugs. It has a real life-giving influence and effect through a normal channel. Its results reach every part of the body system. It brightens the eye, makes the facial expression ruddy, adds to an elastic step, promotes life-sustaining inner forces, circulates blood more freely and efficiently, brings oxygen more effectively to the cells, promotes health, and banishes disease.

A farmer in Alabama eight or ten years ago, subject to lung trouble, had a hemorrhage while ploughing one day. He lost so much blood, that he was told by his physician that he would die. He merely said that he was not ready to die yet, and lingered for a long time, unable to get up. He gained strength, and finally could sit up, and then he began to laugh consistently. He persisted in his hilarity. He often laughed even when well people could see nothing to laugh at. He constantly improved his condition, and became robust and strong. He says he is sure that if he had not laughed continually he would have died. Many people have used laughter this way as a cure that brought sick and discordant bodies back into harmony.

A man, under the influence of one fixed idea, was about to die. He imagined that, while drinking the water of a stagnant pool, he had swallowed a serpent that, while minute at first, was growing larger inside of his body, and causing him internal ravages of which he felt himself likely to soon die from.

His friends, concerned over his deteriorating condition, called on a sage to examine him. The sage noticed the man looking very ill, barely able to even move himself about.

The man touched his chest and told the sage, "The serpent is devouring me."

His friends laughed at him for his statement. They expected the sage to join them in their ridicule, but the sage though to himself, "This man's belief is so intense that I will try to soothe him with persuasion. Persuasion alone, based on a real or an imaginary proof, with the aid of suggestion, could save this man."

So instead of laughing with the others, the sage pre­tended to believe the man was really ill. He said, "Tell me what happened." And then he listened with the deepest attention. Upon hearing the story, he sympathized with the man in his trouble, much to the man's astonishment.

The sage then thought, "It is indispensable to have near me someone who could speak authoritatively in order to impress the mind of the invalid."

He then told the man, " I have a friend-a famous healer-who would be happy to interest himself to you and try to save you."

The next day the sage returned with the physician who he had told of the strange mania. The physician examined the patient carefully, pre­scribed certain medicines, and withdrew, with­out giving any words of positive hope. Then the sage added his part as the psychologist, and said, "I will tell you the absolute truth, no matter how brutal it might seem. The doctor discovered beyond all doubt the presence of the serpent. He tried certain medication. Will it succeed? I dare not say whether it will or will not."

Several days passed, with alternating fear and hope, which indications the sage noted carefully. Finally, the physician declared that he was about to make a decisive test, of which he had great hope of a favorable result.

The sage thought, "I know so well how to be persuasive, and I understand so thoroughly how to surround the patient with the right occult influ­ences, that he no longer rejects the idea of a possible cure."

The sage gave the patient certain medicines that induced him to vomit freely. The sage secretly put a dead snake in the vomit, and then showed him the serpent. The patient believed he had thrown up the serpent, and found himself suddenly cured. After this, if he happened to feel again pain or discomfort of any kind, he attributed it to the ravages caused by the serpent. And, since the cause existed no more, the evil soon disappeared.

This case shows that one of the conditions of succeeding in the art of persuading is not to batter rudely at convictions that one wishes to uproot. In order to persuade someone, it is necessary to merit his sympathy. One never gains the sympathy of those whose opinions he does not share. Hence, in order to persuade successfully, one must banish suspicion and know how to listen.

One must not forget the profound egotism that characterizes all imaginary invalids. They are so full of themselves that their ills seem to them to acquire high importance. They can not admit then that the whole world is not interested in their aches and pains, and the importance they themselves attach to them is a subject of development for their malady. For it is incontestable that all moral emotion has an immediate repercussion on the physical state. To be able to persuade a patient that he is cured is-in most cases-to free him from his malady. It is always infinitely attenuated, since it is to spare him moral uneasiness, too fruitful mother of bodily ills.

Do not be pray to the last speaker. Do not merely be an opinion collector. Ask for and assesses advice when needed, and respect other people's opinions to some extent, but always make up your own mind, make decisions, and act.

Make your people loyal.

Do not simply have "yes men" around you.

Use the right people the right way. Then things will fall into place and bring you strength.

Confucius said, "The superior person is easy to work for and difficult to please. If you try to please him in non-Tao ways, he will not be pleased. And in his employment of people, he uses them according to their capacity. The lesser person is difficult to work for, yet is easy to please. If you try to please him even in non-Tao ways, he may be pleased. And in his employment of people, he expects them to be fit for everything.

Control your people with rewards and punishments that deal with the fine points of human feelings.

Set up a system that rewards people who are excellent and who apply and display their excellence. This will make them eager and motivated to achieve gain. Then you and them will both benefit.

Clearly show everyone what is right and what is wrong. Guarantee reward and punishment. Make sure that rewards are sufficient to encourage, and punishments are sufficient to discourage. Use laws to maintain the right way.

Rewards, punishments, and laws must be guaranteed, sufficient, adequate, absolute, consistent, definite, clear, and steady. If the rewards are this way, then people will be willing to do almost anything.

If the people who do good end up miserable, and the people who do bad end up achieving gain, soon most people will be doing bad.

If you give aimlessly and heedlessly, then people will take recklessly and chaotically, and will expect rewards they are not worthy of. Then excellent actions will not be regarded highly, excellent people will not be sufficiently rewarded, and soon people will not utilize themselves to do what needs to be done.

Promote, enrich, and exalt only the worthy and the capable.

Appoint and dismiss people by examining their excellence, not their reputations.

Make sure that people cannot avoid doing you good. This will add to your safety. Do not assume or depend on people doing you good, or else you will expose yourself to danger.

If you only assume and depend on people doing you good, then even if you search the entire world, you will not even find a more than a few hundred of such people. But if you make sure there is no way that people can avoid doing you good, then you can make everybody constant.

It is best to be feared and loved, but it is difficult to be both. It is safer to be feared than loved. Why? Because love is preserved by an obligatory that people may break whenever it is advantageous for them to do so, while fear is preserved by the never-failing dread of punishment. People love according to their own will, and fear according to the will of the person they fear.

This being said, it should also be added that if you inspire fear, you do not necessarily need to win love, but you must avoid hatred. Hatred can also bring problems.

Most people will submit to authority. Very few will be moved by righteousness. It is very uncommon to see reverence for benevolence and loyalty to righteousness. It is very difficult for a person to act so.

Confucius traveled about through many areas, but only attracted 70 main disciples. Duke Ai of Lu, on the other hand, used his authority to make everyone in Lu obedient. He remained ruler, while COnfucius remained his citizen.

Righteousness has power--but it can only do so much. Those who expect the masses to submit to righteousness aren't accounting for the nature of people. They're comparable to someone acting like Confucius, and expecting the masses to become like Confuius's disciples.

If you carry yourself with authority and conviction, people will most likely believe you are the authority. If you do something with a serious face, almost everybody will believe it is sensible.

The wise ruler knows how to make people be loyal to him and have confidence in him. Lack of either of these can create problems.

Li K'uei was constantly telling his guards, "Be careful and aware, since an enemy attack might come at any time." After months of this, the enemies still had not attacked, and the guards became exhausted, did not do their duty, and also had less loyalty and confidence in Li K'uei. Not much later, the Ch'ins attacked and destroyed them.

Have adaptability to a variety of circumstances.

Confucius said: "The superior person is adequately resolute, but not recklessly inflexible."

Conditions are always changing. Do not expect external circumstances to bend to your whims.

Do not have any preset absolute rigid steadfast standards, rules, determinations, or principles for what should or should not be done at all times and all occasions.

Nothing is at all times right or at all times wrong. What is good now might be bad later, and what is bad now might be good later.

There is no fixed rule for seizing opportunities, hitting off the right moment, or adapting oneself to circumstances.

For excellence in doing, be in the present and be timely, and adapt everything to the current circumstances in the now. Examine things in the now, and prepare and deal with things based on the way they are right now. Make your actions will fit and correspond to and be appropriate for each moment.

Strike while the iron is hot. Make hay while the sun is shining.

Sometimes you lead, and sometimes you follow. Sometimes you are intense, and sometimes you take it easy. Sometimes you are rigid, and sometimes you are flexible. Sometimes you advance, and sometimes you retreat.

For circumstances to be positive, adapt to them.

Modify plans according to circumstances.

Turn circumstances to your advantage.

Oprah Winfrey said, "Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment."

Do things in the right place.

Time never takes time off.

Forethought is very important for keeping problems away. There is a time for forethought. Confucius said: "Someone who neglects exercising foresight into the future will probably encounter worries very soon."

And there is also even a time for review and for any repentance.

However, the past and the future usually appear much bigger than they are, and are almost always of less consequence than people think.

Live in the present, but not frivolously. Do not live in or cling to the past or the future.

Preserve a proper proportion for the past, present, and future.

The present moment is the root of life, the only reality, the sole time that exists, and the sole time our existence lies in. There is no time like the present. It is a now that is always and forever new. Every moment is independent and irreplaceable.

Now comes only once and never returns. It will not come again later. Nobody can bring back even one moment of the past.

Later is another moment that also comes only once.

There is no earlier, or no later, but only a now, like there was a thousand years ago, and like there will be a thousand years from now.

The present moment is also the only certainty. The future almost always turns out different to our expectations, and the past was also very different from what we suppose it to have been.

Why go so far as to spoil and sacrifice the present in order to feel vexed over the past or obsessed with the future? Why lose the present because there has been a past and there will be a future?

Seize the moment. You cannot power a mill with water that has already passed by. Those that have time and search for a better time will lose time.

Be glad of the present. Give it the welcome it deserves. Enjoy and fully realize the value of every instant of it that is bearable by its freedom from pain and annoyance. Notice the moments of joy you live through. Do not let them be wasted in wrong attitude, and be slipped by un-enjoyed, and then sighed for in vain later. Honor those present moments that are bearable, even if they are routine and commonplace. Do not impatiently push them away. Do not pass them in indifference. Do not hurry them to the past. Otherwise, your memory will just store them altered and shining with an everlasting light, and then later when you are in your evil moments, it will raise the veil and present them as the object of your fondest regret.

Do not become fixated in your past work. Do not wallow in its credit. When your work is accomplished and your name is being distinguished, simply walk away.

People often are living in expectation of better things, and are also in a state of repentance and longing to have the past back again.

Some people live most of their lives expecting to live, hoping to live, preparing to live, and continuously and impatiently looking ahead, always anticipating what is coming as something that will make them joyful when they get it. And so, the continuousness of this makes it inevitable that they will ever actually be living in the present. The very thing they disregarded and let slip by unenjoyed was just the life in the expectation of which they passed all their time. They live in a state of illusion about their existence, almost always preparing and expecting to live, until at last they die. This is like the donkey that has a stick on fixed to his head with hay at the end of it, and will always be chasing the hay in front of it, but never reaching it.

Throw away expecting to live, and replace it with actually living.

People usually look upon the present only as something to be put up with while it lasts, and serving only as the way towards their goal. People usually spend their entire lives chasing after something that they think will give them joy. They seldom are clear on what their goal actually is. They seldom consider if it is what they really should want. And they seldom attain their goal. And if they do indeed attain what they have longed for, it is often not what they want or will enjoy anymore when they do attain it, and / or they are usually disappointed with it, and they discover how vain shallow it is.

Life is never anything more than a present moment always vanishing, until life is over.

Do not be in a rush to go nowhere. Take time to enjoy life's roses.

Learn from the past, but do not cling to it. Do not cling to the past and neglect learning from it.

Tread the path of righteousness as soon as possible. Stop karma influx and obliterate karmas as soon as possible.

Do not put off righteousness. Do not procrastinate. What you have to do now, do it. Do not waste a single moment. Lurking death may lay its cruel hands on you at any moment.

It is better to lose a minute of your life than your life in a minute. However, that is not wasted or lost time. That is righteousness.

Utilize the moment. There is no point in putting off things for the future that are better timed when done right now, and are what you need to do more than anything else. If something is properly timed to be done right now, and is needed above all other things to be done right now, why put it off for the future? If it is the right thing to do, do it.

Life presents obstacles. Do not postpone duties for tomorrow.

Postponing righteousness is fatiguing.

The present moment is important. Strive and endeavor to utilize the present moment with supreme purpose, and make it fruitful and full of gain.

Death is creeping and hoping to seize you at any moment. What must be done right now, do it. Do not neglect the moment, the present, everything that is happening right now. There is so much to be cultivated.

Get ahead during the time that others waste.

The days and nights that go by will never return. They are wasted and passed in vain by him who does not abide by righteousness. The days and nights that go by will never return. They produce gain only for him who abides by righteousness.

The person who always thinks, "If I do not get self-mastery now, I will get it later," "If I do not get righteousness now, I will get it later," "If I do not control myself now, I will control myself later," is using bad reasoning through presuppositions and assumptions based on delusion.

Whatever your viewpoint of the universe, existence, creation, religion, etc. is, do not neglect this life, this universe, this moment, and yourself.

Better late than never.

A person conceives the existence of other things based on his own existence.

We like for things to make sense, but our own existence does not make any sense, nor does the existence of anything make sense, nor does the concept of existence make sense. Yet, if everything did make sense, maybe that in-and-of-itself would not make any sense. And perhaps it makes sense that everything does not make sense.

Perhaps the one ultimate reality is that there is no ultimate reality.

Words that are strictly true can seem paradoxical or contradictory.

Imagination does not enable us to invent as many different contradictions as there are by nature in every heart.

A person finds himself, to his astonishment, suddenly existing. Then he lives for a certain amount of time. And then he dies.

Some say that after your death, you will be what you were before your birth.

The Yellow Emperor said, "If my spirit returns through the gates whence it came, and my bones go back to the source from which they sprang, where does the Ego continue to exist?"

What is your original face, before your mother and father were born?

When I notice my thoughts, who is the one noticing my thoughts, and who is the one thinking my thoughts?

Michel Montaigne said, "My art and trade is to live."

Insight into life and a study of life is the supreme religion. Only it can help a person understand life. Life itself is the greatest book. There is no greater or more interesting study than life. Learning the lesson of how to live is more important than any other kinds of knowledge. All of life is continuous learning, and for the lover of learning, knowledge is never enough.

Every moment of life has its particular experience, one better than the other, one more valuable than another. Every moment in life has its mission. Do not lose this opportunity.

We are all wanders of this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are full of dreams.

Use every moment of your life to make the best use of every moment of life. This makes a person have an attitude eager for life.

George Bernard Shaw, "Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

Life is neither a good nor an evil. It is a place where good and evil exist.

Until death, all is life.

Aart van der Leeuw said, "The mystery of life is not a problem to be solved; it is a reality to be experienced."

Erich Fromm said, "There is only one meaning of life, the act of living itself."

Joseph Campbell said, "People say that what we are all seeking is meaning for life. I think that what we're really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive."

The full experience of being alive is what the heart seeks more than a meaning for life.

The best way of arriving at the purpose of life is the way that suits you best. The way of one person is not for another person. The purpose of life is beyond any one person's belief of what it is.

Brief encounters might result in long relationships.

There are many types of meetings and encounters. The variations are endless.

The encounter and the company of a person are not necessarily both the same. With some, you might have pleasant encounter but bad company. With some, you might have an unpleasant encounter but good company. With some, you might have a pleasant encounter and pleasant company. With some, you might have unpleasant encounter and unpleasant company.

Do not over-meddle with people. Let them be, and then they will respond well to him.

If you are insincere to people, it increases the chance they will be insincere to you. If you are sincere to people, its increases the chance they will be sincere to you.

Oprah Winfrey said, "What I have learned in my life and work is that the more I am able to be myself, the more it enables other people to be themselves."

It is necessary to use others. It is necessary to rely on yourself. To only depend on others, or to never utilize others-either of these will result in you meeting reoccurring disappointments and problems, and not meeting your needs.

You are the only person who can absolutely be on your side. Do not assume others to be so. No one is someone else's total ally. Be for yourself. Otherwise, who will be for you? Be independent and self-made. Deal with your interests. Be attentive to your affairs. Be the most active entity in your own advantages.

Do not be absolutely independent. People's help is indispensable to make progress in the world. A person who is strictly on his own can accomplish very little. With society and the ability to use others and have them join you, you can put your powers to full activity, gain a certain safety for yourself and your possessions, and also gain a help and protection against the ills of life that is a much stronger defense than anything you can do by yourself.

Make good alliances. Get good assistance. Get good advice and criticism. Get good role models. Learn from good examples. Get perspectives other than your own. Delegate the right affairs to the right people.

Utilize unique strengths, abilities, and expertise of others that differ from your own. Nobody is excellent at everything. Every person has his own unique excellences.

Surround yourself with capable people and use other people's skills.

Even the wisest people will find some goals impossible. Even the strongest people will find some objects unmovable.

For example, even if there is someone who can match the wisdom of Bill Clinton, he will not accomplish spectacular things if he does not have the people's support. And even if there is someone who can match the strength of Hossein Rezazadeh, he still cannot lift his own self without the assistance of others.

And so, Hossein Rezazadeh finds 400 pounds to be light, but finds his own body to be heavy-not because his body weighs more than 400 pounds, but because his position will not assist him in lifting his own body. And Li Chu found it easy to see across the longest distances accurately, but difficult to see his own eyelashes-not because the long distances were near and his own eyelashes were far, but because the natural structure of his self would not allow him to view his own eyelashes.

Tzu Chang was pulling a push-cart to go across the arch of a bridge, but was unable to bear the weight. So, he sat on the shaft and began singing. Meanwhile, the passers-by from the front stopped, and those from the rear ran forward to help him, until the push-cart reached the top of the arch.

Suppose Tzu Chang had no technique to attract people. Then even if he exhausted himself to death, the cart would not have been able to go across the bridge. The reason why he did not exhaust himself while the cart went up the arch of the bridge was because he had the technique to make use of people.

You are your own friend. Do not lean on the company of others.

Some people demonstrate great knowledge and care for renovating their houses or enhancing their cars or planning their wedding, but place considerably less regard in the case of nourishing their own selves and their lives. It is as if they consider their house and car and wedding as more important than themselves. People who do this really need to rethink things.

Should we do things for the world's benefit or for our own benefit?

If you asked Mo Tzu, he would probably say: "Universal love." Mo Tzu would do almost anything to help the world. He risked his life to prevent war. He led a group of people who were like warriors for peace and benevolence, and who would no doubt give up their lives to benefit the world. According to Mo Tzu, people should do everything based on highest universal benefit. He condemned anything that would waste resources that could be instead used to provide people of the world with their essential needs. If you asked Yang Chu, he would probably say: "Each person should take care of himself." His attitude was that if each person takes care of himself, then care will be taken of all. It is not necessarily that Yang Chu was devoid of benevolence. It is just that he though that "each person for himself" was best for the individual as well as the universal. That is why some historical accounts quote him as saying that he would not give up one of his hairs for the benefit of the world.

Hold the mean between Mo Tzu's idea and Yang Chu's idea. Do not hold to any fixed principle. Leave room for the pressing needs of circumstances.

Do not neglect your own needs for someone else's. Recognize your needs so you will know what to do. Do not be better to others than you are to your own self. Even if you explore the whole universe, you will never find somebody who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are. To be your best and make the most of your life, think well of yourself and be good to yourself. When a person is imprudent, lackadaisical, and neglecting of himself, it makes him highly vulnerable to harm.

Direct your self to righteousness before you teach others. Rather than being a savior for others, be a savior for your own self. Rather than being so concerned with punishing, criticizing, and improving others, just raise yourself higher, and color your own example with ever more vividness.

Recognize yourself, but do not be annoying about it. Love yourself, but do not assign a set value on yourself. This will help you make good decisions.

People base the way they treat you on the way you treat yourself.

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves." [Carl Jung]

I have sat down at table in a hotel or restaurant with a cold, repellent personality, when it has been positively depressing to sit there, even without speaking to the person; for his whole manner forbade one to look at him.

On the other hand, I have sat at table with foreigners who could not speak a word of our language, and yet their cordial, gracious salute as I sat down warmed me for the rest of the day. Their manner spoke a language all nationalities understood.

Only a heart can find the way to another heart.

Most people are usually very sensitive and easily offended and insulted to anything that disturbs their vanity or self-interest, or reflects prejudicially on their selves. Exercise care when it comes to these matters. Sometimes this will require you to hide your intelligence and discernment.

Doing people too much good is often more dangerous than doing them wrong.

You will rarely ever lose a friend by refusing him a loan, but you are very likely to do so by granting him one.

You will not easily alienate people if you are somewhat proud and indifferent. But being too charitable, lenient, kind, or complaisant towards people will make them spoiled, naughty, arrogant, and intolerable to you, and so a breach will then ensue.

People who think you are more dependent on them than they are on you will almost always be very treacherous, insolent, and domineering towards you. In such a situation, they will usually feel as if you stole something from them, and they will endeavor to have their vengeance and get it back.

Some low-character people often will become rude to you if you enter into any kind of close relation or familiarity with them. If you regularly confide in them, they will soon believe that they have the right to breach social appropriateness with you, and they will try to overstep the boundaries of politeness.

Be careful of who you become intimate with, and avoid familiarity with vulgar people.

To have the upper hand in dealing with people, and to strengthen and secure relationships with them, you may well show your appreciation of them, but also let it be seen that you are independent of them, and let everyone you interact with feel now and then that you could very well dispense with their company.

A person will differ from his own self almost as much as he differs from others. People's actions frequently seem to contradict one another, and are not always consistent and uniform with each other. You cannot accurately make a general solidly drawn-together conclusion about someone, and then use it to interpret all his actions to. You cannot accurately conclude anything entirely, simply, generally, and solidly about anyone.

The person who exhibited one character trait in one situation will not necessarily always exhibit that trait at all times. His motives, internal moods and changes, and external circumstances all play a part in determining his behavior.

And a person has varying characteristics in various degrees within him in one corner or another-and thus, even contrary characteristics will occur in the same person.

One day, an Emperor asked his advisor to bring him four people: a modest one, a shameless one, a cowardly one, and a brave one. The next day, the advisor brought one woman before the Emperor. Upon seeing this, the Emperor remarked, "This is only one person. I asked you to bring four."

The advisor replied, "This woman has all the four qualities you mentioned. When she stays at her in-laws, she is modest. When she is drunk, she is shameless. When she is alone at night, she is cowardly. And when she is determined to have her way, she is brave."

Do not form a rigid assuming generalized opinion of a person who you just met-or else you are very likely to be surprised and even be made vulnerable later when they act in a way that does not fit your conception of him.

Do not make any assumptions about anyone. Henry Winkler said, "Assumptions are the termites of relationships."

People are both unique and similar. There is an immeasurable difference between people. Understanding that people are different is a key to understanding people.

A person is more interesting than people.

Do not treat all people alike.

Confucius said: "At first, my method with others was to listen to what they said, and expect them to act accordingly. Now, my method is to listen to what they say, and then observe what they do."

Can a person really conceal her character? See what a person does. Observe her motives. Examine in what things she rests. Study her facial expressions. Study her eyes. Observe the way she moves. Observe her body language. Notice her posture. Listen to her words. Listen to the tone of her voice. Discover her speech patterns. Notice her tastes.

Discover what she cares about. Know what she values. Know whom she esteems. Observe which of her personal aspects she tries to develop, and which she tries to promote. Examine her interaction with others, and know how this shapes her view of herself. Know her superstitions. Understand how she views herself. Know her beliefs and ideals. Know her work and play. Understand her views on money. Understand what way she views the world in.

Know her background, environment, and experiences, including her family experiences or lack of them. Know her comfort zones. Discover her deepest weaknesses. Determine her strengths. Know what she is most embarrassed of about herself, and what she will try to hide from others at almost any cost.

Know what feelings are most dominant in her in general, and at a particular time, and in response to things. Know the factors in her life affecting her at a particular time-her relationships, business, hopes, fears, and doubts.

Examine the way she does various activities, how she acts and responds to various things, and how she acts under her various moods. Study her many different situations.

To really know another person is to know that person's heart.

Communication goes well beyond a choice of words. It also includes emotion, body language, expressions, individuality, flavor, eyes, touch, voice, rate of speaking, and emphasis of words.

People seldom carry on a rational and agreeable conversation. Proper communication requires people to listen to what others are saying. But most people put way more attention on what they want to say, than they do on listening to what others are saying and answering them accordingly. In fact, even the most clever and polite people are usually content with only appearing to be attentive, but are usually just wandering from what is said, and really want to return to what they want to say. People are usually bad listeners when they want to speak.

To use a method of only focusing on what you want to say-this is often the worst way to persuade or please others in conversation. And some of the greatest charms a person can have in conversation come from listening well and answering well.

Listening well is equally as powerful as talking well.

Do not interrupt others unless necessary. Give them enough time to speak. Endeavor to illustrate their meaning, and praise anything they say that deserves praise, and let them see that you praise from personal choice rather than arbitrary agreement. If possible, speak in a way that makes it seem like you are taking your ideas from them.

Be cautious in your speech. Do not say things that will give ground for regret. Do not slander others. Do not say everything you hear.

Stand in the light when you want to assert yourself.

Keep the mean between saying too much and too little.

Do not try to say everything at once.

Speak when it is the proper time to speak. Be silent when it is the proper time to be silent.

Enter your listeners' mind and taste, and study to find out what kinds of people they are-including their taste, condition, sex, and talents. Observe their mood, occasion, and setting. Talk on subjects that are suitable, enjoyable, and interesting to you and them.

Do not speak too long or too often on one subject.

Be civil. Do not seek to push a good argument too hard when you have found one. Sometimes hide some of your understanding, so that an opinionated person defending a side will be able to give way without disgrace. Stop where you have found a subject that others do not wish to discuss.

Give others the liberty of deciding when they want to talk.

Study the expression of the people you are talking to.

Answer after ripe reflection.

Uses the proper methods to show your thoughts to your listeners.

Avoid forced expressions.

Never let the words be grander than the matter.

Do not seek to always be the leader of the conversation.

Silence is more than an absence of words. Certain silences can be used to approve, or condemn, or respect. There is also a silence of discretion.

In the skill of persuasion, knowing the necessary information to plead one's viewpoint is important, and carefulness in fully utilizing one's abilities is important, but for the most part, what is most important is understanding someone else's mind and heart, and adapting your actions and words to conform to them.

There is not one uniform thing that can persuade anyone to do anything. But, if you fit the temptation to the person, and put it in the right place, then indeed it is possible to get most people to do almost anything.

Every person has different tastes, every person values things differently, and every person idolizes something. Find out each person's likes and dislikes, and what motivates them to do things. Bring this into play.

To make pleads, persuade, explain or discuss anything with someone, you must first intently observe what that person loves or hates, and then act accordingly. You can persuade and win over certain people to something just by giving it a shine of something their soul values and desires. Some will respond most positively to a shine of caring, others to strength, others to power, others to discipline, others to fame, others to pleasure, others to money, others to women, others to recognition, others to status, others to possessions, others to learning, others to virtue, and others to something else.

Let's say the person you are trying to persuade is someone concerned with having a reputation for virtue, and you decide to discuss with him about making lots of money. He will end up thinking of you as rude, and will give you mean and scornful treatment, and most likely tell you to get lost.

Now, let's say the person you are trying to persuade is concerned with making lots of money, and you decide to discuss with him about a reputation for virtue. He will end up considering you as tactless and lacking realistic perception, and will not consider your statements.

And now let, say that the person you are trying to persuade acts like he is concerned with a reputation for virtue, but is actually secretly concerned with making lots of money, and then you discuss with him about virtue. He will act like he is considering your statements and is open to you, but in reality he will disregard you. And if you discuss with him about making lots of money, he will outwardly disregard you, but will secretly regard your statements.

Thus, you should ensure that you pay close attention to these aspects.

To persuade, feature the perspectives that the person you are talking to wants to promote, and downplay the aspects that he wants to hide. Appeal less to reason, and more to a person's self-interest, vanity, and emotions.

Nasrudin went to the mayor's palace one day, and wore an elaborate turban on his head in hopes of selling it to the mayor.

"Wow!" said the mayor, "what a magnificent turban! I have never seen anything like it. How much will you sell it for?"

"Fifty thousand toman," Nasrudin calmly replied.

A merchant happened to be in the court who was familiar with the value of goods, and was also familiar with Nasrudin's slickness.

He turned to the mayor and remarked, "That price surely does not correspond to the market value of such items."

The mayor heard this and asked Nasrudin, "Your price sounds very expensive."

"Well," Nasrudin replied, "the price is based on how much I bought it for, and I paid a lot for it because I knew that there is only one mayor in the entire universe who has taste exquisite enough to buy such a turban."

Upon hearing this compliment, the mayor immediately demanded that Nasrudin be paid full price for the turban.

Nasrudin walked over to the merchant and said, "You might know the market values of turbans, but I know the market value of complimenting the mayor."

The person being persuaded can be likened to a squiggling dragon that you can tame, ride, and play with, but that has certain sharp points that can kill a person and must be avoided. In the same way, a person has these sharp points, and a prospective persuader who avoids touching them has gone a long way in being a masterful persuader.

To persuade others, listen to them, know them, understand them, find any common points of interest, try to make it seem like you got your points from them, get them to agree on little things based on their statements, and lead it up to big things.

Benjamin Franklin was great at indirect persuasion tactics. If he wanted to gain cooperation from a political opponent, rather than being direct, he would first ask the person to lend him a specific rare book from his library. The person would almost always then be quite flattered, and more receptive to Franklin. Then after creating a sense of affinity in this way, Franklin would later make his request.

To hypnotize yourself or someone else, get the person relaxed. Get them focused on only one thing at a time. Communicate with short statements, and connect those statements in a rhythmic way. Do not overwhelm them. Do not introduce too many variables. Break complex goals into simple manageable ones. Go step by step. Keep suggestions simple, concise, believable, and desirable. Use positive wording. Use clear and suitable images. Use repetition. Use synonyms. Set a definitive time for things to happen in.

When people argue, they often try to prove themselves more than they try to prove what they are arguing.

In influencing, intensity of determination, when it reaches a certain point, possesses a dazzling influence that few people can resist. It envelops them before they are aware of it, and before they have thought of endeavoring to withdraw themselves from it.

The person who maintains this power of influencing rarely ever needs to exert himself to use it effectively. The need of protection from it is non-existent in most people.

Very few people are willing to accept the consequences of their acts, and most people seek to place the responsibility of their acts on an outside influence, which, however, they are ready to repudiate if they are suc­cessful.

Influence over others is acquired mostly by perseverance of the will and concentration of thought. It projects energy around us and comes to reach the minds that we wish to influence.

With perseverance, you succeed in effectively penetrating the minds of your hearers with the thoughts emitted. This will in turn at­tract similar thoughts, and then the people's subsequent energy will return to you and increase your con­viction. This will in turn give you more power to spread it around you.

Know yourself. Do not generalize strengths or weaknesses. Do not mistake one for the other.

Make the most advantageous use and cultivation of the personal strong qualities that you possess, surpass, and excel in. Do not neglect or depreciate them. Take charge of them. They will assist the rest. Utilizing them will make your greatness.

Gain awareness of your deficiencies and remedy them, starting with the most major ones first. Do not drag weaknesses along and reinforce bad habits. Replace them with good habits by using common sense, concentration, awareness, thought in the way of the improved condition, and righteousness.

Some people could increase their total virtue by so much just by being a little better at something. Take yourself seriously enough to do justice to your great abilities.

Hsun Tzu said, "When you locate good in yourself, approve of it with determination. When you locate evil in yourself, despise it as something detestable."

When you do right, give yourself props. When you do wrong, rebuke your self.

What-went-right is as important a learning tool as what-went-wrong. You can use what-went-wrong to make corrections. You can use what-went-right to make things even righter, to use positive reinforcement, or to cultivate right actions.

Looking at only the negative aspects of things is too extreme, perspective-hindering, and discouraging.

Keep in mind that it is difficult to really say what is right and wrong.

It is wrong to perceive negative feedback as accurate, and positive feedback as inaccurate.

We can keep ourselves encouraged by setting short term and easily achievable goals, giving ourselves congratulations when we achieve them, and setting a limit to the goals when we feel overwhelmed.

Confucius said: "To make a mistake and not correct it-that is a mistake."

Do not seek guidance over and over, like an untrained horse that needs a whip. Avoid wrong, like a trained horse that sees the whip and avoids danger.

When the superior person notices that he is veering off the right path-whether in his thoughts, actions, or speech-he immediately restrains himself from that wrong, just like a horse controlled by tightened reigns.

Do not use experience as a light that only illumines the track behind. Think about what you will do next time instead of what you could have done. Be more concerned with solutions and less concerned with excuses.

Do not follow up a mistake and turn one mistake into several. Do not be in love with a bad path you have followed. Do not place the bad from your past mistakes on the path ahead of you, and then feel as if you have duty to stumble over them again to prove consistency.

Do not let efforts taken to hide a wrong action cause you to engage in an even worse and more inexcusable actions, and then in turn cause you to stubbornly persist in the wrong no matter how much misfortune it results in.

Confess and repent your sins and errors. By repenting, the soul obtains remorse, then begins climbing the levels of virtues, and then uproots karma causing delusion.

Without self-deceit or vanity, know, recognize, study, and avow your mistakes, sins, and impurities, particularly the major ones. Do not embellish them. Then you will experience lightness, just as a person burdened with an unnecessary load experiences relief by unburdening it.

Do not spend more time and energy going around problems than trying to solve them.

Do not regulate your life in accordance with abstract ideas and maxims.

Every day, I see people do things that others think are impossible to do. No one can say for sure what is and what is not possible. People often discover that they do things they once thought they could not do. A person is capable incredible things.

There are impossible ways of trying to carry out a possible achievement.

It is often the belief, imagination, will, and method that makes a person fail, and not whether the actual root accomplishment is impossible.

Some things are impossible, such as getting milk from a bull, dribbling a football, or turning sand into butter.

Do not make self-assessments and self-study during experience.

Just as a football running back cannot do a run-around move and a run-over move at the same moment, so also is it impossible to do two contrary things at once.

To decide for one thing is to consequently decide against another. For every choice you make, you are turning away another potential choice. This is the meaning of opportunity costs. Everything is an opportunity cost. Everything is a choice. To choose for one thing is to choose against another. We are constantly making choices. Even not making a choice is in itself a choice.

Human beings crave life. But life alone is not satisfying. If we satisfy our needs in life, we experience boredom. Why? Do we enjoy existence? Or do we ususally enjoy chasing and stuggling for something far off? And when we attain that something, are we satisfied?

The innate and incessant tendency of human nature to hanker after what is strange and uncommon shows how glad we are at any interruption of that natural course of affairs that is so very tedious.

This most perfect manifestation of the will to live, the human organism, with the cunning and complex working of its machinery, must fall to dust and yield up itself and all its strivings to extinction. This is how Nature-who is always sincere-naively communicates that the whole struggle of this will is essentially empty. Otherwise, if it was not, then how could it end in mere nothing?

Confucius, standing by a stream, said, "It passes on just like this, not ceasing day or night!"

Of every event in our life, we can say only for one moment that it is; and forever after, that it was.

The present is the only reality, and everything else is just a play of thought. The present is also something that exists no more in the next moment, and vanishes utterly like a dream.

Our existence rests on the foundation of the present; the ever-fleeting present. The very nature of our existence lies in taking the form of constant motion, and offers no possibility of our ever attaining the rest that we are always striving for, like a person running downhill who cannot keep on his legs unless he runs on without stop, or a planet that would fall into its sun the moment it ceased to hurry forward on its way.

The marks of existence are unrest, un-stability, and un-enduringness. The hurrying whirlpool of change sweeps everything onwards at every moment. If a person wants to stay standing, he must constantly be advancing and moving, like an acrobat on a rope.

What can you say about such a world? Is joy even conceivable in it?

Some say that the universe is pointless and empty, and that it would be best if mankind were never even in existence in the first place. Some say that the universe is purposeful and full, and it is a blessing that mankind exists.

Suppose that the former view is correct. Does that mean we should neglect living purposefully? Shouldn;t we make the most out of life, regardless of whtehr it is good or bad that mankind was created?

Do not neglect yourself, your life, or your power. Neglect of yourself is at the height of inhumanity to your own self.

We must not neglect the situations in our lives when opportunities present themselves as we need. We must not neglect ourselves. We must not neglect this moment. We must not allow ourselves to harbor delusion.

If those advantages are there, we must take advantage of them. We must allow them to be advantages to be advantages. We must cultivate them. We must utilize this moment.

To turn away and neglect advantages is a despicable thing to do to your own self.

The superior person is living life and avoiding death. The lesser person is waiting to live and waiting to die.

Nasrudin was about to board a train, and the conductor asked him for his ticket. He looked through his pants pockets, but could not find it.

"One moment," he told the conductor. "I know I brought it with me. Let me find it."

He searched his bag, then the floor around him, and even his socks-but alas, the ticket was not found. As the conductor watched this, he asked, "Why don't you check that pocket on your shirt? That's usually where most people put their ticket."

"Oh, I cannot look there," Nasrudin replied.

"Why not?" the conductor asked.

"Because," Nasrudin explained, "if I do and I find out it is not there, then I would have no hope at all of finding it!"

Search that pocket first. Live in the present first. Do not put off righteousness. Do not keep putting off the most important and necessary thing of all. It is wrong to put off what would be the greatest benefit in their lives. It is wrong to put off living and the present moment, and the irreplaceable pureness that goes with it. Why put off righteousness at this moment, and instead choose delusions that lead to the bad path? To do so is a hellish existence.

If you know something, and it is beneficial to know and use, why pretend to yourself that you do not know it? Some people end up inappropriately "what if" thinking the extent that they start pretending they do not know something beneficial, when in fact they do know.

Use what if thinking to make good decisions and preparations, to determine what is right to do, and to protect yourself. Do not use what if thinking to sabotage yourself or make bad decisions.

Some people pretend they do not know what is right when they do know, and then they peril themselves in so many ways. And they do not take advantage of what they do know.

Utilize strengths and advantages as soon as possible as much as possible.

I was born at some time, and presumably will die some day-thus I am mortal. I am living right now-thus I am immortal.

Not a moment goes by that I waste with unrighteousness. I am liberated because my heart and soul are pure.

My heart and soul are pure because I conquer myself. I conquer myself because I stick to what is right and do not knowingly follow what is wrong. I stick to what is right and do not knowingly follow what is wrong because I feel great about myself. I feel great about myself because I stick to what is right and do not knowingly follow what is wrong.

I am mighty, and I avoid excesses and extremes. Any time I deviate from what is right, I pull myself back like a horse rider pulls on the reigns of its horses.

Self-protection

Self-respect

Self-trust

Self-expression

Self-creativity

Self-love

Self-discipline

Self-faith

Self-objectiveness

Self-control

Self-empowerment

Self-purity

Self-individuality

Self-responsibility

Self-authenticity

Self-uniqueness

Self-study

Confucius said: "To conquer oneself and return to proper actions is ideal virtue. If a person can for one day conquer himself and return to proper actions, all under heaven will ascribe ideal virtue to him. The practice of ideal virtue is from a person himself-can it really be from others?"

Confucius said: "A person without ideal virtue cannot deal with adversity or deal with joy for long. An ideally virtuous person is satisfied with ideal virtue. A wise person desires ideal virtue for his advantage."

The passion for conquest, for power, and for the love of achievement, is one of the most dominant and persistent characteristics of human nature. We have an instinctive feeling that we must have a Higher Power that sets us in motion, an invisible spring and imperious must in us that impels us to make our life-vision real, to constantly urge us to reach our highest ideal and then some. We yearn for and crave for expansion and growth, creating and inventing, expression and conquest, to become what we were intended to be.

People express themselves in different ways-some by inventions, others by art, others by science, others by sports, others by speaking, others by business, others by writing, and so on through various modes of human expression. The highest motive is beyond the question of merely making a living.

A great artist does not paint simply to make a living. He paints because he must express that divine thing in him that is struggling for expression; he has an unconquerable desire to put upon canvas the picture that haunts his brain.

We long to bring out the ideal-whatever it may be-that lives within us. We like to gain strength through conquering, like a savage tribesman who believes that the spirit of every conquered enemy enters into the conqueror and makes him so much stronger.

We often hear a great deal of criticism of the greed of rich people that keeps them pushing ahead after they have more money than they can ever use to advantage. However, in actuality, some of them find their reward in the exercise of their powers, and amassing money often plays a compara­tively small part in their conquest.

Of course, this certainly is not true for all rich people. Their indeed are plenty who are just acting motivated by their greedy and empty love for accumulation and dollars.

The superior person, however, does not do this. He is in love with achievement and true satisfaction, and with self-strengthening and self-improvement, with self-expression and the passion for expansion and growth, and with learning and keeping it real.

A person is happiest and strongest when he is engaged in doing that which he was meant do, what he should do, what is his Nature.

There are moments in life when our senses obtain a higher and rarer degree of clearness, apart from any particular occasion for it in the nature of our surroundings; and explicable, rather, on physiological grounds alone, as the result of some enhanced state of susceptibility, working from within outwards. Such moments remain indelibly impressed upon the memory, and preserve themselves in their individuality entire. We can assign no reason for it, nor explain why this among so many thousand moments like it should be specially remembered. It seems like a matter of chance. Memories of this kind are always sweet and pleasant.

Destroy all already acquired bad impressions that have a disagreeable and inharmonious effect. Stop influx of new bad impressions that have a disagreeable and inharmonious effect. Collect and retain all that is agreeable and harmonious. When this is done, one will obtain joy, purity of minds, and a special power.

Reasoning is very valuable, but should not become everything.

One responsible person is more valuable than a thousand people who mindlessly labor.

Prioritize right actions over understanding.

Those who do not recover well from trivial and inconsequential rejections and failures reduce their chances of achieving great things.

Most our few assertions about what happened 10,000 years ago are actually very loose guesses. Most of are conclusions about what happened 3,000 years are actually very inaccurate. Most of our accounts about what happened 300 years ago are actually off. And most of what happened yesterday, we do not know.

In fact, of what we perceive about what is happening right now, we often get a very limited view. Some things are seen, and others are heard, and of what is gathered, we make all kinds of delusional conclusions and impressions that in no way match reality. The event that we recall one way, we will likely recall another way later, and another way later than that, and so on. How do we ever really know what is happening? What really exists?

History does not live in books; it lives in our bodies.

We all differ in life, but are all the same in death. During life there is variety, but during death there is just the equality of an indistinguishable pile of bones.

People all die. Some die early, some die late. The wise and benevolent die, and so do the cruel and imbecile. In life they are known as Confucius and Lao Tzu, dead they are an indistinguishable pile of bones. In life they are known as President Ford and Sonny Liston, dead they are an indistinguishable pile of bones.

Does the superior person even have time to trouble or be concerned about his reputation after death?

Why care about your post death legacy? Why care about what you will be remembered like, and what people will think of you after you are dead? Why throw away your actual life in order to leave behind a good reputation after you are dead?

Will the halo of glory revive a person's dried bones? Will it give back the joy of living?

Do not seek post death fame and reputation.

Why should I care what they do with my dead body? What can I do when I am dead? They may burn my body, or cast it into deep water, or bury it, or leave it unburied, or throw it wrapped up in a mat into some ditch, or cover it with princely apparel and embroidered garments and rest it in a stone sarcophagus. I will let it depend on chance.

A fir-tree said boastingly to the bramble, "You are useful for nothing at all; while I am everywhere used for roofs and houses."

The bramble answered, "You poor creature, if you would only call to mind the axes and saws which are about to hew you down, you would have reason to wish that you had grown up a bramble, not a fir-tree."

Appreciate yourself.

Times, circumstances, and opportunities change, matters can be advantageous or the opposite, and things come and go.

Utilize advantageous circumstances. Look for the easiest way, in order to use a minor effort to achieve great deeds.

Spend more time with activities and people you enjoy most, but also sacrifice the lesser good so that in the long run one can yield the greater good. This includes such things empowering the self through discipline, sometimes doing what you do not do so that you can do what you want to do, substituting a moment of safe discomfort at the current moment in order to prevent many moments of misfortune in the future, and having the ability to make yourself do the thing you ought to do when it ought to be done whether you like it or not.

Objectively examine yourself.

Do not limit your self to taking information only from limited sources or channels.

Do not need people to recognize you in order to be yourself.

Make the best of each moment.

Life is natural. Allow it to be that way.

Why let your joy be dependent on another person's permission? Why live only to please others?

Lean too much on the approval of others,

Do not seek any approval other than knowing that you did your best. Be satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will.

There are some who are great speakers, but do not know when to shut up. There are some who are brave, but lack caution. There are some who are courageous, but lack discipline. There are some who are bold, but lack control. There are some who are prudent, but timid. There are some who are dignified, but unpleasant in social interaction. There are some who are pleasant, but not dignified. There are some who are honorable, but lack discretion. There are some who are respectful, but obsequious. There are some who are straightforward, but follow misdirected judgment. There are some who are kind, but foolish. There are some who are wise, but excessively speculative. There are some who are honest, but deceived. There are some who are persistent, but excessively stubborn. There are some who are compassionate, but inflexible. There are some who are authoritative, but overbearing. There are some who are respectful, but not relaxed. There are some who cultivate a friendly harmony, but are weak.

One can be very happy without demanding that others agree with him. Sometimes we need to influence others, but you should not have your emotions tied to having other people agree with you. Demanding that everybody should always agree with you will strain your emotions.

Real poise and self-respect are not lessened by other people's indifference.

The superior person is more concerned with doing what is right than what is consistent. The lesser person is willing to do something that is wrong just to be considered consistent.

Do not make things more difficult than they are.

Do not take other people's bad example as a reason for you to do wrong. Even if the entire world is doing a certain wrong, do not do it yourself.

Laughter is a great way of making person-to-person connections.

There is no predetermined destiny or fate. Fatalism is wrong. The future has not been done yet.

Do not enjoy being a victim.

You are not the past. You are not anybody else. You are you.

Sometimes in an effort to do better, a person ends up doing less, because he pursues an unbalanced and impure course, rather than utilizing what is effective.

You have to be willing to make some harmless mistakes in order to avoid making truly harmful mistakes.

Many people often view new people as mainly a potential opportunity for their own self to be admired more.

The book that almost everybody praises might also be the book that almost nobody has read.

Every word, idea, or conclusion has some degree of falseness.

It is indeed a terrible thing to die before you are dead.

Many things difficult to design prove easy to performance.

Just as a plant's goodness is dependent on the soil and setting it grows in, so also is a person's environment important for his power and virtue.

Acknowledge both the good and the bad that you have done.

It can often be very wise to be willing to make a fool of yourself.

You cannot possibly foresee or imagine something in advance. It is bound to be much different. All things have countless unique details and specifics that cannot be forecast and expected. You will know the future when it comes to you.

Nobody can give you liberation. You must take it. If you do not find it in yourself, you will never obtain it.

Magnanimity is rare. Many have virtues, but few are willing to acknowledge virtues in another person.

Both poverty and wealth can strain a person. So neither poverty nor wealth is the best option in and of itself, if each is not regulated by proper actions.

So what is the answer? I say, enjoy life and take one's ease. Those who know how to enjoy life are not poor. He that lives at ease requires no riches. He who knows contentment is truly wealthy.

The self is infinitely more important than money.

Obsession with money leads to lack of security.

Money is human joy in the abstract. People who cannot enjoying human joy in the concrete are those who devote themselves utterly to money. That is truly unfortunate.

Confucius said, "Choose a job that you like, and you will never have to work a day in your life."

If possible, choose work that you love and is in your heart and passions. It is stupid to have a line of work that you hate and do not have to do, but nevertheless stick to. It is great to have a line of work that you sincerely and earnestly love to do.

A young man with an intense lust for gold was walking through the bazaar one morning, and spotted gold at a moneychanger's stand. Overcome by the sight of it, he proceeded to grab it and run off-but just seconds later, he was easily caught and arrested by the police.

When the officers were taking him away, they asked, "Why did you commit the theft out in the open when everyone was around, and it seemed so obvious you would get caught?"

The young man replied, "When I was taking the gold, I did not see anybody at all. I only saw the gold, and nothing but the gold."

When you take your own road, the world will probably tell you that you are on the wrong road.

People misunderstand each other more often than we think they do.

Talk sense to a fool, and he will usually call you foolish.

It is one thing to find people who are like you and have things in common with you. However, taking this too far can lead to poor results. A person needs a variety of people. And in many cases, opposites do have great chemistry.

Many problems happen because people do not see the greater good.

A good thing might prevent a person from achieving the greater good.

A person is not as great as the number of people who believe in him. A person is as great as his own belief in himself.

Be just yourself, even when the world tries to make you somebody else.

The superior person does not know himself by what others say he is. He is his own masterpiece.

How can a person be what he is unless he refuses to be what others have made him?

The superior person is less concerned with what he is thought to be, and more concerned with what he is.

To do all that you can do-this is the way the superior person seeks. To do all that you would like to do-can a person really do this?

A horse expert managed several horses at a time with incredible proficiency. Using the whips and reins, he could control the horses' speed and maneuver them with precision in any way he pleased.

However, when a wild pig came jumping at the horse, the horse expert lost control of the horse.

This is not because the whip and reign were less severe. This is because the wild jumping pigs had a level of authority on the horse that surpassed that of the whips and reins.

There are plenty of things we do not understand, but are available for our experience.

The beginning of something is the end of another. The end of something is the beginning of another. What is the beginning? What is the end?

When people observe an eccentric and bizarre person, most will say he is disordered and in need of a cure. But is this really true? There are many viewpoints on what is right and wrong, and what is true and false. And who in the whole world can say for sure what is good or bad, or what is right or wrong in the scope of music, beauty, smells, and tastes? And if everyone is like the eccentric and bizarre person, and only one person is not, then who is disordered?

Mi Tzu Hsia became popular with the ruler of Wei. At the time, the laws of Wei State said that any person who secretly used the ruler's carriage would face punishment of having his feet cut off.

One day, someone went into the palace late at night and informed Mi Tzu Hsia that his mother was sick. Upon hearing this, Mi Tzu Hsia forged a fake request from the ruler in order to use his carriage, and then took it to go see his mother.

When the ruler found out about what happened, not only was he not offended, but he only had good things to say, and remarked, "What a filial child! Over his concern for his mother, he went to the extent of risking his feet being cut off!"

Another time, Mi Tzu Hsia was walking outdoors with the ruler, and began eating a peach. Tasting how delicious it was, he offered the remaining half to the ruler. The ruler then remarked, "Your love for me is truly genuine! You put your appetite aside, and instead are concerned with offering me tasty food!"

But later, when Mi Tzu Hsia was older and less attractive, and the ruler was not so enamored with him anymore, a charge was brought against him by the ruler, who remarked, "Do not forget, this guy once stole my carriage, and another time he offered me a peach that he already ate half of!"

Although Mi Tzu Hsia's actions were the same way as before, he was praised in the earlier instances, but charged with wrongdoing in the later instance, because the ruler's love for him had converted into disdain.

People have different interests. Thus, they can never be loyal.

Never assume anything about other people's actions. Observe and examine what motivates people's actions.

People doing the same thing might have different motives.

A crazy person is running in one direction. A person who is chasing him is also running in the same direction. The direction that they are both running in is the same, but their motives for doing so is not the same.

Eels are like snakes. People are afraid when they see snakes. Silkworms are like caterpillars. People are shocked when they see caterpillars.

And yet, fishermen are willing to hold eels in their hands, and women are willing to pick up silkworms. So, when there is a motive of profit, people often become as courageous as great warriors.

When a predator is chasing its prey, the predator is running with a motive of hunger for a meal, and the prey is running with a motive of his life.

A shepherd grabbed his pig, and the pig squeaked and resisted violently. A goat in the same yard complained about this, saying, "He often handles me, and I do not cry out."

The pig replied, "His handling of you is different from his handling of me. He catches you only for your milk, but he lays hold on me for my very life."

Wu Ch'i was leading Wey's forces in an attack on the Central Hills. One of his soldiers was ill with boils, and Wu Ch'i himself bent down and sucked the pus out of the boil.

The soldier's mother was observing this nearby, and was crying. The people who saw her said, "The general is being so nice to your son. Why does this make you cry?"

The mother replied, "Wu Ch'i also sucked the pus out of his father's wound, and his father was later mortally wounded in battle. So, my son might die in battle as well. That is why I am crying."

What is the supreme principle of life?

If you ask Mo Tzu, he would probably say: Cultivate universal love. Love people. Base everything on benevolence, and bringing the greatest good to the greatest number of people.

If you asked Yang Chu, he would probably say: Have every person take care of himself so that care will be taken of all and the greatest good will be reached. Live life for your own enjoyment. Follow your heart. Disregard customs and propriety. Do not care about fame or reputation.

If you asked Confucius, he would probably say: Love and persist in learning and self-cultivation. Cultivate te. Be a developed and balanced person. Love life. Love yourself and love others. Follow Tao.

If you asked Buddha, he would probably say: Be concerned with the life experiences at hand. End suffering. Do this through stopping desire mixed with a passion for greed, and by abiding by the Middle Way of non-extremes, and the Eightfold Path of right view, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.

If you asked Jesus, he would probably say: Find salvation and enter the Kingdom of Heaven through Jesus and his Gospel. Believe in God. Love others as yourself. Repent for your sins. Do not love and be obsessed with money and accumulating material things.

If you asked the Muslims, they would probably say: Believe in God and submit to God, and do your duty so that in the end, you may enter paradise and not hell.

If you asked the Jews, they would probably say: Follow the Law and worship God.

If you asked the Hindus, they would probably say: Know the gods, meditate, realize that your internal soul / self is the same as the supreme Brahman, and attempt to reach liberation from rebirth.

If you asked Lao Tzu, he would probably say: Tao is the unnamable and undesirable source of all things. Do everything by Tao and Wu Wei. Follow Nature rather than standards, precepts, and labels.

If you asked Chuang Tzu, he would probably say: Do everything by Tao. Do not have a role and place in society. Live freely.

If you asked Arthur Schopenhauer, he would probably say: Avoid pain. Be rich in yourself and what you are. Pursue intellectual pursuits. Be an individual. Be an ascetic who appreciates the various arts, and is removed from the blind indifferent Will of the universe.

If you asked the Jainas, they would probably say: Conquer and master yourself. Be disciplined. Control your mind, body, and tongue. Have right faith, right actions, and right knowledge. Follow righteousness. Liberate your soul from the bondage of karmas, and return to your pure nature. Do not harm other beings

Many people have persisted in living through consistent misfortune just because they have neglected to ask for certain thing in fear of inconsequential and harmless rejections.

T'an T'ai appeared to be a superior person. Confucius regarded him as having great potential, so he took him in as a disciple. However, after interacting with him for a while, Confucius discovered that his conduct did not correspond with what he appeared to be.

Ts'ai Yu's speech was brilliant and cultivated. Confucius regarded him as having great potential, so he took him in as a disciple. However, after interacting with him for a while, Confucius discovered that his wisdom did not correspond with his speaking skill.

Thus, Confucius said, "Should I pick people based on their appearance? I made a mistake in regards to T'an-t'ai. Should I pick people based on their speech? I made a mistake in regards to Ts'ai Yu."

So even Confucius-who was supremely wise-had to acknowledge that his judgment was mistaken. And the speakers of today are more articulate than Ts'ai Yu, and the rulers of today are more easily deceived than Confucius. So if they assign people to office solely based on their satisfaction with their speech and appearance, then how are they going to avoid making mistakes?

A ruler of a large state offered a gift of large bells to the ruler of a nearby small state ruler. The ruler of the small state planned to clear the way so that they could be delivered, but his advisor warned him, "Do not do it. This gift has been given to you in a manner consistent with the way a small state respects big power. And yet, in this case, the giver is a large state, and we, the receiver, are a small state. So if a large state is sending us such a gift, soldiers will probably follow it. Do not accept the gift." But the ruler did not heed this warning. He accepted the gift and opened the way, and a month later, the big state did indeed attack and destroy the small state using the cleared path.

To not do what you have to do when you have to do it-isn't this wrong?

It can be great to remember, but it is often more valuable to forget what should be forgotten.

Paradoxes are indeed a part of reality.

Everybody has the present. The past is gone, and nobody has it.

Tao is empty. Its use is inexhaustible. It is infinitely deep and immeasurable. It is the source of all things. It cannot be seen, heard, grasped, or named. Again and again it returns home to non-existence. It is the form of the formless, and the semblance of the invisible. It is beyond words and beyond things. It is its own roots.

Tao exists beyond the highest point, but you cannot call it lofty. It exists beneath the limit of directions, but you cannot call it deep. It existed before Heaven and Earth, but you cannot say it has existed for a long time. It existed before the earliest time, but you cannot call it old.

I do not know who originated Tao. It preceded the origination of creation.

Tao is always here. Use it effortlessly, and it will never finish.

Tao is hidden and has no name, yet Tao is what is skilled at nourishing and completing everything.

Tao is tasteless and flavorless. When looked at, there is not enough to be seen. When listened to, there is not enough to be heard. When used, it is inexhaustible.

Everything in the universe leads to Tao, just like various waters flow into the great seas.

When the superior person hears about Tao, he practices it diligently. When the somewhat superior person hears about the Tao, he is only somewhat into it. When the lesser person hears about Tao, he ridicules it. If he did not ridicule it, it would not really be Tao.

The supreme excellence is like water, which benefits all things without striving to compete, and gathers in unpopular places.

The greatest person is nobody.

Employ your mind as a mirror, conducting nothing, assuming nothing, responding to what is before it without retaining it, and acting successfully.

R. Buckminster Fuller said, "Don't fight forces; use them."

Francis Bacon said, "Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

The superior person uses things; the lesser person is used by things.

Appreciate people.

Value your words less and your actions more.

The path into the light seems dark. The path forward seems to go back. The direct path seems long. True power seems weak. True purity seems tarnished. True steadfastness seems changeable. True clarity seems obscure. The greatest art seem unsophisticated. The greatest love seems indifferent. The greatest wisdom seems childish.

Real perfection seems imperfect, but is perfectly itself. Real fullness seems empty, but is inexhaustible.

Real straightness seems curved. Real wisdom seems foolish.

Without going outside your door, you can understand the world. Without looking out from your window, you can understand Tao. The farther you stray, the less you will understand.

If I have ever so little knowledge, I shall walk in the great Tao. It is but expansion that I must fear.

Tao is very simple, yet people prefer side paths. When the palace is very splendid, the granaries are very empty.

Do not meddle with irrelevancies, and there will be prosperity. Do not identify with greediness, and there will be the state of simplicity.

Different causes can bring about different effects. But when chance is the determinant factor, then who can know what to place blame on? Even a sage regards this as difficult.

Tao of Heaven does not compete, yet conquers. It does not speak, yet responds. It does not command, yet comes of itself.

Heaven's net is very vast. It is wide-meshed, but it loses nothing.

There is nothing in the world more soft and yielding than water, yet there is nothing better for attacking things that are firm and strong. There is nothing that can preside over it or compete with it

If you ask me what my Tao is, my answer is, "What is right now?"

Tao is everyday and ordinary.

Tao is vast, free, and boundless like outer space.

Tao is not about knowing, nor is it about not-knowing.

By pursuing the right course of an endeavor, it can be accomplished without difficulties and great efforts.

These, though contradictory, must go together.

The superior person aims for self-expression, satisfying relationships, and getting what he needs. The lesser person lives in other people's opinions.

Success is not just about making good things happen; it is also about letting good things happen.

Those that do not allow advantages to be advantages will miss out on advantages. Do not be so obsessed with developing one type of good that you hinder the greater good. If you are only paying attention to one kind of benefit, then you will not notice the destructive aspects of things. Do not let trivial matters get in the way of getting what you need. Do not neglect advantages due to trivial matters.

The superior person would rather make minor and inconsequential mistakes instead of major and highly consequential mistakes. The lesser person is completely terrified of making minor and totally inconsequential mistakes, and exposes himself to making major and consequential ones.

Do not let the threat of an inconsequential rejection cause you to miss many highly advantageous victories.

Confucius said: "When I am with others, they are my teachers. I select their good points and follow them, and select their bad points and avoid them. When you see good [qualities] in a person, think of how to rise to that level. When you see bad [qualities] in a person, reflect inwards and examine your weak points." Baltasar Gracian said: "Wise men appreciate everyone, for they see the good in each, and know how hard it is to make anything good. Fools depreciate everyone, not recognizing the good, and selecting the bad." In this process, it is important not to underrate what people are, and not to overrate what they are not.

A person is a unique individual. Although it is advantageous to learn from others, one cannot always look to another person to make an all-fitting conclusion of an example of what works, because sometimes a person needs to custom fit things for himself/herself.

Carl Jung said: "The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe

for living that suits all cases."

La Rochefoucauld said: "There is an air [individuality / personal bearing] that belongs to the figure and talents of each individual; we always lose it when we abandon it to assume another. We should try to find out what air is natural to us and never abandon it, but make it as perfect as we can…

"… [People] seek for an air other than their own, and a mind different from what they possess; they take their style and manner at chance. They make experiments upon themselves, without considering that what suits one person will not suit everyone, that there is no universal rule for taste or manners, and that there are no good copies…

"I do not pretend, from what I say, that each should so wrap himself up in himself so as to not be able to follow example, or to add to his own, useful and serviceable habits, which nature has not given him…

"But yet, acquired qualities should always have a certain agreement and a certain union with our own natural qualities, which they imperceptibly extend and increase…"

He also said: "There is a kind of greatness that does not depend upon fortune: it is a certain manner that distinguishes us, and which seems to destine us for great things; it is the value we insensibly set upon ourselves; it is by this quality that we gain the esteem of other men, and it is this which commonly raises us more above them, than birth, rank, or even virtue itself."

He also said: "It appears that nature has hid at the bottom of our hearts talents and abilities unknown to us. It is only the passions that have the power of bringing them to light, and sometimes give us truer and more perfect views than art [/ resourcefulness] could possibly make."

Shakti Gawain said: "We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples' models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channel to open."

Be yourself by releasing your non-self. When you develop any aspects from the external world, properly fit them to properly suit you.

And in your regular expression, you don't need to pressure yourself to be any more joyous, funny, quiet, etc. than you are-since when you do, this will often cause you to look insincere and miserable.

Acknowledge the negative aspects and tendencies of you, and defeat them. Point out what your negative thoughts are, so you can become aware of them and understand why they are not advantageous to you.

Positive thinking and negative thinking are both advantageous to use in one's life strategy. The person who only thinks negatively will run into trouble; the person who is intent on only thinking of the positive cannot see the whole positive. Positive and negative thinking cannot both be done simultaneously.

The master strategist benefits from his/her thoughts by practicing positive thinking, and unlocking the key of that positive thinking through repetition and continuous practice. Yet he/she also becomes aware of the big picture by utilizing negative thinking when appropriate, in order to gain an outsider viewpoint of situations, and to determine the proper path of strategy.

Negative thinking yields a wide perspective-especially in foreseeing dangers; positive thinking yields self-confidence, self-esteem and a positive self-image.

Adaptability and responsiveness are important to strategy. Kakuzo Okakura said: "The art of life is a constant readjustment to our surroundings."

[The Sufi] Amr ibn Uthman al-Makki said: "The Sufi acts corresponding to whatever is most fitting to the moment."

Marcus Aurelius said: "Constantly observe everything that takes place by change,

and adapt yourself to consider that Universe's nature loves nothing as much as changing things that are, and making new things like them. In a way, everything that exists is like the seed of what it will be."

A Latin proverb says: "Times change and we change with them."

Charles Darwin said: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."

Publilius Syrus said: "A plan is bad if it cannot be changed."

Michel de Montaigne said: "The strength of any plan depends on the time.

Circumstances and things eternally shift and change." He also said: "Wise people are foolish if they cannot adapt to foolish people."

The hockey coach Scotty Bowman said: "I found out that if you are going to win games, you had better be ready to adapt."

Bruce Lee said: "All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns."

Nolan Ryan said: "Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent."

Niccolo Machiavelli said: "…He who suits his action to fit the times will prosper, but he whose actions do not accord with the times will not be successful."

Michel de Montainge said: "Not being able to govern events, I govern myself, and apply myself to them if they will not apply themselves to me."

Baltasar Gracian said: "Live according to the moment-our acts and thoughts and all must be determined by circumstances. Act when you may, because time and tide wait for no one. Do not live by certain fixed rules… nor let your will pledge to fixed conditions, for you may have to drink the water tomorrow that you cast away today.

"There are some [people] so absurdly stubborn in error, that they expect all the circumstances of an action should bend to their own eccentric whims, and not vice versa. The wise man knows that the very [north] pole star of prudence is found in acting according to the current circumstances."

[War strategist] Sun Tzu said: "Do not repeat the [exact same] tactics just because they have gained you one victory-instead, let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

"So in war, the [effective] way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe that he is facing.

"Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are

no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

"The five elements [water, fire, wood, metal, earth] are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing."

It is the mark of a good strategist to make good changes. It is the mark of a lesser strategist to make bad changes, to make changes when changes are not needed, or to not make changes when changes are needed.

When your perspective is excessively towards one side of anything, or your perspective does not appropriately fit the time, you will usually increase vulnerability, and increase the chances of problems arising. Therefore, the strategist should be in tune with viewing things from the proper perspectives, and fit his/her perspective to fit the time. Thus, the vulnerability of problems is greatly reduced.

A person should be adaptable, but not one to be thrown around. A person should not be excessively flexible or excessively rigid, and should base his/her manner of flexibility or rigidness on the situation.

Confucius said: "The superior man is adequately resolute, but not recklessly inflexible."

It is necessary to be ready and prepared to adapt; it is not necessary to live in "what if." It is necessary to anticipate and plan for the future; it is not necessary to live in the future.

We must consider the future for planning, but nobody-and I mean nobody-can actually deal firsthand with the future. We are always meeting the moment. We deal with the future by dealing with the present. Meister Eckhart said: "There exists only the present instant... a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday, or any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago, and as it will be a thousand years later."

Preparation can be advantageous when used properly, but can also become disadvantageous when taken to the point of self-sabotage. "What if" thinking can be a good tool at times in order to anticipate possible occurrences to know how to respond, and to consider the big picture and to assess risk and avoid positions of vulnerability. But wallowing in "what if" in a poorly conducive manner can destroy true confidence of mind and spirit, and can also cause one to not use his/her advantages.

The person who does not press advantages will be defeated. The supreme strategist will carry a balanced mindset regarding the world of advantages. He/she has a twofold strategy: he/she creates advantages when needed, but also utilizes those advantages that are presented to him/her.

La Rochefoucauld said: "In great matters, we should not try to create opportunities as much as we should utilize those opportunities that offer themselves."

A person often has many advantages right in front of him/her, yet neglects all of them, or only picks the one that has little value. This is a bad strategy, and sometimes caused by trying to do too much at once, or being too greedy and wanting to take all advantages at once. If you try to clean all for corners of your room at the same time, your room will never get cleaned.

Hence, the good strategist should consistently take advantage of the highest value advantages, and fill their carts one item at a time. He/she does not forfeit a greater advantage for a lesser one.

La Rochefoucauld said: "A clever man should handle his self-interests so that each will fall in suitable order [of their value]. Our greediness often brings trouble to this order, and makes us pursue so many things at the same time, that while we attend to the trifling too eagerly, we miss the great."

It is a strategically mistake for someone to neglect to utilize the abundance of ways available to make gains and to hone one's skills, when these ways present no high consequence harm to the person, such as physical harm, a lessening of freedom, or the lessening of one's leverage in future situations

When a situation has potential for gain and presents none of these risks, the opportunity is there, and should be seized. A good strategist seizes such opportunities, and also allows these opportunities to build upon another, since opportunities multiply as they are seized. A good strategist does not let trivial matters get in the way of getting what he/she needs.

The lesser strategist frequently avoids such situations that are not risky and offer opportunity for gain, generally due to trivial matters. The lesser strategist is completely terrified of making minor and totally inconsequential mistakes. The lesser strategist often lets the threat of one totally inconsequential rejection cause many highly advantageous victories to evade him/her. The lesser strategist is also prone to making himself/herself vulnerable to being exposed to those risks that are definitely risky, yet offer little potential for gain.

Do not waste your energy looking far and wide for things that are less valuable than those that you neglect which are lying right in front of you. A Russian proverb says: "Many people who have gold in the house are looking for copper outside."

Do not waste your energy trying to gain good qualities while you neglect those good qualities you do have. La Rochefoucauld said: "It is not enough to have great qualities; we should also have the management of them."

Do not waste your energy by being so exclusively intent on making advantages that you don't utilize those advantages already there. La Rochefoucauld said: "In great matters, we should not try to create opportunities as much as we should utilize those opportunities that offer themselves."

Do not waste your energy focusing so much on lesser things that you neglect greater things. If you want to handle the significant matters effectively, then don't waste your resources on the insignificant ones. Most people try too hard at the wrong things. The vast majority of matters don't really matter that much. Don't excessively attend to the matters that don't matter a lot at the expense of those things that matter a lot.

La Rochefoucauld said: "Those who apply themselves too closely to trifling things often become incapable of great things."

Confucius said: "A lack of patience in trifling matters might lead to the disruption of great project."

Mencius said: "Only when someone refuses to do certain things will he be capable of doing great things."

Goethe said: "The things that matter the most must never be at the mercy of things that matter the least."

La Rochefoucauld said: "A clever man should handle his self-interests so that each will fall in suitable order [of their value]. Our greediness often brings trouble to this order, and makes us pursue so many things at the same time, that while we attend to the trifling too eagerly, we miss the great."

Do not waste your energy trying to be what you already are. Jalal Al-Din Rumi said: "We waste of our energy designing and carrying out plans to become what we already are."

Do not waste your energy always being tense, or being tense when it is not the right time/situation to be tense. John Lust said: "The body is consuming energy when tense, and restoring energy when it is relaxed." A Cameroonian Proverb says: "If the fight is tomorrow, then why should you clench your fist today?" Confucius said: "The superior man is calm and composed; the lesser man is continuously worried and distressed."

Do not waste your energy not doing something when it is the time to do it, or doing something at the wrong time/place. A Chinese Proverb says: "Do everything at its right time, and one day will seem like three." A French Proverb says: "One day is as good as two for the person who does everything in its place." William James said: "Nothing is so fatiguing as the hanging on of an uncompleted task."

Do not waste your energy trying to do too much at once. When you try to do everything at once, nothing usually ends up getting done. If you try to clean all for corners of your room at the same time, your room will never get cleaned.

La Rochefoucauld said: "A clever man should handle his self-interests so that each will fall in suitable order [of their value]. Our greediness often brings trouble to this order, and makes us pursue so many things at the same time, that while we attend to the trifling too eagerly, we miss the great."

Do not waste your energy by pursuing extremes. Lao Tzu said: "He who knows enough is enough will always have enough."

Do not waste your energy by presenting yourself with two options, and then feeling equally guilty/regretful for choosing either of them. If there is another option that is better, including not choosing to do anything, then choose that one. If there are no more options, or there are no more options better than the original two, choose the better of the two, and realize that you had to choose one. A football running back can't do a run through move and a run around move at the same moment.

Do not waste your energy on the wrong things. Henry Ford said: "Most people spend more time and energy going around problems than in trying to solve them." Benjamin Franklin said: "Men take more pains to mask than to mend." La Rochefoucauld said: "Almost all of our faults are more excusable than the means we take to hide them."

Those who don't recover well from trivial rejections/failures reduce their chances of achieving great things. La Rochefoucauld said: "Little minds are too much wounded by little things; great minds see all [these little thing] and are not hurt."

In order to expose yourself to the possibility of success, it is usually necessary to expose yourself to the possibility of criticism.

Energy-whether physical, mental, or emotional-should be conserved, and applied in a timely, useful, and efficient manner

Goethe said: "Beware of wasting your powers; constantly strive to concentrate them."

Ramana Maharshi said: "The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress."

Napoleon Hill said: "Concentration, itself, is nothing but a matter of control of the attention! … Learn to fix your attention on a given subject, at will, for whatever length of time you choose, and you will have learned the secret passage-way to power and plenty! This is concentration!

There is no one who can live on earth and not harbor the negative opinions of others. Siddhartha Guatama said: "They criticize one who remains silent, they criticize one who talks a lot, and they even criticize one who talks in moderation. There is no one in the world who is not criticized. There is not, never was, and never will be a person that lives on earth who is always praised or always criticized."

A Spanish Proverb says: "Every person is a fool in some person's opinion."

Elbert Hubbard said, "To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing."

A Burundian Proverb says: "The unborn baby that fears criticism will never be born."

Why do I, Rodney Ohebsion, quote so many other people in my book? Michel de Montaigne said: "I quote others in order to better express myself."

Taking your mind off of certain irrelevancies doesn't mean putting your mind on the fact that you are taking your mind off of the irrelevancies. It does mean that you are actually taking your mind off of the irrelevancies.

Many people keep themselves excessively busy, and continuously overwhelm themselves with input, leaving them with a lack of moments to reflect. Hence, it can become advantageous to step away and remove oneself from a continuously busy pattern. This will allow one to gain a deep outsider perspective of understanding of oneself and how he/she fits in to the scheme of things.

Blaise Pascal said: "All of man's troubles stem from his inability to sit alone, quietly, in a room for any length of time."

Lin Yutang said: "If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."

A Spanish Proverb says: "It is beautiful to do nothing and then rest afterwards."

A Chinese Proverb says: "To be totally at leisure for one day is to be immortal for one day."

If you don't have a particular problem, then don't create that problem for yourself just so you'll have a problem to solve.

Television and movies are not an accurate reflection of real life. Did you know that almost all parts of The Tonight Show are scripted, including most aspects of the interviews?

And Jay Leno and his team of writers start from a preliminary field of a tremendous amount of jokes for the opening monologue, and narrow down to just a few. And even despite all of this, some of the jokes do not do well with the audience. And this is even despite the fact that the audience has a preset bias towards laughing at his jokes. After all, they have allocated their resources to come to the show, are influenced by Jay's high reputation, and also generally don't like to create uncomfortable situations where Jay Leno tells a joke and nobody laughs.

The new supermarket wanted to have very low prices, and outstanding customer service, and a very wide selection of goods, and a large number of payment types accepted, and very wide aisles, and long store hours, and it hoped to be the among the best at every measurable category. It wasn't long before the new supermarket went broke. In most cases, it's better to aim to be outstanding in some areas, and just good in others.

Some successful people sacrifice more for their success than they benefit from their success.

It is best to generally do what you like, but to also see the big picture of this matter.

It is strainful on emotions to spend too much time on what you don't like and to neglect spending time on what you do like. Thus, to cultivate balance, spend more time with activities and people you enjoy most, and spend less time on those you enjoy least.

On the other hand, there is the matter of sacrificing the lesser good so that in the long run, one can yield the greater good. And there is the matter of developing self-empowerment through self-discipline. And there is the matter of doing things we don't want to do so we can do those we do want to do. William James said: "Everybody should do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice."

Hence, the better strategist doesn't neglect things that he likes, but doesn't neglect the greater good.

It is the mark of a good strategist to understand that not everything is simple, and not everything is complex.

Most things are simple, but some things are complicated. Most complicated things are actually for the most part simple, but with a few complicated parts. Most complicated parts are actually a series of less complicated things that look very complicated when viewed together.

Henry Ford said: "Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs."

He also said: "There are no big problems; there are just a lot of little problems." He also said: "When I can't handle events, I let them handle themselves."

It is bad strategy to make the simple complicated, and thus have used most of your energy on the simple, and have little left for what is really complicated. It is good strategy to treat what is simple as simple, and to handle complicated parts like Wen Hui's cook.

In the Chuang Tzu, Wen Hui's cook said: "…In my cutting [of oxen], I sometimes come up to a complicated point. That is when I inspect the difficulties and prepare myself, and with caution, I focus and see what I am doing and working on, and move my knife with delicacy and subtleness.

"With a slight and sudden movement of the knife, the difficult part comes apart like clumps of dirt crumbling back to earth. And then I stand there holding my knife, looking all around me, leisurely content and satisfied, and enjoying my success. And then I wipe my knife clean and put it away."

Comparing yourself to others too much leads to poor results. Hence, the good strategist compares himself/herself to others, but not too much, and not from the wrong perspective.

It is un-advantageous to view life as being about always being serious, and it is also un-advantageous to view life as always life as always being about joking.

Siddhartha Guatama said: "All we are is the result of what we have thought."

But is it true that all we are is what we think? I think that it is not just what one thinks; it is also what one does not think.

Over the long run, the most important factor in anyone's life is what he/she puts his/her attention/observation on. This attention/observation is actually comprised of two things-what your attention/observation is on, and what your attention/observation it is not on. And attention/observation is based on what perspective you have your attention on things or observe them from.

Consider the role of viewpoints. From your view, you can cover the sun with your hand, but that does not mean that your hand is actually bigger than the sun. Know how to use viewpoint correctly.

La Rochefoucauld said: "Men and things each have their proper perspective. To judge some of them rightly, it is necessary to see them at near, while to judge others rightly, we must see them at a distance."

La Rochefoucauld said: "We would earnestly desire but few things if we clearly knew what we desired."

When someone observes what is bothering him/her about himself/herself, that self observation will cause the person's mind/soul to take a step on its own in taking the first step to solve the issue, and that first step will result in an automatic second step, and so on, and so forth, until the situation is resolved by itself, all because the person was willing to observe, put attention on, and become aware from the proper perspective of what was bothering him/her. True self-observation is a tremendous tool for strategy.

Don't overanalyze. Don't jump to conclusions.

Those who perceive the unobvious yet neglect the obvious can be deceived. Those who perceive the obvious yet neglect the unobvious can be deceived. Thus, most effective strategy is to perceive the obvious and the unobvious. It is a skill few people have developed, but those who have developed it benefit tremendously. There is little that they will miss.

I only rely on others when it is advantageous for me to do so.

Everyone speaks the language of lies-and while some speak it more and some speak it less, everyone speaks it significantly. Everyone is a liar-I have yet to come across a person that I can describe as generally honest, and I rarely ever find anyone who even speaks the truth often, especially in regards to themselves.

Johann G. Zimmerman said: "The more you speak of yourself, the more you are likely to lie."Johann G. Seume said: "Nothing is more common on earth than to deceive and be deceived." La Rochefoucauld said: "Men would not live long in society if they were not the dupes of each other."

And most people lie to themselves almost as much as they lie to others.

Human perfection is found in correcting mistakes and faults. True human perfection is a process, not a set state. True human perfection is in acting in accordance with whatever is most fitting to the moment. Saint Augustine said: "The very perfection of a man is to find out his own imperfections."

The language of emotions is just as important as any other language, and just as important as any other aspect of communication. This applies to communication with others as well communication with oneself. People generally respond to the communication of emotions as much or more than any other aspect of communication.

John Junor said: "An ounce of emotion is equal to a ton of facts." La Rochefoucauld said: "The passions are the most effective orators for persuading. They are a natural art that have infallible rules; and the simplest man with passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent without it. "

The person who speaks the language of emotions well is adding to his/her harmony. But the person who is continuously on guard against communicating / expressing any emotions will eventually meet emotional frustration, often in the form of feeling shame when shame is inappropriate, feeling anger when anger is not needed, and forcing more laughter than the humor he/she feels.

Good emotional communication does not mean haphazard expression. It does mean being expressive, sincere, and wide ranging. The language of emotions is spoken in which are being used, which aren't being used, how much are being used, and at what moment they are being used.

The stairway of improvement lies right in front of people, yet there are very few people who ascend it. Many people speak of the stairway but don't climb it; others look at the steps ahead but do not take them; others are continuously trying in vain to climb too many steps at once; others think they are climbing up when they are just maintaining there current positions; others are trying to build steps even though the steps are there and right in front of them; others try climb using the wrong method of climbing; and for many, their steps upwards are negated by their steps downwards.

Many of the answers to your problems are usually staring you right in the face.

La Rochefoucauld said: "Men would not remain in a society for long if they were not the dupes of each other."

Hence, the need to know about influence / manipulation, and the need to use it.

People are generally very open to being influenced / manipulated / deceived in one or more ways, and it is generally advantageous to influence / manipulate / deceive them somewhat.

Friedrich Nietzsche said: "People are deceived so much because they are always seeking a deceiver; that is to say, a wine to stimulate their senses."

People generally want and expect to be influenced / manipulated / deceived at least somewhat. If they interact with a person, and that person does not influence / manipulate / deceive them at all, their esteem for that person lessens, and they often try to take advantage of him/her.

People, in general, will also try to take advantage or even abuse you if you present them with an opportunity to do so. People generally do this to one another-whether it is interaction between friends or between enemies. Of course, people will be crueler towards an enemy, but nevertheless, taking advantage of another is not at all limited to just enemies. This is not to say that they never try to encourage others, but recognize that it is never all positive or all negative in any relationship.

Thus, you should subtly demand respect, but not necessarily force it unless absolutely necessary. And since people can take advantage of you, you should be careful of them. Yet, it is still conducive to both your self-development and your harmony to let yourself be influenced by others. The person who completely shuts himself off to the influence of others will usually create social disharmony, and will also miss out on certain positive influences.

Thus, for good strategy, you should allow yourself to be influenced by everybody you interact with, but only in ways that are advantageous to you. Keep others in check by understanding / influencing / manipulating / deceiving them, and allow them to only influence / "manipulate" you in ways that are beneficial to you.

Thus, the people you will interact with will be pleased they are having an influence on you, you will benefit from their influence, and you will also give them what they want and keep them in check by understanding / influencing / manipulating / deceiving them.

Hence, the usefulness of understanding others. First, realize that people have both differences and similarities. People often overlook this obvious idea. To know that they are different, consider that they have their own background, experiences, and environment. Since people are different, their desire, motivators, and ideals of success will differ. You can use this to understand yourself and others, and to manipulate others.

Friedrich Nietzsche said: "It is not true that 'every man has his price.' But for every one, there is bait [that exists] which he cannot resist biting. To win over certain people to something, it is only necessary to give it a shine of humaneness, nobleness, caring, self-sacrificing-and thus there is nothing you cannot get them to bite. To their souls, these are the icing… other kinds of souls have others."

Baltasar Gracian said: "Find out each person's thumbscrew [what they like, what motivates them to do things]. It is the means of setting his wills in action…

"You must know where to get at any one. Every choice has a special motive that varies according to taste. All people idolize something-for some it is fame, for others self-interest, for most it is pleasure. Skill consists in knowing these idols in order to bring them into play.

"Know a person's mainspring of motive, and you have as it were the key to his will. Utilize [his] primary motives, which are not always the highest, but more often the lowest part of his nature, because there are more dispositions badly organized than well.

First guess a person's ruling passion, appeal to it with words, set it in motion by temptation, and you will always checkmate his freedom of will."

Also, recognize that to understand others is a means of understanding their reaction to you. Use this understanding.

Basing methods on experience should be prioritized over basing experiences on methods.

Reasoning and logic are good, but they often miss out on the big picture. The balanced person will dwell inside and outside the realm of logic and reason. By stepping outside of logic and reason, logic and reason become many times more effective, safe, and useful.

Those who rely exclusively on reasoning and logic will be vulnerable, because they will usually neglect common sense most and emotions.

Before you ponder whether the glass if half full or half empty, first decide if you are thirsty or not.

Not everything can be categorized.

There are many different paths that can lead to the same success.

If you share in other people's misery, then you should share in their joy, too.

It is difficult to be a good performer, judge, and spectator all at the same time.

If there is a fire in the kitchen, then you should either spray water at the fire in the kitchen, or get out of the house. Whatever you do, don't spray water in the living room where there is no fire!

A tower built on lies will come tumbling down eventually, but it can still be built to great heights and stand for a long time if it is fed a continuous supply of well-placed lies. However, you can tell if a tower is built from lies by inspecting its foundation, as long as you first make sure that your own view is not clouded with too many lies.

William Shakespeare said: "

If you are looking for something, you might find it-even if it didn't originally exist.

Getting to the root of your problem today will pay dividends for a long time.

Eat the food you are eating now instead of the food that you are about to eat.

It's fine to prepare for a storm, but don't be living in a storm when there is no storm.

The earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars are gifts that we can give ourselves everyday.

Instead of always trying to change other people, change your reaction to other people.

Just because the sun rises and sets every day, it doesn't mean that every day is meant to be exactly the same.

Challenge your destructive viewpoints with constructive viewpoints, and make consistent reminders of the constructive viewpoints.

If you don' t accept others as individuals, then it is unlikely that you will accept yourself as an individual.

What we are searching high and low for might not be as useful as what lies right in front of us.

Self-discipline is different from haphazard self-torture.

You are supposed to be prepared for occasional emergencies…not living a continuous one.

It appears that he thinks you are an asshole…but maybe he will think differently tomorrow, and maybe he thinks everyone is an asshole, and maybe he thinks that you might be an asshole but he is undecided, and maybe he thinks that you are kind of an asshole but not a total asshole, and maybe he used to think that you were an asshole but he doesn't think so anymore, and maybe he doesn't think you are an asshole and he never thought that you were an asshole, and maybe he does think you are an asshole and it is true, and maybe you need to be an asshole, and maybe you are an asshole and you should stop being one, and maybe you think that he is an asshole, and maybe you were an asshole today but you weren't one yesterday and you won't be one tomorrow, and maybe everyone is an asshole, and maybe he thinks that you are an asshole but he also thinks that he is an even bigger asshole…

Understanding your reaction to others will help you understand yourself.

You should not have your emotions tied to having other people agree with you.

Often, it is not the doing that requires energy-it is the unnecessary baggage attached to the doing. Hence, it is good strategy to avoid such baggage that has no advantageous use.

It is vain to appreciate diamonds and rubies more than nature, animals, and people.

If you are a strong person who used to be weak, it doesn't mean that you are a weak person who went on a journey of becoming strong-it might mean that you originally were neither weak nor strong, and you went on a journey of becoming weak and then becoming strong.

If you carry yourself with authority and conviction, people will most likely believe you are the authority. And if you do it convincing enough, even you yourself will believe that you are the authority. And for most practical purposes, you will be the authority.

Is it good to be nice? I believe that this question cannot be answered accurately with an all-encompassing yes or no. It is bad to never be nice, and it is bad to be too nice, and it is bad when the level of niceness does not suit the time.

Those who are too nice, I view as annoying. Those who are too mean, I view as a threat. The person who is too nice will be taken advantage of. The person who is not nice enough will also create difficulties for himself/herself.

A Hebrew Proverb says: "Don't be too sweet, or else you will be eaten up; but don't be too bitter, or else you will be spitted out."

Why have technology and innovation expanded at a faster rate as time went by? I believe this trend is primarily due to communication and organization-they can build up upon themselves, and thus increase exponentially (at an increasing percentage-wise rate of increasing).

Here's another question: Why were the Europeans who came to the Western Hemisphere in the 1500s able to defeat the Native Americans in war, even despite the fact that in general, the Native Americans were superior fighters?

Is it because the Europeans outnumbered the Native Americans? I don't think that gets to the root of the matter. After all, Europeans arriving on North American by boat do not seem to have such a usable numbers advantage when facing the many Native Americans already in the Americas.

Perhaps it was because of the European's technology advantage. Yet I don't think that gets to the root of the scenario. In fact, I believe that the reason the Europeans had the technology also explains the root cause of why the Europeans defeated the Native Americans; namely-the answer to both of these is organization and communication.

Hence, the need for the strategist to utilize organization and communication.

To follow the suitable path, recognize the differences in the individual. Or to put it another way, recognize the difference in people, whether it is the difference between you and someone else, or the difference between two people who are not you.

Blaise Pascal said: "The more intelligent someone is, the more originality he finds of others. Average people find little difference between people."

Robert Zend said: "People have one thing in common: they are all different."

Understanding that people are different is a key to understanding people.

Of course, one needn't go to an extreme of total individuality-that people are completely and totally different. That is not accurate. But nevertheless, it is great to see the vast array of differences in individuals. Even twins in the twin-most sense of the word-who are genetically near identical and are also raised together-are not very similar at all. Although they might seem similar in looks and personality at first glance, upon increased familiarity with them, it becomes very apparent that they almost always differ vastly.

Shooter said: "All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and humans. The reason Wakan Tanka [the Great Mystery, the supreme spiritual power in Sioux belief] does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly the same is because each is placed here by Wakan Tanka to be an independent individual and to rely upon itself."

Let's look at the so-called ideal of "normal people." Despite various labels, I believe that it can be stated that absolutely no one on this planet who normal, and such an ideal does not exist and has never existed and will never exist. Robert Zend said: "People have one thing in common: they are all different."

The conventional ideal of normal is usually thought of as what is common in the majority of the people; yet does this concept really exist, or does it just depend on how you look at the situation? If we choose to view them another way, does the so-called solidified and absolute ideal of normal become apparent as a matter of perspective, and not an absolute?

And not only are different people different, but even the same person is different at different times. Everyone is a different person at every moment.

Heracleitus said: "You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters are

continually flowing on." He also said: "There is nothing permanent except change."

Plato said: "Nothing ever is, but is always becoming."

George Bernard Shaw said: "The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me."

George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff said: "It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour."

Recognize the good, and cultivate it. Recognize the bad, and avoid it. Use the good as a tool to remedy the bad. You can often cure what's wrong with you with what's right with you. You can often eliminate weaknesses with strengths. Bill Clinton said: "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured with what is right in America."

Accept what progress you already have, and get what progress you don't have. Deal with what needs to be dealt with, and do what needs to be done-whether that that thing or things is something, or whether it is nothing. And only do things well if they are worth doing well. And don't spend two hours on what needs only one minute, and don't spend only one minute on what needs two hours.

It is bad strategy to focus so much on what you don't have, that you neglect to effectively you use what you have. In many cases, just the utilization one's strengths alone can result in the win.

You can learn things by discovering what you don't know-but if you always focus on what you don't know, it makes it hard for you to get much advantageous use out of what you do know.

It is not right to focus exclusively on what you are lacking and never focus on what you have. And conversely, it is not right to focus exclusively on what you have and never focus on what you are lacking.

Tzu Hsia said: "Someone who day by day gains awareness of his deficiencies, and month by month doesn't forget what he has become proficient in, can really be called a lover of learning."

Confucius said: "When you know something and recognize that you know it; and when you don't know something and know that you don't know it; -this is knowledge."

Goethe said: "Knowing is not enough; we must apply!"

Muhammad said: "The truly learned are those who apply [/ practice] what they know." He also said: "Knowledge that remains on the tongue is very superficial; the main value and excellence of knowledge is to apply it."

A Sufi Proverb says: "Knowledge without its application is like water without wetness."

Some people are unbalanced in their view of their actions. They never fail to rebuke themselves for what they did wrong, yet they rarely ever give themselves props when they did right. A person cannot thrive for long with such a mindset. "What went right" is as important a learning tool as "what went wrong." You can use what went wrong to make corrections; you can use what went right to make things even righter, to use positive reinforcement, or to cultivate right actions.

A person can get very discouraged by only looking at what went wrong. An excess of this can cause someone to view the negative as the only accurate feedback, and thus be consumed with perceiving their faults instead of using strengths and abandoning faults.

Lisa Fernandez said: "I make my weaknesses my strengths and my strengths stronger."

Tzu Hsia said: "Someone who day by day gains awareness of his deficiencies, and month by month doesn't forget what he has become proficient in, can really be called a lover of learning."

Confucius said: "When you have faults, don't stop yourself from abandoning them."

Instead of just dwelling on your mistakes and failures, correct the habits that cause them. Fred Van Amburgh said: "There is no fool like the fool who will continue to kick the rubbish of his mistakes along the path ahead of him, and then be compelled to stumble over these mistakes a second time."

Samuel Taylor Coleridge said: "To most men, experience is like the stern lights of a ship which illumine only the track it has passed."

William James said: "Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make very small use of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger."

William James said: "We must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can."

William James said: "In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided initiative as possible. Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life."

William James said: "Habit is second nature, or rather, ten times nature."

Napoleon Hill said: "…Both success and failure are largely the results of habit!"

Blaise Pascal said: "Habit is a second nature that destroys the first. But what is

nature, and why is habit not natural? I am very fearful that nature itself is only a first habit, just as habit is a second nature."

Mark Twain said: "A habit cannot be tossed out the window; it must be coaxed down the stairs a step at a time."

Vince Lombardi said: "Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing."

Plutarch said: "Character is long-standing habit."

George Santayana said: "Habit is stronger than reason."

Publilius Syrus said: "Powerful indeed is the empire of habit."

Brian Tracy said: "Successful people are simply those with success habits."

Aristotle said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence them, is not an act, but a habit."

Anonymous said: "Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap

a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny."

Mary Bond said: "Sometimes the hardest habit to curtail is the habit of trying too hard."

Marcus Tullius Cicero said: "Mighty is the power of habit." He also said: "Habit is, as it were, a second nature."

Nathaniel Emmons said: "Habit is either the best of servants or the worst of masters."

J. Paul Getty said: "The individual who wants to reach the top in business must appreciate the might of the force of habit and must understand that practices are what create habits. He must be quick to break those habits that can break him and hasten to adopt those practices that will become the habits that help him achieve the success he desires."

Aldous Huxley said: "A child-like man is not a man whose development

has been arrested; on the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves in the cocoon of middle-aged habit and convention.

The I Ching says: "In your self-development, seek to eliminate bad habits and tolerate harmless ones."

An Arabic Porverb says: "Habit is the sixth sense that dominates the other five."

A Hungarian proverbs says: "A habit is first a wanderer, then a guest, and finally the boss."

The person who replaces bad habits with good habits is very strong indeed. Thomas A. Kempis said: "Habit is overcome by habit."

If you have a vivid idea of where you want to go, then you are already halfway there.

There is much to be said about the fact that we as people care about the thoughts that others have about us. The person with the proper perspective on this subject will put him/herself in a good position, while the one with an unharmonious perspective will put him/herself in a position that is vulnerable to encountering frustration.

Now going back to the subject of why we care about other's thoughts, let us look into it. On one hand, some of our concern over the thoughts of other is to fulfill certain needs and wants other than their approval, such as financial gain, sex, social leverage to aid our self-preservation, and many other things. However, on the other hand, much of our concern about others does not seem to stem from such needs and wants. So what are we to make of those concerns?

Herman Melville said: "A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men." A Zen proverb says: "Everything the same; everything different."

Hence, we should not feel as if we are flawed if we care about the thoughts of others regarding ourselves. But on the other hand, we should certainly not live in those thoughts. Lawana Blackwell said: "Patterning your life around other's opinions is nothing more than slavery." Charles M. Schwab said: "A man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away." Goethe said: "One can be very happy without demanding that others agree with him."

The person with a balanced perspective on this subject increases his/her harmony. He/she realizes and acknowledges the unity, but does not lose the individuality. His/her security is increased; his/her vulnerability is decreased. Such a person can be said to have one trait that is conducive to being a masterful strategist.

Shooter said: "All birds, even those of the same species, are not alike, and it is the same with animals and humans. The reason Wakan Tanka [the Great Mystery, the supreme spiritual power in Sioux belief] does not make two birds, or animals, or human beings exactly the same is because each is placed here by Wakan Tanka to be an independent individual and to rely upon itself."

On the other hand, Black Elk said: "…[Peace] comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the Universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere. It is within each of us."

We all know that temperature exists, yet we don't know what temperature is in itself, or why it exists or what it means. We compare hot to cold, a hotter temperature to a lower temperature. But what is temperature? And likewise, what is the universe, or what is "exist." It almost seems like some of these things are arbitrary.

John Chapman said: "My own habitual feeling is that the world is so extremely

odd, and everything in it so surprising. Why should there be green grass and liquid water, and why have I got hands and feet."

Henry Miller said: "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a

blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."

Rutherford Platt said: "We can see a thousand miracles around us every day. What is more supernatural than an egg yolk turning into a chicken?"

Heinz R. Pagels said: "The problem in trying to understand the universe is that we have nothing to compare it with."

Heinz R. Pagels makes an interesting point. We generally see one thing as it

relates to another, and that as it relates to another, and so on, and so forth. Yet like I said in the example of temperature, what if we just look as it as it is. Then what is it? Or as another example, just consider the concept of humor. Why is something funny? Or as another example, what is a moment of time?

Viewing one of these things like temperature, humor, or a moment on its own, without just comparisons, is kind of like the Zen idea of observing, accepting, and acknowledging reality instead of trying to grasp it.

Stephen Hawking said: "The usual approach of science of constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?"

Stephen Hawking also said: "Even if there is only one possible unified

theory, it is just a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?"

Stephen Hawking also said: "The whole history of science has been the gradual realization that events do not happen in an arbitrary manner, but that they reflect a certain underlying order, which may or may not be divinely inspired."

Charles Darwin said: "My theology is a simple muddle: I cannot look at the

universe as the result of blind chance, yet I can see no evidence of beneficial design, or indeed of design of any kind."

Bertrand Russell said: "The universe may have a purpose, but nothing we know suggests that, if so, this purpose has any similarity to ours."

Christopher Morley said: "My theology, briefly, is that the universe was dictated but not signed."

Allan R. Sandage said: "God to me is a mystery, but is the explanation for the miracle of existence-why there is something instead of nothing."

Was the beginning of the universe also the beginning of the phenomenon of change? Or was the universe's beginning in and of itself a type of change? Or did the universe even have a beginning?

The universe exists, but what is exist? The present moment exists, but what is the meaning of it? What is the essence of it?

When you think beyond existing and non-existing, this can be called the supreme understanding, although the supreme understanding is actually nameless, and even goes beyond the concepts of understanding and not understanding.

By accepting our existence and our residing in the universe, we can experience the supreme experience. The concepts apparent in the universe can be observed, accepted, and used to yield the supreme understanding.

The true roots lie in nothing-the kind of nothing that goes beyond the concept of something and the concept of nothing. By naturally studying ourselves, our existence, and the universe, and the concepts governing things, we are practicing the supreme practice; accepting all of these things, we yield the supreme understanding.

Thomas Carlyle said: "The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past." Carl Jung said: "Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books, but lives in our very blood?" Paul Henri Thiry said: "The universe shows us nothing save an immense and unbroken chain of cause and effect."

Some people feel that the beginning of the universe was the first cause in the universe's succession of cause and effect. And some people take the first cause viewpoint to mean that everything is just a result of fate-fate all being linked to the characteristics of that first cause: the beginning of the universe. Yet I feel that this inference-that everything should be viewed as a result of fate-is not true.

First of all, this idea of the first causeis based on the idea that the universe had a beginning. This is not entirely certain. And even if the universe did have a beginning, couldn't there have been something before the beginning? Or, by using a cause and effect viewpoint while analyzing the first cause, we get to the paradoxical question of what was the cause of the first cause.

Even big bang theorists make no assertions about what the actual beginning was. Tey merely trace the history of the universe by observing the present and making inferences of cause and effect to trace time back-what the beginning was like going back to 1 second after the first cause, or 0.1 seconds after the first cause, or 0.01 seconds after the first cause, and so on, and so forth.

The big bang theorists have any number of guesses as to what the actual "beginning" signifies. Some say it was the conversion of one form of dimensions into the current form of four-dimensionsional time-space (the dimension of time plus the three dimensions of space). Others say the universe is just the result of an inside out universe before it that was contracting, sort of like a balloon contracting (like air is being sucked out of it) until it flips inside out. And other big bang theorists have many more theories about the actual beginning (singularity) of the big bang and what was before that beginning.

We are still left to wonder what was the cause of this beginning

Lao Tzu said: "Tao gave birth to One; One gave birth to Two; Two gave birth to Three; and Three gave birth to all things." Chuang Tzu said: "Tao makes things what they are, but it itself is not a thing." Chuang Tzu also said: "Tao exists by and of itself" or "Tao is its own roots."

All these views and accounts don;t support a fatalist viewpoint. The reasoning-based viewpoint that everything is just a result of fate (linked to the characteristics of the first cause / the beginning of the universe) does not hold, because the reasoning used to deduce this leads to infinity or a paradox (and perhaps the paradox is the ultimate reality.

Thus, to say that are beginning and our lives are simply a manifestation fate does not correspond to the ideas discussed in this section. Hence, it is possible, but not certain, that a person is not just fate. Since even the first cause that created the universe (if the universe had a beginning) had a cause, this makes the fate cause by the first cause become obscure.

William Jennings Bryan said: "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved."

Friedrich Nietzsche said: "The destiny of the higher man is to be a creator."

Walter Atkinson said: "… [imagine] a mental state in which one may be almost said to manifest a WILL to Will, rather than to merely Desire to Will. This state must be experienced before it can be understood-words cannot express it.

"We have stated that it was in the power of man to Create Desire-not only to be its master when created, but also to actually Create it by bringing it into being… Instead of man being a creature of Desire-and this indeed he is in many cases-he may become Master of Desire and even a Creator of it.

"By knowledge and Will, he may reverse the ordinary order of things and, displacing the intruder from the throne, he may seat himself there in his rightful place, and then bid the late occupant do his will and obey his bidding. But the best way for the new occupant of the throne to bring about a reorganized court is to dismiss the old objectionable creatures of his mind and create new ones in their places."

Walter Atkinson seems to say that a person is not fate because. Of course, it can also be viewed that even the will to desire (or the control/mastery/power of decision over one's desires) can also be a result of fate, i.e. it was fate that caused the person to will his/her desire. Nevertheless, it can also be viewed from another perspective that Walter Atkinson and his will to desire is what separates a man from fate caused by the so-called first cause.

Here is the paradox of the natural self, and a possible answer. If you are following your natural self, it makes it seem as if you are not an entity of free will anymore. Your creativity just becomes part of a preordained natural self that destiny gave you, and you lose control of your being. But if you meddle with your natural self, then it is your free will that is getting in the way of your so-called destiny based on your naturally given to you self.

But here's where the paradox is. Perhaps the act of meddling with your natural self is in fact an act of your natural self. And on the opposite side, perhaps by gaining full control of your free will and ending the chain of preordained destiny so that you become like a creator-a person who creates himself and is free of any notion of natural preordained destiny-perhaps that is really being your natural self, because your natural self is to be the creator and the person in command of your free will. Or perhaps the cultivation of one's personality is the essence of what is commonly referred to as the natural self.

And maybe the answer to all of this is to realize that at some point in your life that you are the creator, to experience the full present-ness of the present moment, and to embrace that present-ness and understand that in a way, you created yourself.

Perhaps the thing that bewilders ourselves most about ourselves is that each of us did not seem to make/produce ourselves; or to put it another way, we did not seem to put ourselves into existence. That makes people feel really not in control.

Our universe around us and ourselves, and the fact that the universe and ourselves exist, is clearly experienced as true. On the other hand, the obviously existing universe and ourselves and the fact that anything exist, all obviously fail to explain themselves based on themselves.

The law that governs the universe is change. Time is a type of change, and perhaps it is change in the infinite form, since time can be divided into ever smaller and smaller portions an infinite number of times.

What is the past, present, and future? The results of the past shape the present, and then the results of the present (which is influenced by the result of the past) shape the future. Thomas Carlyle said: "The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past." And I have also added to that: "But the past does not equal the future." And now I also theorize: "The present is the meeting of the past and the future."

Yet, it is generally agreed that the present is the only experience we immediately experience or meet, because nobody has firsthand experience with the future or with the past. When we consider the past, we are really just considering it in our imaginations while we are in the present. And likewise, when we consider the future, we are really just considering it in our imaginations while we are in the present. And even when we imagine the present, we are doing it in the present.

So what is the present moment? That is an endlessly fascinating question, and one I wish I had the answer to. And why do some moments a person experiences seem more in the present, while others seem more clinging to another time? This is another good question that I don't have the answer to.

HG Wells said: "We must not allow the clock and the calendar to blind us to the fact that each moment of life is a miracle and mystery."

Every moment is a new moment. Meister Eckhart said: "There exists only the

present instant... a Now which always and without end is itself new. There is no yesterday, or any tomorrow, but only Now, as it was a thousand years ago, and as it will be a thousand years later."

A Sufi Proverb says: "Grasp the moment; you can't power a mill with water that has already passed by."

Another Sufi Proverb says: "Those that have time and search for a better time will lose time."

Henry Miller said: "The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."

A clock has no use for measuring the present moment.

Those who forcibly try to stop time cannot do it. Considering the present moment solves the mysteries of everything.

We like for things to make sense, but the weird thing is that our own existence doesn't seem to make any sense. In fact, everything's existence doesn't seem to make any sense. And even the idea that things "exist" doesn't seem to make sense. Yet, if everything did make sense, maybe that in and of itself wouldn't make any sense. And perhaps it makes sense that nothing seems to make any sense.

The universe's themes are variety, change, and cause and effect; from our perspective, we live with these themes through chance and our choices; much of our choices are based on our habits, reasoning, emotions, and our personal nature-and our personal nature is something that I still haven't figured out yet.

Maybe the time we experience is actually running backward, but since it is all we know, it seems to be running forward to us.

Thomas Carlyle said: "The Present is the living sum-total of the whole Past." I add to that: "But the past does not equal the future."

In real reality, our imagination is not entirely imaginary, and our reality is not entirely real. Real reality is both what we normally refer to as reality, in addition to the reality of the universe of imagination. Both conventional reality and the universe of imagination combine to form supreme reality. To only embrace one and to deny the other is missing out on the realness of the situation.

And now let us look at the concept of reality from another perspective. Let's label one reality as the universe besides you. And let's label another reality as you, or a single being/individual. Or to put it another way, there is the reality of you, and then there is the reality of everything else.

This is usually where the discussion would end, at those two realities, yet there is another reality, a reality that is even stranger than the reality of you and the reality of the universe external to you. It is the reality of the fact that anything exists. Or to put it another way, it is the reality of existence. Or, to put it yet another way, the reality of the fact that there is something called "exist," and both you and the universe exist. Or to put it another way, it is the fact that the concept existence exists. What does it mean that something exists?

Let's consider these various realities. Perhaps the reality of these realities is that not only are we and our universe insignificant, but perhaps even the fact that things exist is also insignificant. Or perhaps we are all that's significant, and the universe may or may not be significant, and the fact that things exist is insignificant. Or perhaps only the fact that things exist is significant, and we are insignificant, although our universe outside of use may or may not be significant. Or perhaps the universe is significant, and we may or not be insignificant, and the fact that the universe or anything else exists is insignificant, even though the actual universe itself is significant.

Are you just an insignificant speck in an insignificant universe, and even the fact that anything exists in the first place insignificant? Or are you everything; are you the essence of the universe in and of your perspective?

Science says that inherent instincts of self-preservation and procreation are the themes of all living things. This is because the present is the "sum-total of the past" according to Thomas Carsley, and thus the survivors who procreate would have made it from the past to the present, and would thus exist in the present.

But who's to say that there haven't been other living things without an inherent theme of self-preservation and procreation. Of course, they would not have lasted very long if they also had a life span like the current living things, because they would just die out pretty soon if their inherent natures weren't geared towards self-preservation and procreation like the current living things are. But nevertheless, they would have existed at some point as long as they started at some point.

Of course, that brings us to the matter of when the current survival-instincted and procreation-instincted master race of living things began, or when the hypothetical non-survival instincted and non-procreation-instincted living things we just described began (if they ever existed at all), and how and why either of them began, or anything at all began, if in fact they had a beginning in the first place.

Perhaps they have always existed, and nothing has a beginning in the first place, and all is a product of eternity. Or perhaps the earth and waters and rocks and stars are in fact these hypothetical non-survival instinct non-procreation instinct beings we just discussed.

When you enjoy something, you also enjoy enjoying it, or else you wouldn't enjoy it in the first place. After all, if you didn't enjoy enjoyment, than the enjoyment couldn't really be considered enjoyable, would it?

And with that enjoyment of enjoyment, it can be inferred that you would also have to enjoy enjoying enjoying something. And thus, you would have to enjoy enjoying enjoying enjoying something, and so on and so forth, infinitely.

Or perhaps the first inference that we enjoy enjoyment is not correct. Or perhaps it is correct and it is also incorrect.

Sometimes, two conflicting statements can both be true. Lao Tzu said: "Words that are strictly true seem paradoxical/contradictory."

The best learning begins with curiosity.

Little-by-little is often the fastest way of doing something.

Think inside and outside of the box.

Short term goals make long term goals work.

Small goals make big goals work.

It is strange but often true that looking at the big picture, winning, despite having very challenging parts at times, is frequently easier than losing.

Two very profound words: it's possible.

We worry about the future when we don't take care of the present.

Perfectionism can rob you of your confidence and poise.

Just because you are not perfect, it doesn't mean that you are worthless.

100 hours of regret does not change even one second of a past event.

It is difficult to do today's work at the same time you are planning tomorrow's work.

If you practice one thing per day, then you will learn a lot in a year. If you practice fifty things per day, then you will probably learn very little in a year.

Cautiousness can be effective, but it depends on what you are being cautious about.

Skip the irrelevant details.

It's the right time to eat when it's the right time to eat, so it is advantageous to eat when it's the right time to eat. It's the right time to rest when it's the right time to rest, so it is advantageous to rest when it's the right time to rest. It's the right time to smile when it's the right time to smile, so it is advantageous to smile when it's the right time to smile.

It's always the right time for timeliness.

Your own thoughts are more important to you than other people's thoughts.

Other people's thoughts only exist to you in the sense of you perceiving their thoughts.

A secure person will not look down at himself just because others are looking down on him.

No one can be responsible for everyone and everything. No one should feel as if he is responsible for everyone and everything.

Doing the proper thing is not enough to be considered the proper thing-it needs to be done at the proper time and in the proper amount and in the proper place in order to be considered the proper thing.

Imagining hypothetical situations can be useful, but what is usually useful is dealing with current situations.

Perfection is an acceptable form of your ultimate goal, but that doesn't mean that excellence is a tragedy.

Acknowledging and identifying a problem can be a very effective step in solving a problem.

Money can buy you a lot of stuff-but sometimes, buying a lot of stuff does not have much value to you in terms of what is really valuable.

The person who does the bulk of the job but doesn't finish the job usually gets little reward for her work.

Discouragement has killed many dreams that would have gone on to become great achievements.

Process oriented thinking works-but being focused on the process doesn't mean that you are focused on being focused on the process, and it doesn't mean that you are forcing yourself to be overattentive on things that do not require that much attention.

If you only accept perfection, then you will eventually cause yourself to quit.

You don't need to force everyone into your way of thinking…after all, even if you succeeded in doing it, it would make the world a boring place. Appreciate the differences in people.

It is usually the insecure person that cannot stand the fact that other people's opinions might differ from his. Other people are free to have their own opinions, and so are you.

Blaming "them" for one of your problems can cause you to blame "them" for another one of your problems, and another, and another….

The game that you start out terribly can end up being your best performance ever if you follow through and maintain your poise. Relax, stay focused, stay confident, stay in the game, don't panic, stay balanced, have fun.

Changing your mind needs to be done from time to time, but it doesn't need to be overdone.

Accepting that you are not perfect will get you a lot closer to perfection.

It is impossible to do everything at once.

If you are absolutely terrified of making even the smallest and most inconsequential mistake, then you will probably end up making a big one. Cautiousness can be handy, but it can also be destructive…it depends what our being cautious of, and how cautious you are being.

Learning a new skill, being creative, or getting exposure to new things are all great ways to enhance the mind's fitness.

You can win because of fear, and you can lose because of fear.

You shouldn't make concrete conclusions from one example.

Demand is almost always more powerful than supply…but then again, a limited supply can sometimes create its own demand for what would otherwise not be in particularly great demand.

You can't be everything.

One person cannot possibly answer correctly for everyone.

You are living today…not yesterday or tomorrow.

If you try to get too much done all at once, then you will probably get little done. If you try to get things done one step at a time, then you will probably end up doing things quicker than you anticipated.

It is fine to have your own opinion, but it is important to acknowledge that other people have their own opinions, too.

Knowing is important, but applying what you know is often more important than knowing.

Real life has a lot more ups and down then movies.

Ask why…then answer…then ask why…then answer…then ask why…then answer…

You have right to investigate and use your own brain to think. Remember that for many centuries people believed the prevailing "fact" that all heavier objects fall at a faster rate than lighter objects-yet anyone could have easily tested that theory and observed that it wasn't quite true.

Climbing Mount Everest is a miracle…and so is eating an apple.

Achieving immortality is a miracle…and so is breathing air.

The extraordinary is a miracle…and so is the ordinary.

Everything is a miracle…so whose to say that you can't have your own miracles.

99% of the time, it is good to express yourself.

Remove the hype before you analyze things.

Companionship is great…and so is solitude.

If you are doing something, don't overdo it.

Sharing perspectives is fine…but arguing usually isn't.

Deal with matters in the proper succession.

No one's opinion has the power in and of itself to supercede your self-belief.

Realize that people barely put any care or thought into at least some of their opinions.

If everyone assumes that everyone else will get the job done and nobody actually does the job himself, then the job will not get done.

Do everything at its right time.

Matching the right action for the right situation is a valuable skill, and sometimes the right action is no action.

Being spontaneous is everything, and so is being planned and prepared.

The key to many great endeavors can be described in three words: step by step.

Anyone can be victorious on a given day, but a true champion is the person who effectively deals with adversity and setbacks.

Sometimes when things get too easy, certain people get in the bad habit of sabotaging themselves.

Realize that you are not perfect, and neither is your opponent

Don't do something that doesn't need doing.

Different people have different goals, different ideas, and different perspectives.

A person will believe anything that he believes.

Don't defend something that doesn't need defending.

Every once and a while, you need to take one step back to gain footing so that you can take many steps forward.

Demanding that everybody should always agree with you will strain your emotions.

Just because a person is bizarre, it doesn't mean that he is ill.

What you don't finish off can come back and haunt you.

Just because someone is disapproving of what you are doing, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should stop doing it. And just because someone is disapproving of you, it doesn't necessarily mean that you should change. You need to consider the situation with a sound mind.

The past is usually overrated.

A good offense can be a valuable component of a good defense, and vice-versa

If things didn't go perfectly, that doesn't mean that everything went wrong. And if everything did go wrong (which almost never happens), that doesn't mean that everything will go wrong next time. And if everything did go wrong that next time, that doesn't mean that you are a failure as a person.

Looking at only the negative aspects of things can hinder your perspective.

Other people are free to have their own beliefs, and so are you.

There are more variables in life than there are in sports. In baseball, its three strikes and you are out. In Life, sometimes you can swing as much as you want, sometimes you can wait for hundreds of pitches until you get the one you want to swing at, sometimes you only get one pitch, sometimes you are the only player on the team, sometimes there is no opposing pitcher, sometimes you will have two balls thrown at you at the same time, and sometimes you will show up for a game but there won't be a game to play.

Thinking big is fine, but trying to do too much in too little time can cause an excessive performance anxiety, which is not fine.

Don't make yourself miserable.

Everyone has a right to live his own life

Dig deep, and you will make breakthroughs.

Today's hero can be tomorrow's goat, and today's goat can be tomorrow's hero.

The person who doesn't listen or observe will miss out on a lot of growth.

Do what needs to be done, and don't do what doesn't need to be done.

There is a time to be courteous, and there is a time to forget about courtesy.

You have a right and duty to be the unique person that is you, and you can draw on whatever sources you need to fulfill this right and duty.

Feelings, common sense, and reasoning all deserve at least some attention and acknowledgment.

Share the real genuine sincere you with the world and with yourself.

You need to do what you need to do.

"What if," thoughts can be useful, but they can also be harmful.

When you want to know the cost of something, don't just look at the price in dollars and cents.

Different methods can produce similar end results.

Want to try something really strange? Write down some of your thoughts.

Everyday, do one day's work, because it is nearly impossible to get away with doing two days work per day, and it is usually not very effective to do just a half a day's work per day.

Fear of success is as common as a fear of failure.

It is possible to look great on the outside but be a train wreck on the inside.

Even if you think someone else is totally wrong, don't automatically wave off her opinion and shout out in disagreement. Let her opinion float in your mind and consider it before you make any kind of assessment. This is not just courtesy to another person, but it is also courtesy to yourself.

Sometimes you make big leaps of progress when you are not even looking or noticing.

Exposure to new things can be a great thing.

Be a liberator of yourself, not an oppressor.

The person who judges himself excessively will probably be overcome with self-doubt.

You are not as bad as your worst day, and you are not as good as your best day. But if you learn from your experiences, whether good or bad, your average will continuously get better, and you will soon have new a best day that is better than your previous best day.

Don't worry so much.

Being somewhat accurate is much different than being very accurate…but don't waist you efforts on being very accurate on something that doesn't need a high degree of accuracy.

Medical "facts" change daily; so don't let them cause you to doubt your ability to recover.

Many people have missed out on great achievements in fear of looking ridiculous.

Genuineness and sincerity are valuable qualities…and so are elusiveness and cunning.

Open-mindedness can be a powerful asset-if you use it right.

Even if you have political freedom and financial freedom, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have achieved emotional freedom

Is it better to be king of a vast empire, or king of your own life?

Most of the time, showing off is pointless-but then again, in some situations it is very useful.

There are many different paths to success.

Bad assumptions can have a way of biting you in the ass.

Just because there is a possibility that you will win, that doesn't mean that it is certain that you will win. And just because there is a possibility that you will lose, it doesn't mean that it is certain that you will lose.

Just because you are good at one sport, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are good at all sports, although it certainly can help.

Silence is a type of expression.

A child's mind does not need the confusion caused by stories about the tooth fairy.

Sometimes it is time to go fast, and sometimes it is time to go slow. Sometimes it is time to go at a medium pace, and sometimes it is time to be still.

Over-restrictive situations cannot and should not endure, and both the perpetrator and the victim (which can sometimes both be the same person) need to exercise flexibility.

The person with false doubts or false confidence is delusional. The person with true confidence is true to his nature.

The past is something, and it is nothing.

My not-trying is trying, my trying is not-trying, my trying is trying, and my not-trying is not-trying.

You always have a right to be proud of yourself as a person.

You should always be proud of yourself as a person no matter what.

Great improvement lies in learning from both your successes and your failures, and hopefully not picking up superstitions on the way.

Understanding your reaction to other people can help you understand yourself.

In the long run, accurate and regular communication is more effective than force.

Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

You don't need to be constantly worried in order to be self-disciplined.

Since people usually underestimate others, then it if you only see yourself through the views of other people, you will probably underestimate yourself.

Common sense is a great defense.

Children can learn form the experience of adults, and adults can learn from the pureness of children.

If your major business is to make fun of others, then you are making a mockery of yourself.

Don't make things more difficult then they are.

You have a right to success as much as anyone else does.

I am a different person at every moment.

Sometimes you need to experiment and have some failures along the way in order to make good progress.

Even if it's the sunniest day of the year, you won't get any sunlight unless you are in the sunlight.

The person who is too busy searching for treasures will have difficulty opening his heart to all the treasures already around him.

Don't mistake a false sense of security for true confidence.

Honor and character come from within.

What we are searching high and low for might be right in front of us!

Don't take everything on all at once.

Respecting another person doesn't mean putting yourself beneath them…and respecting yourself doesn't mean putting yourself beneath yourself.

A prodigy can be always "on" in one department, but a true master can switch the appropriate things "on" and "off" at the appropriate times.

You take yourself with you wherever you go.

Take yourself wherever you go, and be proud.

Too much self-doubt can cause you to force things you shouldn't force.

If you view the world through a limiting perspective, then change your perspective of the world.

Have a great relationship with yourself.

Nothing and nobody has the power to upset you-only you have the power to let something upset you, or to refuse to let something upset you.

Chronic anxiety often stems not just from straightforward anxiety, but also from anxiety about anxiety, as well as anxiety about the absence of anxiety.

Sometime you need to substitute a moment of safe discomfort at the current moment to prevent many moments of misfortune in the future.

It can be very frustrating to pursue success but not allow it to happen.

Don't bear burdens that aren't there.

We cannot create time.

Who can turn obstacles into opportunities? Who can see problems as opportunities? Who can learn from the experiences of others? Who can challenge assumptions?

What are your intentions? What do you want to happen? What do you want to experience? What do you want?

Clarify what you want. Want what you want; don't want what you are supposed to want-your wants are bound to differ in many ways from those of another person. Don't be totally committed to basing your wants on the tendencies of the people and their likes, which can be tricky to pinpoint anyway, considering that they lie so much to others, and to themselves.

The person who always looks at the big picture will have difficultly with the immediate. The person who only looks at the immediate will have difficulty looking at the big picture. The person with the better perspective is he/she who utilizes both the immediate viewpoint and also can determine the big picture. Yet it is only the immediate that we immediately meet, and it is even the immediate that we consider the big picture in.

What appears hidden and far away might be unhidden and close.

At first you put in much more then you get in return. Then you get the same as what you put in. Then, you get an incredibly high multiple of what you put in, and others think, "Wow! -An overnight success," or "Wow! -A lucky person!"

There may or may not be impossible achievements, but there are definitely impossible ways of achievement.

You shouldn't have to force yourself to do beneficial things-you should just do them

Don't be in a rush to go nowhere. A German Proverb says, "It is useless to run when you are on the wrong road."

It is foolish to believe that you are less deserving than then the people around you

Positive self-confidence

Rejection-abandonment-getting lost-loss of control

Think Winner

One time at a time

Experience inner calm.

Don't embrace the negative and resist the positive.

I can do whatever the fuck I want to do.

Just because someone commits an unsatisfactory action, it does not necessarily mean that he/she is a wholly unsatisfactory person

An expert is a beginner who never quit.

Correct and useful knowledge

Accuracy, timing, power

The power is already there. All you need to do is harness it, and it will in turn result in more power, and that will in turn result in more power, and so on, and so forth.

You already have power within you to change any aspect of you at any moment. To use it, unleash it.

Positive thinking and step-by-step achievement

Don't just keep all of your focus on the problem. Put some of it on the solution.

Feel good

How we deal with setbacks

Think success

Good body language can be conducive to good attitudes.

Get your priorities straight

It is true that a good beginning can yield a good ending, but nevertheless, it is also possible to start off a loser and end up a winner.

The right thing at the right time in the right place in the right amount at the right intensity

Breathe the current moment's breath in the current moment; don't try to breath every breath you will ever breath and that have ever breathed in the current moment.

Paradox: I have more fun and enjoyment when I stop trying to get where I want and start helping other people get what they want.

Self-esteem plays a big rile in a person's illusion of control. If you have high self esteem, you perceive positive feedback accurately, and you minimize negative feedback, to the point that it makes you strive harder to reach success. If you have low self-esteem, you perceive positive feedback as inaccurate and negative feedback as accurate, leading to a defeatist attitude. Take a closer look at yourself and see what's holding you back.

Our true self is the essence of who we are, unencumbered by history or culture or learned ideas of who we are.

Instead of taking pride in their accomplishments, some people are too self-critical.

Instead of holding positive visions of the future, some people constantly run worst-case scenarios.

Instead of expressing appreciation for people we love, some people constantly find fault with them in hopes of making them "better"

Don't be so fixated on time-be attentive to your natural rhythms.

Remove an incessant inner voice of unreasonable criticism. Choose to treat yourself well instead of giving yourself a hard time.

It is impossible to be in control of everything, and can cause you to feel out of control

Many people who have a big chance given success or setback often return to how they were feeling before the significant event within six months.

Feel good about yourself

Feel in control

Enjoy other people

Learn to relax and quiet your mind

Learn to manage negative thoughts and feelings

Have fulfilling work and satisfying relationships

Improving practical skills for solving problems

Pain Relief

Resilience

Change negative social situations into positive environments

Assist others in gaining more self-empowerment and control of their lives

Talking about our distress isn't enough-we need to develop skills that make things better, and also be attuned to our bodies and feelings.

Relaxed excitement; line between excitement and fear-blood flows freely in relaxed excitement, is constricted in excessive fear.

We visualize all the time, but in an unconscious way. With creative visualization, you consciously decide and take responsibility for what you want to manifest as reality in your life.

The key to success is to quiet your mind so that your brainwaves are at Alpha level. You will peel the layers if your normal reactive self and let thoughts express the higher you.

Dissolve our internal barriers to natural harmony. The physical universe is energy. All matter, when you break it down to smaller and smaller bits, is made up of particles of energy that when put together in a specific way create the illusion of solidity.

Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself.

Avoid Trifling conversation.

Ben Franklin didn't saying words like undoubtedly, or tried to correct people. Instead, he used phrases such as "It appears to me." or "If I am not mistaken." The result was that even though he was not a great speaker, people focused on his ideas and he was quick to gain credibility.

Don't try to get rid of bad feelings; instead, put them into a larger context.

Don't interrupt others or finish their sentences

Allow yourself to be bored; don't be afraid of the vacant moment. You are a human being, not a human doing. Boredness clears the mind (after getting over the initial discomfort) and provides new thoughts.

People who detach themselves from their fear (e.g., in their mind they watch themselves having the phobia from a distance) will lose it.

People do not respond to the world as it is; instead, they act in accordance with their own mental map of it. We have a much better chance of getting what we want if our map is continually revised to take account of the territory. Doing this is much better than trying to bend the world to fit your map.

Change the way you communicate with yourself.

If you only have one way to do something then you are a robot. If only have two ways to do something, you're in a dilemma. You at least three ways to do something before you have the beginning of some real flexibility.

NLP teaches you always to use positive language, focusing on what you want, not what you fear.

Social self is the voice that may have determined most of your life decisions so far; it has provided you with skills, networked for you. Most people make their social self their master but for you to live a fulfilled live it should be the other way around-take your lead from your essential self, and let the social self do what is practically necessary to get you where you want to go.

When we contemplate change, we make protestations to ourselves that everybody will think I'm an idiot, etc-until we come to understand that "everyone is composed of just a few people, some maybe not even still alive. Psychology describes this as the generalized other. Beck for instance, took a long time to realize that merely to get her fathers' approval she was writing in the unnecessarily dry style of an academic journal when she should have been using everyday language. Once we see that there are In fact millions of points of view on everything, we can no longer be beholden to an imaginary everybody

Just as it is the nature of fish to swim and the sun to shine, it is human nature to turn our dreams into reality with ease

Be proactive. We always have the freedom to choose our reactions to stimuli, even If everything else is taken away. With that ability also comes the knowledge that we do not have to live by the scripts that family or society has given us. Instead of being lived, we accept full responsibility for our life the way conscience tells us that it was meant to be lived. We are no longer a reactive machine but a proactive person.

Put first things first. Spend time with the people and the things that really matter.

Win/Win. One person's success doesn't need to be achieved at the expense of the success of others.

Seek to understand first, and then to be understood.

Genuine listening gives precious psychological air to the other persona and opens a window onto their soul.

concentrate on your own work, your integrity-to be independent of the good opinion of others.

Human beings having a spiritual experience, or spiritual beings having a human experience?

Withholding judgment: you do not define people with your judgments, your judgments define you.

Surrendering to the universe to provide for your needs. we must not try to "get ' anything: (There is no way to prosperity, prosperity is the way." Prosperity is chiefly a state of mind, just as scarcity is. It is not about getting, but being. prosperity consciousness is we see that the personality we have now is not set in stone, that we can reinvent ourselves, we will not have a magic

The faint intuition or nagging inside about your possibilities knows more about you than you are willing to admit-treasure it

Reinvention of our personality simply means exposing more of our true and greater self

Problem noticing and wondering.

No one has a soul like ours

So long as a man resists a situation, he will have it with him. If he runs away from it, it will ran after him.

Criticizes positive thinking by saying that before we can justifiably take on a positive frame of mind, we first have to identify

We don't have to depend on ourselves; there are incredible sources of stuff that open to us if we only believe in their existence. We make life hard, but an appreciation of the universe's ability to make good and to provide should lead us to see life as flowing and abundant. Life seems difficult because we only believe in ourselves. In order to gain personal power and peace, we have to be willing to go beyond the merely personal to something greater than ourselves.

Use only positive and hopeful language for a 24-hour period. Then go only positive and you will find that what you considered realistic a meek ago now seems pessimistic.

Without discipline we can solve nothing. With only some discipline we can solve only some problems. With total discipline we can solve all problems.

I wrote down all the things I would no longer accept in my life, ail the things I would no longer tolerate, and all the things that I aspired to becoming.

Human progress occurs through questioning current limitations

Ask a quality question and you will get a quality answer.

Determine exactly what you want to achieve and write it down

Craving a future so amazing that you are compelled to realize it.

Individual minds are part of a larger human mind (as Emerson believed) which itself is linked to infinite intelligence. Its not crazy to believe that you can heal people who are not even physically near to you by visualizing all the healthy energy, and love

The feeling of wealth produces wealth in reality. The subconscious mind understands and follows the idea of compound interest. That is, little thought deposits made regularly over time faiths the ease with which the subconscious accomplishes things increases with emotion. An idea or a thought should be emotionalized.

A thought becomes a feeling

The number one fear among all people is rejections'

The number one need among is to feel accepted

One payoff versus another.

Autonomy (independence of the good opinion of other Myopic, more interest in inner satisfaction than status or rewards)

Values (based on a positive view of the world; the universe isn't seen as a jungle but an essentially a place providing whatever we need to be able to make our contributions.

Most of us see life as striving to get this or that whether it be material things or having a family or doing well career-wise. Psychologists call this "deficiency motivation. Self-actualizers, in contrast, do not strive as touch as develop. They are only ambitious to the extent of being able to express themselves, delighting in what they are able to do.

Profound freedom of mind.

the more of these traits a person has, the more likely they are to be truly unique.

psychological health required the presence of self-actualizing traits.

Self-image psychology: we generally conform in action and thought to a deep image of ourselves. Understanding of self-image is the golden key to a better life. Without it, we might forever be fiddling around the circumference of the self instead of at its center.

Positive thinking, for instance, could be of no use if it simply related to particular external circumstances. Saying "I will get this job" will not do anything if the idea of being in the job is not consistent with how you see yourself deep down.

Experimental and clinical psychologists had established beyond doubt that the brain is not great at telling the difference between an actual experience and one imagined in full and vivid detail. Winning images of the self could replace negative ones, denying any authority to past events. The beauty of self-image was that while it was the supreme factor in determining success or failures it seas also extremely malleable. The brain thinks in terms of images' therefore if you can consciously. Create the desired image of yourself the brain and nervous system will automatically provide continual feedback to ensure that it 'lives up to the preordained image.

In a well-known clinical experiment one group of basketball players was physically trained to throw more balls through the hoop while another was taught merely to visualize throwing goals. Despite the absence of any physical practice, the second group far outscored the first.

The brain, nervous system, and muscles are obedient servants of pictures placed in your head. But the ability of your body and brain to manifest the desired self-image depends on its indelibility. It must be tattooed on the brain. With such a strong image of ourselves, it is difficult not to live out and manifest all that is associated with the self.

Simple but all-powerful belief that you won't be able to handle something.

the key to becoming a star is to deploy lazy intelligence

Instead of choosing the difficulty or a generic goal that we think will bring us respect,

Stop criticizing yourself! We may have spent a lifetime doing this, but the beginning of real self-love--one of the main ingredients

Inability to forgive is the root cause of all illness.

Gratefulness for what you do have makes it more abundant.

You can heal yourself and others through Visualizing perfect healthy and begin to gain an awareness of the true abundance of the universe through picturing all that is constantly being created.

A family that insists on perfectionism and often excessively criticizes children will often make children terrified of making mistakes, and might suppresses children's healthy expression of feelings, or might hinder their skill at asserting themselves.

Most people's actions stem from the fact that they want to feel good about themselves, but for some reason, many people resist this want even though they are also pursuing it.

Gaining total strength versus exchanging various types of strength.

People like to blame others for their problems. See WWII Nazi Germany for that.

Variate no-though and thought.

True confidence can sometimes be an elusive concept.

5% of a person's guilty feelings are useful; the other 95% is absolutely useless, and usually harmful.

Think back to your best victories, and analyze what it felt like and what went right. But beware, because it can be tricky to determine exactly what aspects of a victory contributed to success, and what aspects were neutral or even negative.

If you were wearing your green socks in a victory, then should you conclude that your green socks contributed to your victory? Answer: Probably not.

To heal from a minor injury, don't totally immobilize it, but don't aggravate it, and sometimes just forget about it.

Acknowledge that you do not want to be harmed.

The only person who can absolutely be 100% on your team is you, but most people don't

Don't only look at what you have, and don't only look at what you don't have.

If you are only paying attention to one kind of benefit, then you will not notice the destructive aspects of things.

Simple success…more simple success…complex brings more complex

Don't have your only thought on the next bite of food, and not on the current bite of food.

Don't try to chew on your next mouthful of food while you are chewing your current mouthful of food.

Do you nneed to have others believe in you before you believe in yourself. No! You need to believe in yourself, and have others think of you as they will."

There is hardly a thing more valuable than satisfying social interactions and relationships, yet it is a thing that esapes most people the majority of the time, and only comes now and then."

Even if one behavior is disadvantageous 90% of the time and advantageous 10% of the time, those who consider this from the wrong perspective will only look at the advantageous results and thus conclude that the behavior is advantageous, when in reality it would be better if the behavior was avoided altogether."

Why should I be weak just because I see weakness in people?"

Challenge your destructive viewpoints with constructive viewpoints, and make consistent reminders of the constructive viewpoints."

You are supposed to be prepared for occasional emergencies, not living a continuous one.

People have similarities, and they also have differences. But one thing we all have in common is that we are all different. And another thing that we all have in common is that we all have some similarities."

It appears that he thinks you are an asshole…but maybe he will think differently tomorrow, and maybe he thinks everyone is an asshole, and maybe he thinks that you might be an asshole but he is undecided, and maybe he thinks that you are kind of an asshole but not a total asshole, and maybe he used to think that you were an asshole but he doesn't think so anymore, and maybe he doesn't think you are an asshole and he never thought that you were an asshole, and maybe he does think you are an asshole and it is true, and maybe you need to be an asshole, and maybe you are an asshole and you should stop being one, and maybe you think that he is an asshole, and maybe you were an asshole today but you weren't one yesterday and you won't be one tomorrow, and maybe he thinks that you are an asshole but he also thinks that he is an even bigger asshole, and maybe everyone is an asshole…

Learning a new skill, being creative, or getting exposure to new things are all great ways to enhance the mind's fitness.

You can win because of fear, and you can lose because of fear.

The concept of a natural self can lead to making it seem as if a person is not an entity of free will anymore, and that he is preordained by fate. It can also make it seem that the act of meddling with the natural self is under the domain of free will.

So in the former instance we have fatalism, and in the latter instance we have non-fatalism, but also a course that seems impure and unnatural.

But from a perspective it can be concluded that the act of meddling with the natural self can also be considered an act of the natural self. Or, to put it another way, that by gaining full control of one's free will, a person ends the fatalist chain of preordained destiny, and experiences and embraces the full present-ness of the moment and becomes like a creator of himself-and that that is really being your natural self.

Or, to offer another perspective, it can be said that there are obstructions to the natural self that a person has, and that by the free will act of removing obstructions to your natural self, then a person's obtains the state of the natural self.

These varying views are why I say that assertions supporting fatalism are actually caused by delusion that is caused by one-sided reasoning.

Now let's consider fatalism in the scope of the universe, inferred through the reasoning that the beginning of the universe was the first cause in the universe's succession of cause-and-effect, and thus everything is preordained by that first cause.

Upon further investigation, I say this does not make sense. Why? Because this kind of reasoning is based on cause-and-effect, yet if you use that cause-and-effect reasoning to support the reasoning, eventually you run into a paradox where cause-and-effect runs its course.

If you take the view that the universe had a beginning of creation, then this brings up the matter of what preceded the beginning, or what caused the first cause of creation. It is like the classic case where a person reasons, "Since things exist, then God, a cause and creator of the things, must also exist." Obviously, this line of logic and reasoning shows its limits when you use the same reasoning to analyze further, and thus must also reason, "Since God exists, then a cause or creator of God exists, and since that cause exists, then a cause of that cause exists, and so on and so forth." The same would apply to the Taoist concept of Tao.

None of the above, of course, disproves (or proves) the concept of God or Tao, but it does expose the faultiness of certain reasoning sometimes used to prove them.

Big bang theorists also do not offer a solution to the beginning or pre-beginning. They simply use the fact that the universe is expanding, in order to conclude that the further back in time you go, the smaller and more condensed the universe was. Based on observing the present and using cause-and-effect in order to make inferences as time is traced back, they believe that they could conceivably calculate or estimate the way things were one hour after the beginning, or one minute, or one second, or 0.1 seconds, and so on. But this line of calculations offers no data on what the actual beginning and pre-beginning was. Some say it was the conversion of one form of dimensions into the current form of four-dimensional time-space. Others say the universe is just the result of an inside out universe before it that was contracting, like a balloon with air being sucked out of it, until it flips inside out. And others offer other theories.

We can also use Chuang Tzu reasoning and say: "There was a beginning; and there was a beginning before there was a beginning. And there was a beginning before there was a beginning before there was the beginning. Since there is existence, then there had been a non-existence. And there was a non-non-existence when even non-existence did not exist, before the beginning of the non-existence. And there was a non-non-non existence before there was non-non-existence before there was non-existence. If non-existence suddenly sprang up, we do not know whether it was really something existing, or really not-existing. Now I have just communicated what I just communicated-but I do not know if I have just communicated anything or not."

The Jainas say that the universe is beginningless and without a creator.

In all these cases, every line of reasoning leads into some paradoxical concept. This is why I say it is wrong to use reasoning in order to conclude that there is fatalism.

Perhaps the thing that bewilders ourselves most about ourselves is that each of us did not seem to make or produce ourselves and / or put ourselves into existence. That makes people feel really not in control. But perhaps even this is not absolutely true when you looked at the situation form multiple-angles.

You, the universe, and the concept of existence-all of these clearly and obviously exist, and are experienced as true and real. However, all of these obviously fail to explain themselves based on themselves.

People often imagine one thing to be the truth of reality, and then later imagine another, and then another, and so on-and each time the person thinks the one he has is the truth.

Perhaps the absolute truth is that there is no absolute truth.

Perhaps the paradox is the ultimate reality.

Reality itself is its own evidence.

It is not just what you think; it is also what you do not think. For the most part, over the long run, the most important factor in anyone's life is what she puts her attention and observation on. This is actually comprised of two things-what your attention is on, and what your attention and observation it is not on. And attention and observation are based on what perspective you have your attention and observation on things.

Wisely know where to set bounds on yours knowledge, and where to overlook-so that you see only what you ought to, and not as much as you can.

Progress of mind-control is largely based on how well you can remain free of inauspicious thoughts, cultivate auspicious thoughts, direct your attention to whatever needs it, control attention in order to develop power, and have the power to remain concentrated on a single thought.

It is difficult to be a good performer, judge, and spectator all at the same time.

Harvey Penick said: "Thinking too much about how you're doing when you're doing is disastrous."

Walter Payton said: "Don't worry about people who are ahead of you or behind you. Your concentration has to be on what you're doing. Once you lose that concentration, that's when things go awry."

Phil Jackson said: "Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing."

Experience does not work as something sought after. Do not study yourself in the midst of having an experience.

Make the process and the goal one. Enjoy the process.

Taking your mind off of certain irrelevancies does not mean putting your mind on the fact that you are taking your mind off of the irrelevancies. It does mean that you are actually taking your mind off of the irrelevancies.

To want to forget something is to remember it.

Process oriented thinking works. However, being focused on the process does not mean that you are focused on being focused on the process, and it does not mean that you are forcing yourself to be overattentive on things that do not require that much attention.

Team efforts often are mediocre, because no one takes responsibility, and everyone assumes that others will get the job done.

People's self-study is often not self-study, and is actually study of preconceptions.

Be concerned with what will get the most important job done first, and then attend to lesser priorities.

If there is a fire in the kitchen, then you should either spray water at the fire in the kitchen, or get out of the house. Whatever you do, do not spray water in the living room where there is no fire!

Use the good and right to cure and eliminate the bad and the wrong.

Prioritize basing methods on experience over basing experiences on methods.

Just because you used a boat to cross a river, and thus the boat was useful to you, it does not mean you should pick up the boat after you reached land, and carry it with you wherever you go. Just like that boat example, sometimes you should consider using teachings and methods the same way.

Others can free a person of his debts. Others can free a person of pain caused by a weight on his head.

Only a person himself can end the pain caused by his own hunger. Only a person himself can free himself from bondage. Only a person himself can improve himself through his own habits. Only a person himself through is own experience can experience reality.

It is a huge mistake for a self not to recognize its authentic self. This can only be corrected by its recognizing itself.

Choices are here. Some people do not realize this, and they neglect their choice. This often happens when a person only pay attention to negative feedback, and consequently begins to think that everything is wrong.

Make the right choices. Find the proper path. Utilize every moment.

Athletes who get a non-major injury or illness often end up having a similar or even better performance than when then they were free of injury or illness. MJ had a severe flu and still scored 63 points in a playoff. Buster Douglas had a severe flu and knocked out Mike Tyson for the title. Injured football players often limp between plays and then run people over during the plays.

Why? I say, because they are utilizing more. They have less capacity, but they are using more of it. It is only when they get themselves in the situation of getting the injury or the illness that they allow themselves to utilize so much more, and use their energy with tremendous efficiency, really look in their interests, and do what they must do most, and do not do what is already done for them. So even with the limp or illness, they are often as good as they ever were.

Do not allow negative things to manifest themselves in you. If something is not right, do not allow it. Do not become deluded with accumulated negatives, and let this become habitual, and thus consequently forget true sight of your pure self. Do not neglect your nature, expression, and your harmony with the present. Do not neglect the greater good. Respect your individuality.

Act in your best interest. Be good to yourself. Do only what is right. Do not neglect or abuse your self, nature, power, and energy. Do not neglect or abuse this moment, or the universe, or the world's energy.

There is so much we ought to utilize. Utilize it.

People sometimes desire to ponder whether something can be done, and what the limits are. This can be righteous, but it can also be unrighteous, and neglect the right method, and get caught up in non-root. Cultivate all the good that is here right now. Do it step by step.

Does the world owe you anything? I do not know. But you definitely owe it to yourself to be righteous.

You do not need to have others believe in you before you believe in yourself. Believe in yourself, and have others think of you as they will.

Instead of always trying to change other people, sometimes you should change your reaction to other people.

Just because the sun rises and sets every day, it does not mean that every day is meant to be exactly the same.

If you want to make a positive big change, start by making a positive small change.

Do not spend two hours on what needs only one minute, and do not spend only one minute on what needs two hours.

It is bad strategy to focus so much on what you do not have, that you neglect to effectively you use what you have. In many cases, just the utilization one's strengths alone can result in the win.

People barely put any care or thought into at least some of their opinions and beliefs.

Sometimes you make big leaps of progress when you are not even looking or noticing.

Be a self-liberator, not a self-oppressor.

Be a conqueror, not a victim.

Do not make things more difficult than they are.

Do not mistake a false sense of security for true confidence.

Honor and character come from within.

You should not have to force yourself to do beneficial things-you should just do them.

Breathe the current moment's breath in the current moment. Do not try to breathe every breath you will ever breath and have ever breathed in the past all in the current moment.

I ask myself, "What is the best thing for me to do right now?" Then if I know the answer, I do it. If I do not know, I wait until it is more clear.

We each have a unique soul.

Although displeasing others needs to be avoided in certain circumstances; on the other hand, in the practical process of day-to-day life, we often need to do things that will displease others.

Eva Dandridge

Adversity can sometimes be hard upon a person, and yet, there are dozens of people who can stand adversity for every one person who can stand prosperity.

It is wise to be silent when it is foolish to speak.

The majority of experts and specialist are for the most part pedants who want to show off their "scholarly learning."

You cannot harness joy like you would a horse.

The human world is for the most part much stupider than most intelligent people think it is.

Be more interested in obtaining an achievement than in "deserving" it.

The greatest wisdom is to be wise for yourself.

Franz Kafka said, "No sooner is it a little calmer with me than it is almost too calm, as though I have the true feeling of myself only when I am unbearably unhappy."

Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.

Be magnanimous enough to see the good in people. Enjoy the special joy of valuing the merits of others, and enjoying their joy as if it was your own.

There is a certain pleasure in giving pleasure to others. A great way to cheer yourself up is to cheer someone else up.

Katherine Hepburn said, "If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased."

Being able to adapt to situations is a part of preparation.

Train your mind do desire what the situation demands.

It is important to know how to adapt and limit yourself. In fact, this is often more important than soaring high and in pressing forward.

Things turn out the best for people who make the best out of the way things turn out.

The height of pleasure is to eliminate all that gives pain. Seek the least pain, and by doing so, you will consequently seek the most pleasure.

Life is difficult?

It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote.

Foe Ancis said, "The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well."

To make someone feel like you are enduring him rather than enjoying him-people do not like this.

In dealing with others, do not interfere with their own peculiar ways of being happy if they do not interfere with your own.

Prayer is one of the best pacifiers of the mind and calmers of the nerves.

The superior person is concerned with doing what is right. The lesser person is only guided by other people's praise or blame.

Do not let your peace of mind be dependent on other people's thoughts and opinions of you, whether good or bad.

t. Applaud and encourage yourself when you know you are doing your best with your existence's circumstances.

Prefer being hated for what you are than loved for what you are not.

You must become yourself to be ideally virtuous.

Raquel Welch said, "Once you get rid of the idea that you must please other people before you please yourself, and you begin to follow your own instincts-only then can you be successful. You become more satisfied, and when you are, other people tend to be satisfied by what you do."

You are your own heaven and hell.

Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

The world will probably often tell you to neglect your self and postpone living, in order to chase empty, vain, shallow, and superficial goals, with an end goal of one day, many years from now, being able to live, feel good about yourself, love yourself, and do what you want.

This is just an illusion, and an endless cycle of always putting of life, until you live a life-that no matter what it's length-is truly unfortunate, until you die. This is like giving up a life of authenticity now, so that you can try to attain it later. This is like the donkey that has a stick on fixed to his head with hay at the end of it, and will always be chasing the hay in front of it, but never reaching it.

The present moment is important. It is not just the in between for the past and the future. What it contains is yours.

People often put off living, always thinking of some treasure to come, while constantly turning away real and greater treasures right in front of themselves.

The expectations we show will have a major effect on people.

C. Malesherbez said: "We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible."

We have to live today by what truth we can get today and be ready tomorrow to call it falsehood.

To know what you need to do and do it-isn't this

Decide which is the line of conduct that presents the fewest drawbacks, and then follow it out as being the best one and make proper modifications on the way. No one will ever find anything perfectly pure and unmixed, or exempt from danger. Wisdom consists of being able to distinguish among dangers and make a choice of the least harmful.

The best step for self-improvement is to be what you are.

To seek to be somebody other than who you are-isn't this a misery?

Why wish to be anything other than who you are?

Knowing how to be one's self-isn't this a joy?

Knowing what you like instead of submitting to what the world tells you to like-isn't this

Why conform to what the external world defines you as?

Why not just be a live while you are alive, and live while you are living?

Why accept another person's definition of success as your own?

Why allow others to tell you what you want?

Do not nag that the world will not devote itself to pleasing you. Follow the right path.

Life itself is the purpose of life.

Think more about what you want from life than what you want form a trivial matter.

While you are alive, live. Live while you exist. It is wrong to exist but not live. Do not fear life. The lesser person fears life, and while is alive, he is also dead.

Trying to do something can get in the way of doing it.

I don not try; I win.

I do not try to do my best; I do my best.

Most people fear winning as well as losing. Most people fear the best as well as the worst. Most people fear what they want as well as what they do not want. Most people fear freedom from pain as well as pain. Most people fear what they experience at their best moments.

Fear is an uneasiness of mind, upon the thought of a future evil likely to befall us.

You cannot be anxious about everything.

You cannot say much for sure. You cannot even say for sure that you cannot say much for sure.

To be unsure is to be alive.

Postpone death by living.

Lewis Carroll said: "If you limit your actions in life to things that nobody can possibly find fault with, you will not do much."

"The trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more." [Erica Jong]

Danger can never be overcome without taking risks.

Dare to appear to be what you are.

People who do not know "the facts" often do not know that they cannot do what they are doing.

Edgar Degas said: "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."

To learn what you did not know you did not know-this is a kind of knowledge.

Many people seldom see an opportunity until it ceases to be one.

People's motives to promise something are different than their motives to do something.

Do not neglect a present attainable opportunity in order to pursue a less valuable and less attainable opportunity that is far off.

A person would not do anything at all if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.

The difficult task ahead that seems insurmountable might start to finish itself if you start doing it little by little.

Jacob Riis said: "When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before."

It is by attempting to reach the top in a single leap that so much misery is produced in the world.

Think big and think small. Set your next goal a little above your last achievement. Know the big while you do the small steps to get there, so that you take the right small steps to get the big.

Not everyone gets the big success as far as social standards are concerned. But we can all get the most immediate and real of all successes-sharing a special moment with someone, meeting a special person, taking a breath of air, attaining peace of mind.

Robert Brault said: "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."

There are many people who are brilliant and strong, and begin an endeavor with a big push, but do not persevere and finish. But then there are the few who finish, and did not lose the equanimity.

Most people have reached the line between failure and success, but did not realize it. Many have been defeated when they were actually n the verge of success. Instead of failure or mediocrity, they could have achieved the tremendous and phenomenal that was just a few steps away. Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they quit.

There are times when you advance to a solution by leaving the problem for a while and putting it out of your mind, until the solution comes by itself.

When you take on a problem, let go of all biases, prejudices, and preconceived opinions.

Theodore N. Vail said: "Real difficulties can be overcome, it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable."

Do not knowingly persist in a mistake.

Do not look back at a mistake for too long. Take its root, and then look at the present. Only use mistakes to help, not to hurt. Know that you have no power to change the past, but plenty of power to live in the present and to deal with the future.

Right conduct is to avoid sin and control yourself.

Learn from problems. Do not persist in them.

Our experience in this world is indeed real.

By wearing out and destroying karmas, bondage is loosened, self-soul returns to its intrinsic nature, and liberation is achieved.

Austerities

Sex

Desires

food type

food amount

repenting sins

meditation

prayer

zen meditation

autosuggestion

thoughts of honoring, esteeming, revering people's virtue, knowledge, and ability. Avoiding harboring malicious or sinister feeling towards others. Having joy when observing the virtuous

being polite and respectful to others

rendering help to others

studying and personally reflecting

teaching others

penance

Study: learning lessons, questioning and investigating, repetition, pondering and reflecting.

Do not talk too much about sex. Do not have sex with the wrong partners.

A person is born individually and dies individually. He rises or falls to states of existence individually. He belongs to himself, and so do his intellect, consciousness, and perception.

Karma causes delusion of soul, obstruction of progress of soul, and obstruction of faith and knowledge

Do color visualizing exercises

Do not harm others for no reason or for bad reasons.

Human birth is difficult to obtain. So is instruction in righteousness. So is belief in righteousness. So is self-control.

Do not refuse to confess your sins.

Do not be undisciplined. Do not have wrong discipline.

To approve of a sin-that is a sin.

Some people do not control themselves, yet think they are self-controlled.

Many people slow themselves considerably in order to appease other people's opinions.

Do not think excessively about sex.

Most of a person's biases stem from an effort to preserve his own vanity.

The superior person fears danger more than rejection. The lesser person fears rejection more than danger.

The superior person fears danger more than disapproval. The lesser person fears disapproval more than danger.

Many take the first step towards a major achievement; some take the second step; few take the third; and very rarely does anyone take the fourth and beyond.

Many things are simple and easy to do, yet become difficult and complex and you endeavor to explain them and understand them and analyze them.

The superior person treasures social interactions, yet does not need other people's approval to validate himself.

Although displeasing others sometimes needs to be avoided in certain circumstances, on the other hand, in the practical process of life, we often need to do things that will displease others.

Sometimes you need to direct other people's conversation.

Observe if she is more of an individual and independent, or if she is more of a person dependent on others.

Appreciate virtuous conduct.

Penance, reverence, self-study, detachment, meditation, non-assumption

Do not take the example of another as an excuse for your own wrongdoing.

If you do wrong, do not deny it to yourself. Say that you have done it.

Like water on the tip of grass is compared to a deep ocean, so also are superficial pleasures compared to the divine life.

Pursue protection in purity, in acquiring virtue not yet attained, and in preserving virtue already attained.

Make your soul pure and free from delusion.

What helps us control the restless mind, purify the soul, and end pain-this is knowledge.

Just as person who drinks poison in secrecy surely succumbs to death, so also does a person who sins in secrecy defiantly get corrupted.

A sinner who makes the interests of his kinsmen and companions his own, will suffer much; for the number of those whose interest he takes to heart constantly increases.

Those who exert themselves at the proper time, feel no remorse afterwards.

Enhance yourself continuously. Develop yourself at the proper opportunities, and correct your faults.

Let right actions lead to right knowledge, and right knowledge lead to right actions.

Those who acquire right knowledge must also put it into practice through right actions. Knowledge by itself will not enable a task to be accomplished. Even a little knowledge will result in much gain if right actions are added to it.

Just as a person will eventually drown if he knows how to swim but does not attempt to when he falls in water, so also will a person will fail to traverse Tao if he knows it but does not use it.

Many people know the right path, but do not follow it. There are some people who think they will be delivered from all misery by merely learning what right conduct is, without putting it into action and abstaining from sin. They acknowledge righteousness and might even speak of it, but they do not act according to it, and only seek comfort in good words.

This is wrong. This is procrastination or righteousness. One should conduct himself so as to commit no sin.

It is possible to acquire knowledge of the principles of a skill from a person who knows it but has not put it into practice, and then put the knowledge into practice your self.

Know what should be relinquished, and what should be accomplished.

These are of paramount value and are difficult to obtain as a living being: human birth, knowledge of righteousness, belief in righteousness, and energy in self-control.

Having been born a human, having known righteousness, having believed righteousness, and fulfilling righteousness strenuously, the superior person controls himself and shake off sinfulness.

The pious obtain purity, and the pure stand firmly in righteousness, and reach liberation, like fire fed with ghee.

Be impartial.

Keep off delusion. Suppress the effect of delusion.

The ocean of life has currents difficult to cross.

Choosing liberation, do not desire wrong, but sustain your body to annihilate karmas.

They who in thought, word, or act are attached to non-root-they will reap pain.

Examine and cast aside all fetters and superficialities. The weak will not give them up.

Have a right view by abandoning wrong views and delusions that come from the beginningless past.

Control desire.

Be circumspect.

Every good deed will bear its fruit to people. There is no escape from the effects of one's actions. Through riches of the highest good, my soul has got the reward for its virtues.

Purity of cause, timeliness, path, and effort.

By stopping influx of karmas, the already accumulated karmas are drained.

When activity is pure, it results in a pure inflow.

Any conclusions drawn from the root are not the root itself.

Do not love to point at other people's faults and weaknesses.

If you deviate from righteousness, immediately put yourself back on the right path.

Evoke a deep affection for those on the path of righteousness.

Respect greatness.

Do not respect impurities.

Do not abandon righteousness in order to appease opinions.

There is knowledge through senses and mind directly. There is knowledge through senses and mind indirectly. There is knowledge through immediate experience. There is knowledge through personal thought, reflection, or understanding. There is knowledge through supernatural knowledge direct to what is being learned. There is knowledge through tapas. There is knowledge through telepathy of other people's thoughts and feelings (this is obtained through the masters of self-control). There is knowledge through kevala-supreme original authenticity knowledge that is pure and has no karmic obstruction.

Anyone who knows the whole truth of the one thing also knows that of the all. Anyone who knows the whole truth of the all also knows that of the one thing.

Some karmas are easier to get rid of, while others are more difficult.

The superior person is adaptable to a wide rang of temperatures.

Do not allow a person of the opposite sex to make a sport out of you, or make you like a slave.

Like a boat that has holes that are plugged up does not have water inflow, so also does the person whose wring faith is abandoned stop karma bondage.

Stay away from associates that cause misconduct.

The aspiring person will have less and less karmas and bondage, and more and more obliteration of karmas-thus, he is soon liberated.

Like a pond's water can be gradually drained by blocking its water inlets and draining or evaporating the water it already contains, so also are the accumulated karmas of a disciplined person obliterated through the pure path.

Like a mountain is not moved by strong winds, so also does the person of wisdom and full equanimity not lose equanimity by any occurrences.

One of the most effective and intense obliterations of karmas occurs when a person gives up delusions and takes a step in the way of liberation.

Human life must be effectively and properly utilized.

Like a bird flutters its wings and shakes itself and releases dust, so also does the aspiring person who is focused on austerities obliterate already accumulated karma.

Self-control of mind, body and tongue by the enlightened is the most efficient and effective way of obliterating karmas.

Practice right emotions.

Stay immersed in spiritual contemplation, rather than be immersed in the vanity of your ancestry, sexiness, past achievements, etc.

Either do not drink liquor, or drink liquor in strict moderation. Do not do crack. Do not smoke marijuana.

The superior person can have wealth, but only when rooted in righteousness.

The superior person can have pleasures, but only when rooted in righteousness.

Makoto is a great way of dealing with adversity.

Like ocean is the source of fishes, authenticity is the home of austerities, self-restraint, and other virtues.

Like a forest fire is difficult to put out when it is windy outside, so also is a person difficult to be in serenity when he deviates from the mean.

Abide by righteousness only to destroy karmas, and not to gain praise, status, fame, etc.

Be ideally virtuous in the present so you can be ideally virtuous in the future.

Humble yet self-respecting. Humble yet self-expressive. Humble yet self-protective. Humble yet self-empowering. Humble yet-self-loving. This is the only right humility.

Be vigilant.

Take care of your body.

A shepherd heard his enemies approaching. He ran over to his donkey and exclaimed, "Quick, donkey, we must go now or else we are sure to be captured!"

The donkey replied, "Do you think that if your enemies conquer me, they will put double the load that you put on my back everyday?"

"No," the shepherd answered.

"Well then," the donkey continued, "as long as I will be carrying the same load, what difference does it make to me whose loads I am carrying?"

A governor wanted every man in his city to be a good shooter. He issued a decree that if any men were involved in an unsettled legal dispute, they would have a target shooting competition, and the winner would win the suit, while the loser would lose the suit.

As soon as the decree was issued, the whole region began practicing archery day and night continuously.

Then, when the city went to war months later, they obliterated their enemies due to the fact that everyone in the city was a proficient archer.

Around 1300 years ago in a city in China, a new governor decided to change the custom of using caning as a punishment for offenses committed by government officials. The governor instead chose to punish offenders by forcing them to wear a green turban for a number of days corresponding to the level of offense committed.

In Chinese tradition, a green turban indicates that a man's wife is being adulterous. It is a source of great shame and embarrassment for a man, and it attracts much ridicule and damages one's reputation.

And thus, shortly after the governor instituted this new law, the number of legal proceedings on government officials plummeted to almost zero.

Have composure to know what cannot be changed. Have the resolve to change what can and ought to be changed. Have the wisdom to know the difference between what can and cannot be changed.

What would two men do if they lived a solitary life in the wilds and met each other for the first time? Some believe they would approach each other as friends; some believe they would approach each other as enemies; and some believe they would pass each other by in silence.

All three of these theories are both right and wrong. The strong incalculable difference in the innate moral disposition between one individual and another would make its appearance

There are some people in whom the sight of another man at once rouses a feeling of enmity, since their inmost nature exclaims at once, "That is not me!" There are others in whom the sight awakens immediate sympathy, and their inmost nature says, "That is me over again!" And between the two, there are countless degrees.

That in this most important matter we are so totally different is a great problem-nay, a mystery.

t. If you could apply attributed to Tao, it would not be Tao.

t. Indefinable yet continually present. It is nothing at all. It is the formless form. It is the imageless image. It cannot be grasped by the imagination. It has no beginning or end. This is the essence of Tao. Maintain harmony with this ancient presence, and you will know the fullness of each present moment.

t. Tao is like the ocean. Rivers run to the ocean without filling it up. Water comes from it without emptying it.

t. Tao is not in a specific thing. It is in everything. Everything has its own individual nature, but everything is united in Tao. Tao is equally in everything, and not in one thing in particular.

Let's say a person is in a boat on a river, and another boat hits it. If the boat were empty, then even an easily angered person would not get that mad. But imagine there was a person in the boat, and the person in the first boat told him several times to stay way, but he did not listen. Then there would probably be an altercation. So, in the former example, there was not much anger, but in the latter one, there almost certainly will be. Why? Because in the former example, the boat was empty, and in the latter, there was someone in it. This is the same with people in their everyday lives. He who would go through life empty, would have little chance of being harmed.

Wu wei is not about making an effort to do wu wei. Such an effort is unnatural and contrived. Wu wei is not something you can do.

t. Tao does not follow any fixed rules.

Is there really much difference in dying for a cause of glory, and dying for an antisocial cause? Either way, the result is death.

A flower does not lose its scent just because no one notices how good it smells. A boat does not sink just because no one notices how strong it is. The Sage does not abandon Tao just because nobody notices how sagely he is. This is what I call being natural.

If you only focused on people's bad points and never their good points, you cannot find even one good person throughout the world. Everyone has faults. This even includes Confucius. Nobody is totally worthless or valuable.

By throwing away one-sidedness, large delusions will be thrown away. By taking in multi-sidedness, large foolishness will be thrown away.

The multitude of people believe that their own judgments are all their own. They will be offended greatly if anyone dares to suggest that most of them were received ready-made from others, and that they have often been like puppets of mass-opinion.

People talk, dress, and do what is currently popular-not because of their own style-but just in order to fit in and be like others. And despite their imitative ways, they actually believe they are independent and self-determining. This is far from the truth. People cannot be cured of this foolishness, because they do not know they have it. That is why is can often be so rare and difficult to return people to their own naturalness. And as for those who do actually dare to be different, most will be embarrassed by it.

Confucius sun argument

The most important requisite of knowing Tao is to cease thinking.

Why glorify the past and belittle the present? Act corresponding to the present

Maximize yourself during life. Death must come eventually, because nothing is eternal.

Release the world, and return to the self.

The ideal virtue sage lives among other people, but he is indifferent to praise or blame. Praise or acceptance will not please him, nor will blame or rejection displease him.

Desiring emptiness will fill the emptiness. Let emptiness naturally occur.

People think they will have joy when they get sex, music, etc. And yet, even when they get thee, they still lack satisfaction. So, joy is not just about having these needs fulfilled. And thus, people seek reputation, fame, prestige, and recognition. They are thrown around by all these prizes and censures of society, and vainly live and waste there times being controlled by them. Their delusional perspective make s them give up a lot in the hopes of getting a little. They lose the way of living from their hearts. They do everything based on social standards and motives. They live according to how others tell them to live, rather than living their own real lives.

A person who really values himself and his life will not seek fame.

People seek and crave reputation, prestige, financial greed, etc. However these things are nothing compared to having a human body.

The superior person is benevolent, but is also cautious about being benevolent. Why? Because doing good to others can invite a reputation, which can invite opponents of that reputation, which can invite personal danger.

It is very disastrous to admire and acknowledge your own achievements, while neglecting, depreciating, and belittling other people's achievements.

The greater you are in harmony with Tao, the closer you will come towards perfection.

The mean is best. Too much hardness can be broken. Too much softness can be dominated. Too much kindness can be weak. Too much ruthlessness can be harsh. Too much love can be undisciplined. Too much punishment can be abusive.

People are naturally different. That is why you cannot transform a sociable person into a recluse, or make a solitary person very talkative. However, the mean is important. Extremes like constant company or constant solitude deviate from the mean.

Explore pure simplicity. Identify yourself with non-distinction. Follow realness nature of all things. Do not let our own biases distort your perception.

To listen well makes the need to give good advice virtually unnecessary.

If streams dry up, the fish come together in an effort to try to keep themselves wet. When people see this, they have admiration for the cooperation and compassion. However, wouldn't it have been far better for the fish to have sought safety earlier in deep waters?

To be rigidly fixed on one philosophy, even if you master it, will impede the flow of Tao, because you will be fixed on one small portion of Tao.

There horse tied up and in a narrow street. Every person that walked down the street was kicked by the horse. Everyone was perplexed as to what should be done.

Then they saw Lao Tzu approaching, and intently observed to see how he would hale the matter. Lao Tzu spotted the horse, paused for a second to deliberate, and then turned around wand walked down another street.

Before attempting an accomplishment, be very clear about why you are doing it.

When joy comes your way, really enjoy it to the fullest.

To live life creatively is to experience your realness.

Is Tao far from where you are right now? If you look for it somewhere else, you will no doubt end up returning to right here.

Be simple. Be true to your own nature. Be in harmony with the way things are.

Do not compete with others for recognition.

t. The Valley Spirit never dies. It is the Mysterious Female. It is the foundation of Heaven and Earth. It goes on ceaselessly, and can never be used up. Being hollow, it can contain spirit, and it can embrace and nourish. Being empty, it transcends birth and death. Being empty, it enjoys the infiniteness and limitless. Being empty, it is one with Heaven and Earth, and the origin.

t. When we are born, we take up shape and form. In growth, we undergo change and development. When our course is run out, we dissolve and return to where we were before our birth.

t. Old school sages described the nature of things through yin and yang. They used the interaction of yin and yang to describe the changes of Heaven and Earth. They said the nameless give birth to the named. They said the origins of Heaven and Earth lies in the nebulous and unfathomable realm, where everything is undifferentiated from each other. How do they emerge from this? First, they are in a stage where they are in an undivided and undifferentiated form, and shapeless and formless. Then, chi covers Heaven and Earth, and embraces all. Then yin and yang divide and interact to produce limited but identifiable shapes and forms. Then they assume definite shapes and forms, and take on a variety of qualities.

All things have their own essence of life, shape, and quality, but all things are inseparable and connected to the undifferentiated origin of Tao. Tao itself is formless and cannot be seen or heard. What we face is its manifestations. Tao itself cannot be grasped.

Heaven and Earth cannot do everything. People cannot do everything or know everything. Each thing has its strengths and weaknesses. Each thing also has its pure function.

If you really understand wu-wei, then what cannot do or know?

People often strive for a variety of accomplishments. People also all end up dead, and a pile of bones. The old school sages knew that life cannot go on forever, and that death is a cyclical phenomenon, but the root of things experiences the big picture.

The ideal virtue person is empty. Emptiness is supremely pure.

Most people enjoy praise and having their merits and accomplishments acknowledged. However, the greater good is to be empty of attachment, and not be imprisoned by things like recognition, approval, and disapproval. That is why I say that emptiness is supremely pure.

And what can we say about getting credit for doing something? This really can lead to false conclusions and delusions.

To see the emptiness of things-this is conducive to harmony, and keeping Tao in view.

There are plenty of instances where two people have a similar loss, but one makes good decisions afterwards, and the other makes poor decisions. In the former case, the person is empty.

Give customers an occasional random small bonus.

If you have trouble dealing with rejection and being positive, begin by making small easy requests, in order to build your confidence.

A person can never be more than a person. Why do people still trouble themselves about fame? To become rich. But when they have become rich, why do they not stop? Because they aim at getting honors. And then why do they not stop when they get honors? Because of post-death reputation.

And so, for the sake of fame, they endure all kinds of bodily hardship and mental pain, and will sacrifice reality. That is why fame is vain.

One hundred years is what is considered a long life. Very few people attain it. And of those that do, much of it is taken up in infancy, old age, sleep, wasted time, pain, and sickness. This leaves perhaps ten years left. And of that, the time that a person is truly liberated might not amount to more than a few hundred hours.

So what is the object of human life? What makes it pleasant? Comfort and elegance, music and beauty. Yet one cannot always gratify the desire for comfort and elegance nor incessantly enjoy beauty and music.

Besides, people are stopped by punishments and laws, drawn in by rewards and fame, and constantly rendered anxious. Striving for a fleeting, vian hour of glory, ans seking a reputation that will outlast their lives, they propagate imaginary worries, and cannot really give way to their selves for much time at all, and lose the happiest moments of the present. This is not that much different than being a chained criminal.

All beings enter life in a moment, live, and then depart into death in a moment. The Sages of old times realized this, and gave wy to their selves, going smoothly on,without seeking glory and fame, or rank and position.

We barely know what has happened throughout most of the world's history. All kinds of people have come and gone, and some have lived longer, while others have lived shorter.

Beings differ in life, but are alike in death. Death is the equalizer. No matter what one was in life, in death they are really just an indistinguishable pile of bones.

If we haste to live life righteously, we have no time to trouble about what comes after death.

Some people think they are pursuing virtue and purity, when what they really are pursuing is justification of false principles.

We must have compassion for the living, and part with the dead. We should help the sick, feed the hungry, and assist the miserable. As for the dead, after we have properly bewailed their death, what is the use of placing pearls and jewels in their mouths, dressing them in state robes, offering animals in sacrifice, or exposing effigies of paper?

To cherish life, it is sufficient to give it its free course. So, we should naturally allow what frees us from pain and is in the bounds of righteousness. To unnecessarily obstruct this is a source of very painful vexation, and is not what I call cherishing life, even if you manage to live a very long time. But to check this source of obstruction is what I understand by enjoying life.

As for post-death issues, who cares? It is of very little importance. What can I do when I am dead? They may burn my body, or cast it into deep water, or inter it, or leave it uninterred, or throw it wrapped up in a mat into some ditch, or cover it with princely apparel and embroidered garments and rest it in a stone sarcophagus. I will let it depend on chance.

The purpose of human life isn't to obtain glory, rank, and reputation. Those who pursue a path to obtain those things end up harming their their real, natural and authentic feelings and purity. The world might honor those people.

The ancient Sages realized that the universe could not actually be run by someone.

Why should anyone care for one hour's blame or praise so much that, by torturing his spirit and body, he struggles for a name lasting some hundred years after his death? Can the halo of glory revive his dried bones, or give it back the joy of living?

People resemble Heaven and earth in the way that they cherish virtues like benevolence, uprightness, righteousness, knowledge, and loyalty.

Of all creatures, man is clearly the most skillful. He does not have nails and teeth sufficient to get him food and shelter. He does not have skin and strength sufficient to defend him. He does not have speed sufficient to avoid many kinds of harms. He does not have hair or feather sufficient to protect him from other kinds of harms.

Man is thus compelled to use things to nourish his nature, to rely on his intelligence, and to not put his confidence completely in brute force. Therefore, intelligence is appreciated because it preserves us so well.

People are unnecessarily perturbed and enslaved due to reputation, rank, and riches. These make people pursue the vain rather than the real. Those who neglect them pursue the real rather than the vain.

It is wise to be content if you meet your real needs. How can someone who posses his needs long for anything else? To do so is to have an insatiable nature. Insatiableness is a worm that eats body and mind.

He who renounces fame has no sorrow.

Soul will have a tendency to build what it is taught to expect, and this expectation has a tremendous power. What out heart longs for, our soul aspires for, and our self yearns for and endeavors to bring about-these are not just idle dreams of imagination. They can forbear future reality, indicate possibilities, and measure efficiency.

Learn to live mentally in the ideal that you wish to make real, and eliminate all impurities. Make a habit of living the ideal you are striving for, and thinking and asserting yourself and things as you would like to have them. Constantly keep this in your mind, holding it firmly and vigorously. It increases hope and faith in your ultimate perfection and divinity, because in your vision you see glimpses of the reality that you instinctively feel must sometime, somewhere, be yours.

Immediately obliterate every bad inferior image or suggestion.

We tend to achieve what we persistently endeavor to express, even if it may not seem possible. No matter far away or improbable the realization might seem, we will increase our chances of the ideal of what we want to come true in our lives, if we always try to express it, and we visualize it as vividly as possible and try with all our might to realize it. Intensity and persistency and determination increase one's power to realize his dreams. It makes the desire turn into resolve, and become effective.

The quality of your thoughts, emotions, and ideals will increase or decrease your efficiency and effectiveness. Always hold the ideal of wholeness, and contemplate your infinite power and perfection, and think, say, and do what you wish to come true. This will obliterate the negatives.

The great achievers have been dreamers, and their achievements have been rooted in the vividness, energy and persistency with which they visualized their ideals, held to their dreams and aspired to make true.

Do not give up your dream just because it is apparently not being realized. Cling to your vision with all the tenacity you can muster. Keep it bright, and in an ambition-arousing and empowering atmosphere and environment. Do not let the negatives of your life cloud or dim your ideal.

Do not fear your power.

Before going to sleep at night, take some time by yourself, and quietly think and dream to your heart's content. Do not fear your vision and power to dream. Your dreaming power must be utilized, not discredited.

When I say dreaming, I do not mean fanciful, ephemeral pipe dreaming. I mean real, legitimate desire and the sacred longings of the soul, which are given to us as constant reminders that we can make our lives sublime; that no matter how disagreeable or unfriendly our surroundings may be, we can lift ourselves into the ideal conditions which we see in our vision.

There is a divinity behind our legitimate desires. These legitimate desires are not the things that we want but do not need. These are the legitimate desires of the soul for the realization of those ideals, the longing for full, complete self-expression, for the time and opportunity for the weaving of the pattern shown us in the moment of our highest transfiguration.

Our mental attitude and heart's desire-this is our perpetual prayer that Nature answers. They are not head prayers, but heart prayers.

We were made for grand and sublime things. We were made for abundance. Lack and want do not fit into our divine nature.

We must have faith in the good that is in store for us. It is wrong to belittle or discredit ourselves.

Surround yourself with the right thought habit atmosphere.

Much of our life is rooted in our thought, attention, and mental attitude. Make them self-empowering, and not self-abusive.

Material reality begins as mental reality. Be a good practical dreamer, so your mind will reach energy and produce the ideal.

To produce gain we must have an attitude conducive to gain.

Keep the faith that you will do what you ought to do but do not do now and do not see a way of possibly accomplishing. Steadily hold the mental attitude and belief that somehow, someway you will accomplish it. Cling to the vision. Get your mind in the right condition to create it and draw it in. Believe in yourself. Constantly affirm your ability. Stay fixed on the goal. Go towards it. Aspire and then realize.

Form a habit of repeating self-empowering affirmations and developing faith in your supreme triumph. Hold it tenaciously and vigorously. After a while you will be surprised to find how the things come to you that you have so longed for, yearned for, and struggled towards.

Many self-empowering minds have often become self-defeating minds due to bad influences-due to depreciating suggestions of incompetence by others, which weakened a person's initiative and power.

The self-empowering person carries power. Some people are so self-empowering and mentally constructive, that they invariably carry and radiate a power of conquest and conviction. Any ordinary person in their presence will instinctively follow them. The world makes way for such a robust character. People do not stop to analyze the reason for following a strong character. They instinctively obey its superior mentality.

Live like a victor and conqueror, rather than like a beaten discouraged victim.

It is wrong to never expect victory, to only accept barely getting by, to only expect hard work, and to have a belief that life at best is a grind. Properly lived life in self-empowering and rooted in learning. Have an attitude that you are born and made for victory and conquest. Train yourself to have great respect for yourself.

It is wrong to think that even though you want to succeed, the environment is too crowded, and that you will just perhaps try to come out somewhere.

Do not have an attitude victory-resistance. To not have a meek obsequies attitude.

Self-confidence is important. He who has faith will probably win, even if others initially see his confidence as being quite stupid. After this short phase, people will almost immediately begin to have confidence in him too.

In certain ways, we're dependent on having others believe in us. And people often do not actually adequately investigate another person's ability. Instead, they usually just initially accept a person's own estimate of himself.

Take a typical example of a group of young people the same age, and you will see that the one or two who step out boldly will often advance rapidly, while the others will just wait to be discovered.

It is wrong to belittle, depreciate, efface, and disregard yourself. It is wrong to carry an apologetic groveling air. It is wrong to project an attitude that you do not expect much of yourself, and that you are unworthy of great things.

It is wrong to believe in a theological idea of the debasement of man-that he is hopelessly in sin. It is wrong to promote a theology that teaches us to belittle ourselves and be groveling.

Do not go through the world whining, tagging at some-body else's heels trailing, imitating, and copying somebody else, afraid to call your soul your own.

Think well of yourself; have a good opinion of yourself, and your ability to do what you undertake. If you do not, nobody else will.

Have a grand estimate of yourself. Hold up-building, ennobling, sublime pictures of yourself and your divine possibilities. Utilize vigorous faith in order to empower the rest of your great qualities.

What you dream you can do, think you can do or believe you can do, you will do.

Many very capable and powerful people stick to doing little things, because they are the victims of discouraging self-suggestions.

Never allow yourself to harbor any unrighteous thoughts.

The cause of feeling jaded and depressed is often a deviation from the mean, and an effect of an overstrained self.

If you are feeling jaded and depressed, try getting into the most interesting social environment possible, or seek some innocent amusement that will make you laugh and cheer you up. Some people find this refreshment in their own home romping with the children, others at the theater, others in pleasant conversation, others in burying themselves in a book, others in taking a nap.

If you are a victim of your moods, push right into the swim of things, and take an active part, with a real interest in what is going on around you. Associate with right people. Interest yourself in others.

If you are feeling jaded and depressed and bad about yourself, try resolving that you will go no further in that direction. Stop and face the other way, and go the other way.

Instead of trying to root out a defect or a vicious quality directly, cultivate the opposite quality. Persist in this, and the other will gradually die. Kill the negative by cultivating the positive.

Many people fail by constantly stopping to wonder how they will finally come out, whether they will succeed or not. This constant questioning of the outcome of things creates doubt, which is fatal to achievement.

Much of our greatest dishonesty is with ourselves.

Have sufficient faith in the immense reserve power in your subconsciousness.

Many people who are naturally sensitive and shy have an inaccurate perception that they lack the ability that others have. They distrust their own ability, and are very easily discouraged or encouraged.

Never allow yourself to be convinced that you are not complete master of yourself.

Most people indifferently pass away time as if they are in pursuit of something else, as if their life is just an intermediary station en route to somewhere else. They are sure they will live and be joyful later-after they have a better business, or car, or furniture, vehicle, or after they clean their room, or lose weight, etc-but they are very unwilling to live right here and right now. People are often so focused on a future goal, that they do not see the beauties and the glories right around them right now. Or, they are dwelling in the past-either in regret over something, or in reliving some moment that they have probably widely distorted from what really happened-and they will actually go so far as to waste the present moment right now. Such is the delusion of life. At any given time, perhaps only a few million people on this entire planet are actually living in the here and the now.

People almost always expect too much from the great happenings and unusual things. They almost always overlook the common flowers on the path of life, from which they might abstract sweets, comforts, and delights.

Real joy is so simple that it often goes by unrecognized, passed indifferently, and missed. Joy is derived from the simplest, the quietest, and the most unpretentious things in the world.

Before is dead. Later is not born yet. The only time that belongs to you is the passing moment. If we get the good that belongs to us here and now, we must extract the sweetness of each passing moment while it is ours. That is the real art of living in the now.

People pay attention to being great at things like dong their jobs or planning an event. And yet, people often neglect endeavoring to be great at real living. People often pay less attention to cultivating their lives than they pay attention to something like a fucking VCR.

To the person who neglects almost everything in order to make money, while thinking that he will find joy this way, I say he is quite delusional.

A person cannot attain joy if he despises his own act.

Joy is not the exact same thing as gratifying desires. Desire themselves are insatiable, unless they are in the bounds of righteousness.

People who place high values on vain desires, will reap misery.

Personal property is overrated. What is it so good for?

Isn't it quite ludicrous and foolish for someone to spend his entire life chasing dollars so that he will have a home with a big yard and rooms filled with antiques and paintings, and all the while, that person has never even taken advantage of nature, parks, museums, etc. that where all around him the whole time and entirely free?

Can Bill Gates or Puffy get more out of nature than anyone else? Isn't it quite ridiculous to get so caught up in ownership, that one does not notice all the great things that everyone has access to and almost everyone ignores?

This is my world right now.

Play is necessary to a child's development.

Recreation and play are important. They are uplifting as well as educational. We have all felt the wonderful balm, the great uplift, the refreshment, the rejuvenation that have come from a jolly good time with family or friends.

I know a lady who once underwent an operation for the removal of a tumor. Everything in her life dates from that time. She cannot converse on any subject but she drags in her "operation." It is her excuse for her explanation of all her shortcomings in domestic affairs.

Many people are loath to let their troubles go. They have lived with them so long that they have become sort of companions, and they seem to take a morbid pleasure in entertaining them, just as some patients like to dwell upon their symptoms and aches and pains.

The only way to be happy is to take advantage of the little opportunities that come to us to brighten life as we go along. To postpone enjoyment day after day and year after year, until we get more money or a better position, is to cheat ourselves not only of present enjoyment, but also of the power to enjoy in the future.

The joyful person is he who extracts joy, not from ideal conditions, but from the actual ones about him.

The future is rooted in the present. Our destiny is rooted in our hearts.

The future comes after the present. Greed and vanity often makes people make a mirage of the future.

A thwarted ambition seems to wrench the whole nature out of its normal orbit. Everything seems perverted when we cannot do that which we are able to do the easiest and the best. Every one is conscious that he was made to fit perfectly the work for which he was intended, and that anything else will be a misfit.

It is true that man is an adaptable creature, and can adjust himself to conditions that confront him. A person can do something in a work he is not fitted for. However,it will be unsatisfying, and he will probably not be able to do it superbly well, with that zest and enthusiasm characteristic of excellence.

A person is happiest when he is most active in performing the functions he was intended to perform. One of man's greatest passions is that of achievement, the passion for doing things, the ambition to accomplish. This is one of the greatest satisfactions in life, and satisfaction is the chief ingredient in joy. Growth and self-empowerment are among the most durable satisfactions in life.

The love of achievement is satisfied in the very act of creation, in the realization of the ideal that has haunted the brain.

The best learning is that which makes you gain the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. This is the first lesson that ought to be learned.

Most people lack the powers of persistence and equanimity. They can make a sudden dash, but they lack grit. They are easily discouraged. They get on as long as everything goes smoothly, but when there is friction they lose heart. They depend on stronger personalities for their spirit and strength. They lack independence or originality. They only dare to do what others do. They do not step boldly from the crowd.

The world takes us at our own valuation. It believes in he who believes in himself. It abuses he who only wants to depend on others for his strength.

Of the great conquerors of the world, most have often lacked certain strengths. However, virtually all of them have had persistence.

People will feel that is quite useless to oppose a determined and equanimous person, who never loses heart even in spite of problems or criticism, and who always is committed to Tao.

Gaining confidence in speaking in front of a large number of people is not even close to being as difficult as most people imagine it to be. Although some might have this confidence by nature, probably upwards of 99% of people learn it. And anybody can learn it.

There is no good reason why the presence of others watching needs to be a hindrance, and there is plenty of reason why it can be an energizing factor. One thing is quite certain: training and practice will obliterate lack of confidence, and will aid getting confidence and intrepidity.

Also consider how many of the best public speakers of all time were actually quite terrified and dominated by intimidation in their early careers. William Jennings Bryan, Mark Twain, US Grant, and many others were petrified during their first attempt. Lloyd George admitted that he could hardly even get a word out during his first public speech.

It took Jean Jaures a year to summon up the courage to make his first speech, and he turned out to be one of the most powerful speakers ever.

Most of England's greatest and most famous speakers were terrible in their early attempts in Parliament.

Lincoln was usually timid in the early stages of his speeches, taking a while to adjust before he could unleash his power.

People who attempt doing things they are nervous to do, are usually in absolute agony at the thought of starting. And yet, by the time they are finishing, they consider it absolute agony to stop doing it.

Your talks will be most interesting when you have something you really want to express

Breathe

Action and feeling both go together. We can influence feeling by regulating action, which is under our direct control. For instance, to be intrepid, we can physically conduct ourselves as intrepid. Act as if you already have the trait, and feeling will be influenced.

If you are intimidated by people, conduct yourself physically with confidence, and imagine that they owe you money, and they are just there to beg you for a credit extension.

Beginners will have nervousness. It can be mastered through practice, until the mastery becomes a habit.

How can you relax? Just relax. Relaxation is not-doing. It is non-effort.

To remember something, get a deep, vivid impression of it by observing it, concentrating on it, getting the impression through more than one sense, and using mental picture images. Use the power of repetition. Review it. Associate it with something else that you remember. Think about it from multiple angles.

Your attitude will affect the attitude of your listeners.

People think they are moved mainly by reason. However, most people are usually moved far more by emotion than by reason.

When someone uses seriousness or wittiness, it might not be effective. But if he appeals to people with conviction and emotional power, he rarely will fail.

And so, there are plenty of instances where speakers who had voice problems such as high tones, stammering, weak voices, stuttering, squealing, or lack of clarity, have often still managed to be powerful speakers, because they had an earnest emotional urge that superceded these problems.

Just giving off facts will rarely be effective. The person expressing the facts must also bring an attitude with passion and concern behind the expression of the facts. Many great speeches are very unremarkable on paper, but when the individual adds his attitude to them and expresses the speech, it becomes incredibly powerful.

Gestures are important. They not only have an effect themselves on the listeners, but they also have an effect on the speaker's speech itself, bringing life into the words.

Put energy behind what you say, and say it positively, but do not excessively positively about everything.

Most people cannot differentiate between emphasis and proof. If you say something often and vigorously and authoritatively enough, most people will eventually believe it, no matter what it is.

When we start to learn any new thing, we seldom advance steadily and consistently improve gradually. We usually do it through sudden unexpected jumps, and then we might remain stationary for a while or even regress and lose a little of the gained progress. This is one reason why many people quit at these stages, and few keep on. Those who persist end up taking off like an airplane to the next level.

Care enough for a result, and you will most certainly attain it.

Natural speaking tactics should not be forced, but should be known and used. One of them is to stress important words, and subordinate unimportant ones. Another is to change and alternate your pitch instead of consistently speaking in a monotonous pitch. Another is to slow down and devote more time for important statements. Another is to pause before and after important ideas.

Gestures should be natural and spontaneous.

Several years ago a Fuel and Iron Company was suffering from labor troubles. Shooting had taken place; there had been bloodshed. The air was electric with bitter hatreds. The very name of Rockefeller was anathema. Yet John D. Rockefeller, Jr., wanted to talk to the employees of that concern. He wanted to explain, to persuade them to his way of thinking, to get them to accept his beliefs. He realized that, in the very opening of his speech, he must eradicate all ill-feeling, all antagonism. At the very outset, he did it beautifully and sincerely. Most public speakers can study his method with profit:

"This is a red-letter day in my life. It is the first time I have ever had the good fortune to meet the representatives of the employees of this great company, its officers and superintendents, together, and I can assure you that I am proud to be here, and that I shall remember this gathering as long as I live. Had this meeting been held two weeks ago, I should have stood here a stranger to most of you, recognizing few faces. Having had the opportunity last week of visiting all the camps in the southern coalfields and of talking individually with practically all of the representatives, except those who were away; having visited in your homes, met many of your wives and children, we meet here not as strangers but as friends, and it is in this spirit of mutual friendship that I am glad to have this opportunity to discuss with you our common interests.

"Since this is a meeting of the officers of the company and the representatives of the employees, it is only by your courtesy that I am here, for I am not so fortunate as to be either one or the other; anti yet I feel that I am intimately associated with you men, for, in a sense, I represent both the stockholders and the directors."

That is tact-supreme tact. And the speech, in spite of the bitter hatred that had existed, was successful. The men who had been striking and fighting for higher wages never said anything more about it after Rockefeller had explained all the facts in the situation.

In persuasion, begin by thinking about the other person's views and desires, and try to find common ground of agreement. To just untactfully unload your opinions is too threatening, and will have people trying to defend themselves, and get in a frame of mind to say No, and to reject. Defensive Nos like that are also difficult to overcome, because people's vanity will make them want to remain consistent.

Try to get a Yes environment, which will make people open for acceptance.

Repetition is important for persuasion. But people are often put off by precise repetition. However, the repetition will usually be accepted if the ideas are expressed using varied words and phrases.

Idea, concepts or conclusions that enter the mind are usually held as true unless hindered by some contradictory idea. So to persuade, it is not so much necessary to convince someone that an idea itself is true, as it is necessary to keep any conflicting ideas out of his mind. This is why suggestion can have such a tremendous power, even without any proof to support the suggestion. Most people prefer believing more than investigating.

That is one reason why people frequently ridicule other people's different religious practices and social customs, and do not ridicule their own.

To make people believe our suggestions, we must not only plant out idea in their minds, but we must also keep contradictory and opposing ideas from arising. One way to do this is to present our ideas with feeling and contagious enthusiasm. In most people, this will weaken a person's reasoning, and will also obliterate opposing ideas.

And so, when presenting ideas, be impressed with your own self. This will bring a shining spirit from you to your listeners, that few can resist.

Link what you wish people to accept to something they already believe.

One of the greatest salesmen ever was once a timid young man who was a clerk in a newspaper office. He had a rather retiring sort of nature, and was the kind of person who preferred to slip in by the back door and take a seat at the rear of the stage of life.

But one day, the young man was exposed to some ideals of self-confidence, and became determined to pull himself out of the rut that he had drifted into. He went to the business manager of the paper and asked for a position as solicitor of advertising, and he was put to work on a commission basis. Everyone in the office expected to see him fail, as this sort of salesmanship calls for the most positive type of sales ability.

The young man went to his room, and, taking a very unconventional strategy, he decided to make out a list of twelve merchants that the other advertising solicitors had called without making a sale. He took out his list of twelve names to the park, and read it over a hundred times, saying to himself as he did so, "You will purchase advertising space from me before the end of the month."

Then he began to make his calls. After the first day, he closed sales with three of the twelve so-called impossibilities. By the end of the week, he sold to two others on the list. And by the end of the month, he had opened advertising accounts with six more, leaving just one merchant left on his list.

Doggedly determined to win this merchant's business, the young man did not pursue any new clients except for that one obstinate merchant left on his list. Every morning when the merchant's store opened, the young man was on hand to interview him-and every morning, the merchant said "No."

The merchant knew he was not going to buy advertising space, but the young man did not know it. Every time the merchant said "No,"the young man did not hear it and kept right on coming.

Finally, after having told this persistent young man "No"for thirty consecutive times, the merchant said, "Look here, young man, you have wasted a whole month trying to sell me. Now, what I would like to know is this-why have you wasted your time?"

"Wasted mytime nothing," the young man retorted. "I have been going to school, and you have been my teacher. Now I know all the arguments that a merchant can bring up for not buying. And besides that, I have been drilling myself in self-confidence."

Then the merchant said, "I will make a little confession of my own. I, too, have been going to school, and you have been my teacher. You have taught me a lesson in persistence that is worth money to me, and to show you my appreciation, I am going to pay my tuition fee by giving you an order for advertising space."

That merchant became the newspaper's best advertising account, and that deal began a reputation that made the young man a millionaire. His success demonstrates the incredible and irresistible power of self-confidence, persistence, and equanimity.

People who lead others into talking about things that interest them, and listen to them intently, will almost always be considered a good conversationalist, even if they do very little talking.

Use phrases that conjure up pictures and images into your listeners' minds.

Power is not gained from following rules. It is something within a person.

Our body, our vital energy, and our mind-these are all very important. But there is something more than those that make a person a person. It is the individual.

People act upon their strongest desires.

Control, regulate, govern and guide your desires, and create desires through will.

Think over what tasks you wish to accomplish. Impartially, impersonally, carefully, and judicially take a mental stock of yourself, and see your deficiencies that relate to the successful accomplishment of the task is concerned. Analyze the task before you in detail, seeing its entirety and its distinctions, all from as many angles as possible. Take an inventory of the general things necessary to be done in order that the task is brought to a successful conclusion.

Through consistent practive and discipline, use your imagination to form a clear-cut distinct and vital mental image of the qualities, things and details of the undertaking, as well as of the completed whole. Each time you try to form the mental image, it will appear a little clearer and more distinct, and the details will come into a little more prominence.

After having acquired this clear mental image of what you wish to desire, cultivate focusing the attention upon those things, and keep them before your attention as much as possible in order to really imbed it in you.

An ardent desire, longing, craving demand for the materialization of the things will cultivate. Make the demands, and you inner mind will attend to them. Desire firmly, confidently, and earnestly. Claim and demand the whole thing. Feel confident that it will work out into material objectivity and reality. Think of it, dream of it, and always long for it. Learn to want it the worst way. Learn to want it hard enough.

You can attain and obtain many things by wanting them hard enough.

Vague cravings and wishes are not the same as earnest, longing, demanding desire and want.

We cannot do much strictly by ourselves. We must form combinations, arrangements, harmonies and agreements with others, and in accordance with environments and things. We must create and use the proper environments and things, and draw to ourselves others with whom we must form combinations.

Observe many great leaders and achievers in action, and you will become conscious of a subtle, mysterious something about them that you could actually feel, and seemed to draw you to fit in to their schemes, planes, and desires almost by an irresistible force. They have strong desire, and their desire force manifests strongly and affects those they come into contact with.

Additionally, their desire-force flows from them in great waves, which soon manifests a circular or whirlpool-like motion, and swing around and around the center of the desire. They become actual cyclones of desire, into which nearly everything that comes within its sweep is affected and swept into the vortex. They have the operation of the mighty law of attraction, which brings to them their own.

Many call it willpower, but this only partially describes it. Under the will, there is the ardent and burning desire that is the motive force of the attractive power.

This desire force is a primitive, elemental thing. If you look beneath the polished surface, you will see that this desire force of today's great leaders is also the one that animated the fierce and shaggy caveman or the wild Berserker who, naked and half-mad, rushed upon overwhelming hordes of his enemy, brushing them aside like flies.

Our mental state can, through personal magnetism, bring others into a mood or state of mind sympathetic with us. If one infuses enough life and enthusiasm into his mental states Enthusiasm gives us earnestness. Earnestness makes itself felt strongly, and will often make a person give us attention in spite of himself. The earnestness must be more than a firm, confident, honest belief in the thing being presented to the attention of the other person. It must be a live, contagious, emotional, enthusiastic earnestness. It appeals to the emotional side of human nature.

Generally speaking, we can influece others more effectively through feeling than through thought. Most people want to be made to feel, and not think. There's great demand for people who will make us feel or laugh, and little demand for people who will make us think. People in the former group capture the most attention and interest, and are the most valued. They throw out a part of themselves, which seems to affect those coming in contact with them.

Good posture is important. Those who have bad posture emit an apologetic air for being a living being on the earth. The world is apt to take such at their own valuation.

Not tilting your head too far down or to one side is important. All of this not only gives an appearance of self-respect, but also tends to cultivate a corresponding mental state within you.

Think and act self-respect. Let the individual you are manifest itself. Do not crawl. Do not grovel. Do not cringe. Be a real human being.

Some people are so wrapped up in their own affairs, that they convey an impression of being apart and aloof from people they come into contact with. This is a very unpleasant, cold, and hard personality form that will often make others let such a person alone, and leave him to his own selfish moods and mental states.

It is true that a person should keep the main chance before him, and not allow his own interests to suffer by reason of his interest in others. However, taking an interest in others is also important.

You will find something of interest in every person you come into contact with. And if you turn your attention to that interest, it will manifest itself in such a way that the person will be conscious of it, will appreciate it, and will be glad to respond by taking an interest in you. This is not insincerity.

It is important to be a good listener and to listen with interest. This does not mean that you should allow yourself to be made a dumping ground for all the talk of all the people with whom you come in contact. Your time and attention are important. Only give it to what you ought to. But listening well is very important, and in most cases, it is also quite a compliment to the speaker.

Each individual must work out his own liberation, accomplish the real work, and carve out his own destiny. Nobody else will do he work for him if he refuses to do it himself.

Weed out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts. Cultivating right, useful, and pure thoughts.

I have observed many bizarre things, but none so much as my own existence.

Getting attached to names and labels and conclusions and non-root can lead to mistaking bondage for liberation and liberation for bondage.

Like a soul covered in mud does not shine until the mud is taken of, so also is a soul that is in bondage of karmas not allowed to luminate with its natural shine until karmas are obliterated.

He who is thirsty for praise, will be tied to it, and will be depressed or elated by any insignificant and trifling thing that comes his way.

There are multiple point so ff view and reality judgments. Things are what they are, and exist independent from perspectives.

A being accumulates virtues and joy alone. A being obliterates karmas and attains liberation alone.

People's dreams often gloss over important details.

Karma is chi gone wrong.

Amiable yet unique

If you do not live for yourself, nobody will.

Face yourself. Ask yourself the difficult questions. Address the real issues you face.

The human world is inclined towards society. In this world, most of the things a person does requires social interaction and dealing with people.

How does she feel abaout herself? Whad does she want? What is her viewpoint on life? What is she interested in? Who does she trust?

Imagine what the end of the day, week, month, year, etc. will be like if you continue on the course you are taking.

Compare the goals you had to your attainment. Of the ones you did not achieve, ask yourself why you did not, and whether you still have those goals. If you do, set yourself on it. Assess what you want. Assess what your goals are. Contemplate them.

If you know you are off-course, reroute yourself to what is right. Rather than wait for something to reroute you, reroute yourself.

Try to determine the time it will take to achieve your goals. Preserve the proper portion between short-term goals and long term-goals. Determine what the implications of your goals will be. Determine what assets and motivations you have to accomplish your goals. Assess them and contemplate them. Determine what will help you get your goals, and what will hinder you from them. Realize what you would have to sacrifice to attain your goals, and determine if the trade off is auspicious or not.

Direct your imagination, will, passion, and inner-subconscious mind towards your goals. Envision them achieved. Internally re-experience your great achievements. Internally experience your goals for the future. Allocate resources and make timetables.

Utilize your imagination to create the outcomes you want. Be flexible in your goals. Make adjustments. Stay on the right path. Be motivated by learning and self-protection. Do not procrastinate righteousness.

There is nothing too good for you. Assert this. Know that good things are your right and yours for the taking. Be self-respecting in your mental attitude and outward demeanor. Ask, demand, and take what you need.

People want to be made to feel more than they want to be made to think or reason. A drop of emotion is like an ocean of facts.

Emotion and passion are the most effective orators for persuading.

Most people cannot differentiate between emphasis and proof.

People would prefer seeing gestures than listening to reasons.

People follow example more than reason.

Actions speak louder than words.

Good speakers who captivate an audience are not necessarily those whose actions follow the codified rules of speaking. In fact, good speakers sometimes deviate widely from any such rules. How and why can this be true? Because they bring personality authenticity, fire, and passion-which come right form their hearts, and crouch and spring at their listeners, having an electrical type effect on them.

These times are good times if we know what to do with it.

To arise from a state of despair at one's darkest moment and obliterate and banish your foes-isn't this a grand achievement?

To correct a mistake or to remedy a fault-isn't this the way the superior person guides his life by?

To not repeat your significant mistakes-isn't this a love of learning?

To do a virtuous achievement that you once thought you could not do-isn't this tremendously satisfying?

To abandon what is detrimental to one's self-isn't this the path to liberation?

To live according to life itself and not according to teachings and superficial appearances and meanings-isn't this great?

To learn and apply what you have learned at the right time-isn't this a pleasure?

To use your guilt of past mistakes in order to repeat them-isn't this a habitual mistake?

To exchange what is better for what is worse-isn't this the path to decline?

To hold on to a negative trait of oneself because it has become habitual-isn't this at the height of inhumanity to one's own self?

Will and imagination must be directed the right way.

Many drunkards sincerely wish to give up drinking, but continuously fail. Many criminals sincerely wish to give up crime, but continuously fail. Their will is trying to lead them one way, but their imagination prevails in leading them another way.

Excessive dependence on logic leads to poor results.

The mind has incredible power over the body. The heart has incredible power over the mind.

Those who perceive the unobvious yet neglect the obvious can be deceived. Those who perceive the obvious yet neglect the unobvious can be deceived.

Life is like this: sometimes sun, sometimes rain.

After all is said and done, more is said than done.

Do not let the existence of a person's bad points cause you to underrate credit their good points. Do not let the existence of a person's good points cause you to overrate their bad points.

It is better to blush once than to pale a hundred times.

If a person' heart and affections are not satisfied, then he will not be satisfied even in a royal palace.

Money cannot truly replace affection, appreciation, attention and consideration.

Most people lack zest in life and enthusiasm for anything, due to great disappointment in their life and due to not following their hearts.

Many people will resort to almost anything in order to avoid the real labor of thinking.

To foresee is to rule.

A person should be judged by both his extraordinary exertions and his everyday conduct.

Many of the most interesting stories are the ones no one ever dares tell.

Every person has his own fascinating story once you observe the person deeply enough.

The superior person is living life and avoiding death. The lesser person is waiting to live and waiting to die.

Medium of motion, medium of rest, and space are of one substance.

Time, matter, and soul are of an infinite number of substances.

What is not a big deal to one person can be a very big deal to another.

Different people have different needs.

Every moment has a uniqueness.

Excessive attention to the wrong things is the number one cause of failure.

Things are both simple and complex.

The lover of life should sometimes use his time in a way that would be considered useless.

Things change, but there is still a constant.

Utilize your enemies to your advantage. Use their ill will to level mountains of difficulties that you one would otherwise need to encounter. Many have had their greatness made for them by their enemies.

The satiated person and the hungry person do not see the same thing when they look at food.

An act that kindles the soul is worth more than the entire word's treasures.

The government was overthrown and there was great disarray. While almost everyone was plundering and gathering things like precious metals and jewels, a general gathered maps and information, and a clerk gathered grains.

Shortly afterwards when a civil war broke out, the general's maps and information led his army to victory, and the clerk's grains became more valuable than gold, due to the famine cause by the war.

Some situations warrant being slow and careful, and other warrant using haste.

When it comes to the love of beauty, or the desire of wealth and honor, people move forward and do not necessarily act in regards to what others do. And righteousness is the best thing there is. So why should one need to follow others to do it?

Through this time and history, there have been appearances made by all kinds of people for varying lengths of time.

The best security is in adhering to Tao.

It is wrong to expect a great deal of yourself while not putting yourself in a condition to achieve great things.

People oftentry to make a virtue of the vices that they are unwilling to correct.

Do not endeavor to hear everything said about you.

Dare to be different.

Do not deflect from righteousness in order to accommodate to others.

Nature is a gift we can give ourselves every day. Listen to nature's voice. It contains treasures for you.

In almost every case where two friends from youth meet again when they are old and have been separated for a lifetime, the main feeling they will have at the sight of each other is one of complete disappointment at life as a whole. Their thoughts will be carried back to that earlier time when life seemed so fair as it lay spread out before them in the rosy light of dawn, and then promised so much, and then performed so little. This feeling will be so strong that it will predominate over any other feeling, and will not even need to be put into words, but will silently assumed by both people, and will form the foundation of almost everything they will talk about.

The football team that often gains a lot of yards but rarely scores touchdowns is seldom an effective offense.

People are often deceived more from their wanting to be deceived

Many claim to be a genius for others, but few demonstrate genius in their own lives.

By veiling your ambition with something viewed by the world as noble, you can make incredible regress in the world.

People are often are keen on believing what they know is false. Why? Because this way they do not have to think for themselves, and take the responsibility for what they know.

A person should be judged not only on how he deals with problems and controversies, but also how he deals with things going right, and how he prevents problems.

The superior person can be enthusiastic and exited and also calm and composed.

Most people do not consider much beyond their own limited range of experience, and think that there is almost nothing outside of themselves.

History books are filled with wars, bills, and proclamations, but more history is made by secret deals, people's needs and self-interests, and trivial events.

An idea that is the only idea a person has-that is usually a dangerous idea.

A bad idea can be remedied by a better idea.

When someone you like changes his mind, you often think, "He has the wisdom to change." When someone you do not like changes his mind, you usually think, "What a hypocrite."

People can be rented but not bought.

Two men were journeying together. One of them picked up an axe that lay upon the path, and said, "I have found an axe."

The other replied, "Nay, my friend, do not say 'I,' but 'We' have found an axe."

They had not gone far before they saw the owner of the axe pursuing them, and he who had picked up the axe said, "We are undone."

The other replied, "Nay, my friend, keep to your first mode of speech. What you thought right then, think right now. Say 'I,' not 'We' are undone."

A donkey congratulated a horse on being so ungrudgingly and carefully provided for, while he himself had scarcely enough to eat and not even that without hard work. However, when war broke out, a heavily armed soldier mounted the horse, and riding him to the charge, rushed into the very midst of the enemy. The horse was wounded, and fell dead on the battlefield. Then the donkey, seeing all these things, changed his mind, and commiserated the horse.

There are almost an innumerable number of historical accounts where people who were considered wicked later become recognized as good, or people who were considered as good later became recognized as wicked.

In all these cases, the people's actions stayed the same, but they were called one thing for it before, and then called the opposite for it later.

If a person is inconsiderate when it comes to minro things and ordinary situations, there's a good chance he's that way in general, only he might artfully hide that trait when it comes to major and noticeable things.

A person moves with two feet, a dog moves with four, a millipede moves with multitudes of feet, a snake moves with no feet at all, and the wind moves without any bodily means of progression.

A rich nobleman opened the theaters without charge to the people, and gave a public notice that he would handsomely reward any person who invented a new amusement for the occasion.

Various public performers contended for the prize. One of them was jester known for his jokes, who announced that he would bring a unique kind of entertainment. A huge audience showed up to see his show.

The jester went on to the stage alone with no apparatus, and the crowd watched silently with great anticipation. He then bent his head towards his chest and imitated the squeaking of a little pig so admirably with his voice, that the audience was sure that he had a pig hidden under his coat, and demanded that it be taken out. When that was done and nothing was found, they liberally rewarded him with cheers and applause.

A countryman in the crowd, observing all that has passed, said, "So help me, Hercules, he shall not beat me at that trick!"

He made an announcement that he would duplicate the jester's trick, but in a much more natural way.

So, the next day, another packed crowd showed up at the theater, not just to see the jester they were now so fond of and favored so much, but also intent to ridicule the countryman.

So both of the performers appeared on the stage. The jester then grunted and squeaked away, and just like the day before, he was rewarded liberally with the applause and cheers of the spectators.

Then the countryman commenced. With a little pig concealed beneath his clothes that the audience did not notice, the countryman pulled on the pig's ear, causing it to squeak loudly. However, upon hearing this, the crowd unanimously cried out, "The jester gave a far more exact imitation," and then they clamored for the countryman to be kicked out of the theater!

On this, the countryman then produced the little pig from his cloak, and showed by the most positive proof the greatness of their mistake.

"Look here," he said, "this shows what sort of judges you are."

A wise man, observing all that happened, remarked, "People often applaud an imitation and hiss the real thing."

AN interest in the other person or an escape from loneliness.

A moneymaker's wisdom is ususally overrated.

Real motives are usually concealed.

If all people thought alike, the world of human interaction wouldn;t be too pleasant. Have an appreciation for diversity.

You can respect the past, but you cannot actually find the present or the future in the past.

Rarely can you complete victory by adhering 100% to a plan. A person is what completes victory.

The superior person is more satisfied with his righteousness in opinion than he is concerned with seeking to make converts to it.

The factors that determine who will win are: embodiment of Tao, advantages based on the environmental conditions and fluctuations, advantages based on the terrain and its characteristics, skilled general, rigorously enforced discipline, organization, communication, synergy, use of paths, use of finances and resources, strength, quality training, constancy in conferring rewards and handing out punishments, and method selection.

Figure out the danger zones. Survey the terrain. Use rewards to encourage the people. Institute a clear system of rewards. Use punishments to stop problems and make people respect authority. Use planning to organize people. Use momentum to keep people motivated. Use strategy to encounter your opponent while he is vulnerable. Use deception to thwart your opponent.

Make calculations based on conditions, measurements, and estimations.

Time is precious and preparation is vital. Do whatever you can to utilize time and get ahead. Do not dissipate energy. Utilize supply management.

Avoid having to abandon an advantageous spot just because you need to go back and get supplies that he should have brought with you in the first place.

To assess when to encounter, take into account whether the opponent is open to attack, whether you are in a condition to attack, and whether conditions make an attack suitable for you.

Determine when to fight based on your opponent's condition. Avoid him when he is spirited, energetic, and in proper communication. Attack him when he is sluggish. Stay calm and disciplined. Wait for the opponent to become disordered, confused, drained of energy, and weakened.

Size up the opposition. Do not misjudge the opponent. Do not make any assumptions. Do not overestimate or underestimate the opponent.

Do accredit the opponent with strengths he does not have. Do not concede the opponent gains he has not earned.

Do not attack an opponent where he is well set up.

Attack where the opponent is unprepared. Appear where you are not expected.

Appear at points where the opponent must expend lots of energy and resources to defend. Rapidly march to places where you are not expected and the opponent is not ready for you.

Look for your opponent's vulnerable spots.

Ensure that you attack where there is no defense.

Emerge from the void. Attack places that are undefended. Hold positions that cannot be attacked.

Let your self, your plans, and your methods avail and be regulated and modified by the infinite variety of circumstances and conditions. They are not constant. Work out victory according to them, like the way that water shapes its course according to the nature over the ground over which it flows. Go over and beyond the ordinary rules. Do not repeat the exact same tactics just because they have gained you one victory.

Avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak, like the way water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

Attack unguarded spots.

Do not enter a field of battle where your opponent has raised preparations and fortified himself.

Take advantage of moods your opponent is inclined to. Endeavor to make him careless and leave openings.

Perseveringly adapt to the opponent and his purpose, until you can determine when to take the decisive encounter and foil him. Time his arrival. If he makes himself vulnerable, capitalize.

Be coy until the opponent gives you an opening, and then be rapid, and it will be too late for the opponent to oppose you.

Do not advance uphill against the opponent. Do not take on an opponent when he is coming downhill.

Make your goal victory, not lengthy battles.

On one hand there is stupid haste. On the other hand, delay and long battles can also cause problems.

If you can win without encountering, through low-risk tactical positioning, then by all means do so.

Make things according to your advantage and control, beginning with the most beneficial advantage first.

Be subtle and secretive. Be invisible and inaudible. Do let the opponent know what is coming at him. Make alterations and variations in order to keep him without definite knowledge about you.

Vary your mode of action. Do not always do things the same way, or else your opponent might recognize the uniformity, and be able to anticipate and frustrate your designs.

Maintain deceitful appearances based on how the opponent will act, in order to bait him into bad positions.

Those skillful at offense are those whose opponent does not know what to defend. Those skillful at defense are those whose opponent does not know what to attack.

Establish harmony and synergy throughout your forces.

Put yourself in a position that makes you impenetrable to being defeated by the enemy. Then wait for and seize an opportunity to defeat the enemy.

Prepare yourself. Then wait to take the opponent unprepared.

Defense is security against defeat, and ability to protect oneself. Offense is ability to defeat, and to make victory complete.

Do not be excessively fixed on offense or defense.

Do not assume that your opponent will not attack.

Be prepared for any of his dominant aspects.

Do not swallow bait offered by the opponent.

Do not fight where you are greatly outnumbered.

Do not allow your enemy to be unified and well-organized.

Only split up your forces when it is to your advantage to do so.

Know but avoid being known.

Keep your force concentrated and secretive. Make your opponent have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points. This will give you numerical strength against his numerical weakness.

If he strengthens his front, he will weaken his rear. If he strengthens his rear, he will weaken his front. If he strengthens his left, he will weaken his right. If he strengthens his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will be weak everywhere.

Make your united superior force taken on your opponent's sectional inferior force.

Drive a wedge between your opponent's front and rear. Prevent cooperation between his divisions. Hinder his good troops from rescuing the bad. Hinder his officers from rallying his people. Keep him in disorder.

Make a forward move when it is to your advantage. When otherwise, stop still.

If an orderly and strong opponent is approaching you, then seize something he holds dear.

Make your opponent frustrated, doubtful, spiritless, careless, and unconfident. Break his will. Make his mind your weapon. Give him ways to submit and become self-defeating.

Use the science of weak points and strong points give your army a tremendous force and advantage.

Properly use both direct / common and indirect / uncommon maneuvers to your benefit. Join battle with the former, and secure victory with the latter.

Effectively applied indirect tactics are unending. The direct and the indirect combine to give rise to an endless series of maneuvers having an inexhaustible number of possibilities of their combination.

The skillful tactician is like the shua-jan snake. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail. Strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head. Strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by both its head and tail.

Pick out the right people and utilizes the effect of combined energy. Use each person according to his capacity. Do not expect each person to be fit for everything. Do not require too much from an individual.

Carefully study the well-being of your people. Do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength.

Institute a system of rewards. Let your people know that they have much to gain from winning. Bring the proper emotion out of them. Distribute gains among them. Keep them encouraged. Make them experience firsthand that their effective actions are being rewarded.

Make your soldiers know that winning is a must, not an option.

If you punish them before they've grown attached to you, or if you neglect to punish them after they've grwon attached to you, they won't be sumbmissive and useful.

Therefore, treat soldiers in the first instance with humanity, but keep them under control by means of iron discipline.

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys, and stand by you even unto death.

However, if you are lenient but unable to make your authority felt, kind-hearted but unable to enforce your commands, and incapable of quelling disorder, then your soldiers will be spoiled, and useless for most practical purposes.

When the general is weak and without authority, when his orders are not clear and distinct, when there are no fixed duties assigned to the soldiers, and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter disorganization.

Institute clear organization and communication among your forces, and you can fight with any army under your command, whether large or small.

Do not make commands of your people if you know they cannot obey.

Don't treat everything the same way.

Recklessness is wrong, but so is cowardice.

If you are in a great position to fight and your enemy wants to avoid you, then attack him in a place that he has no choice but to respond to.

If you are not in a position to fight and you want to prevent your enemy from engaging you in battle, then throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

Force your enemy to reveal himself and his vulnerable spots.

Carefully compare the opposing army with your own. Know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

Properly blend and harmonize the different elements of your team and force.

In tactical maneuvering, turn the devious into the direct, and turn misfortune into gain.

Do not move unless you see an advantage for doing so.

Do not use not your troops unless there is something to be gained.

There are roads that must not be followed, times when opponents must not be attacked, towns that must not be surrounded, positions that must not be contested, and commands of the sovereign that must not be obeyed.

Be quick and compact like the wind. When you need firmness, be like a mountain. When you are raiding, be like fire.

Make your plans dark and impenetrable like the night. Make your moves fall like a thunderbolt of lighting.

Rapidity is essential, but so is pondering and deliberating.

Never stop or stay in a vulnerable or dangerous position.

Make effective use of allies whenever opportunities present themselves.

Observe signs and movements.

Figure out a way to utilize captured soldiers of your opponents.

Do not press a desperate foe too severely. When a person is desperate and cornered, he will resort to almost anything.

Cultivate your resources.

Do not get too caught up in the labels of the people's common report.

Assess difficulties and danger.

Pay attention to the natural formation of the country.

Know people's motives before you enter alliances with them.

Make use of local guides in order to turn natural advantages to account.

Hostile armies may fight for years striving for the victory that is decided in one day.

Spend money to gain valuable information from external sources.

Do not do what your opponent expects or wants.

Do not continuously panic.

Conglomerate when you should conglomerate. Divide when you should divide.

Fill when you need to be full. Empty when you need to be empty.

Takes the direct course when you ought to take the direct course. Take the indirect course when you ought to take the indirect course.

Be rapid when you need to be rapid. Be slow when you need to be slow.

Relax when you should relax. Exert yourself when you should exert yourself.

Moving from the defensive to the offensive is one of the most delicate operations of battle.

Endeavor to profit from every turn of events.

Seize those few, rare, precious, favorable moments.

Offense is a component of defense, and defense is a component of offense.

Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel, but it is the nonexistence-the emptiness in the center hole-that allows the wheel to function. Clay is molded into containers, but it is the nonexistence-the empty hollowness inside-that makes the containers useful. Material is cut and arranged in order to make houses, but it is the nonexistence-the empty space inside of the houses-that makes the houses useful. We work with what exists, but to experience them as useful we must use what does not exist.

I am careful like people in winter crossing a river. I am alert and prudent like people in enemy territory. I am elusive like melting ice. I am simple like an uncarved block of wood. I am vacant like a valley.

In general social conversation, avoid using too many 'close-ended' questions and answers-i.e. those that cannot spurn further questions and answers, or can be responded to with just a 'yes' or a 'no.' It is better to incorporate 'open-ended' questions and answers.

Communicate in ways that appeal to people's emotions, and/or trigger visualizations in their mind.

repeat what someone else says in a away that invites further

it's generally best to avoid repetition, but sometimes repetition is required to stand your ground or to imbed an idea in someone's mind.

You can create a feeling of closeness when communicating with another if you use the word 'we,' or if you bring up an experience that you shared with a person.

The desire to display more emotion than one feels taints style.

It is frustrating to hate losing and fear winning.

Do not waste your energy by presenting yourself with a certain number of options, and then feeling equally guilty or regretful for choosing either of them. If there is another option that is better, including no option, then choose that one. If there are no more options, or there are no more options better than the original ones, choose the best option, and realize that you had to choose one.

What is sucess. If someone sacrificees more for his success than he benefits from it,

A person often has many advantages right in front of her, yet neglects all of them, or only picks the one that has little value. The superior person consistently takes advantage of the highest value advantages, and fills his cart one item at a time. He does not forfeit a greater advantage for a lesser one.

The person who is too busy searching for treasures will have difficulty opening his heart to all the treasures possessed by him.

What does it mean that something exists? What does it mean that existence exits?

There is you existing. There is the rest of the universe existing. There is the concept of existence-the fact that existence exits; that things exist. These are the three basic realities each person is faced with. Is one more significant than the others? What are they?

Having productive thoughts is usually a result of habit more than anything else.

Properly utilizes positive and negative thinking, so that positive thinking yields self-confidence, self-esteem, improved skills, and improved mental strength; and negative thinking yields a wide perspective, especially in foreseeing dangers.

Know your self, recognize yourself, and be immersed by yourself-and you will attain self-mastery.

Meet if halfway. Ripe fruit falls by itself, but it does not fall in your mouth. You do not have to chop down a tree to get is fruit. You do not have to reinvent the wheel.

The past is difficult to deal with. The past is important, and it is out duty to learn from it in various ways. But attachment to the past can cause delusion.

Do not live in the past. To do so is neglecting life and the present.

On one hand, there are times when you need to exercise discretion and not express something, or perhaps even be deceptive. But on the other hand, it is wrong to almost always hold everything inside and barely ever express yourself. Many even lack expressiveness with their own selves.

Expressiveness is important. It is a fundamental aspect of self, and of human emotion.

And limiting oneself to only a select few outlets of expression is not good enough.

What is tough and complex to describe might not be tough or complex to live.

The answers to most of your problems are usually staring you right in the face. So what are you going to do about it? Why act like its not? Why turn away from it? To do so is putting of righteousness.

Do not lose sight of yourself. Sometimes you need to drop yourself to gain yourself. Sometimes you need to change to gain yourself.

Be real. Roll with the moment.

The moment is a very significant thing in our lives. We know it is there. Even our memory is made up of moments, and not minutes, hours, days, etc.

One moment of sincere life can mean so much. Cultivate and live like that, and protect yourself.

Helen Keller was blind and deaf by age two, and was extremely frustrated in her early years because she could not communicate. She later learned to communicate. I think her case shows the important for a person to communicate and express himself, and that it is a fundamental human drives.

It is wrong to say that communication and expression are not really that important. Neglecting communication and expression leads to poor results, including suicide.

Talking a lot and even living a long time do not necessarily indicate that a person is communicating and expressing himself properly and adequately.

I also think it is important to engage in a variety of type of communication and expression. To be fixed on one or two ways-like Emily Dickinson and Friedrich Nietzsche were-is not enough. It is too limited and severe. This is not to say that a person necessarily should endeavor to communicate and express himself in as many ways as possible. After all, we are all unique and have our own certain inclinations towards various types of expression.

Why should someone get too concerned about the things that are not in his control, and neglect the actual things that are in his control? Why should a person carry a burden of worry and regret over something that he cannot do anything about, instead of immediately directing himself towards things he can do something about?

If the imagination and the will come into conflict, the imagination usually wins.

Why have technology and innovation expanded at a faster rate as time went by? I believe this is primarily due to communication and organization, which can build up upon themselves, and thus increase exponentially.

Why were the Europeans who came to the Western Hemisphere in the 1500s able to defeat the Native Americans in war, even despite the fact that on average, the Native Americans were superior fighters?

Is it because the Europeans outnumbered the Native Americans? That is one reason, but I do not think that gets to the root of the matter. After all, Europeans arriving on North American by boat do not seem to have such a usable numbers advantage when facing the many Native Americans already in the Americas.

Is it because of the European's technology advantage? Yet, but I do not think that gets to the root of the matter either.

In fact, I believe that the reason the Europeans had the technology also explains the root cause of why the Europeans defeated the Native Americans; namely-the answer to both of these is organization and communication.

Thus, the superior person utilizes organization and communication.

Challenge your destructive viewpoints with constructive viewpoints, and make consistent reminders of the constructive viewpoints.

If you always have a problem with what everyone else does, then your view of other people is constantly creating problems for yourself.

If you use a narrow and negative mind to see yourself, you will possibly use a narrow and negative mind to see others, and you will almost certainly use a negative and narrow mind to see how others see you.

Accept other people as individuals.

It is difficult to get the real solution if you do not face the real problem.

You are supposed to be prepared for occasional emergencies, not living a continuous one.

Do not praise the greatness of a book that you have never read.

What was a good idea on Tuesday might not be a good idea on Wednesday.

Understanding your reaction to others will help you understand yourself.

Often, it is not the doing of an activity that requires much energy-it is the unnecessary baggage attached to the doing.

How you treat yourself is generally more important than how you treat others, or how others treat you.

Although things and people have an origin, things and people also change.

Think inside and outside of the box.

Short-term goals make long-term goals work. Small goals make big goals work.

Winning, despite having very challenging parts at times, is often overall easier than losing.

We worry about the future most when we do not take care of the present.

Perfectionism can rob you of your confidence and poise.

Just because you are not perfect, it does not mean that you are worthless.

I live in the present, I move on from the past. I utilize the past in order to learn and develop myself. I do not jump to conclusions.

Cautiousness can be effective, but it depends on what you are being cautious about.

Your own thoughts are more important to you than other people's thoughts.

Other people's thoughts only exist to you in the sense of you perceiving their thoughts.

A secure person will not look down at himself just because others are looking down on him.

Acknowledging and identifying a problem can be a very effective step in solving a problem.

It is difficult to do today's work at the same time you are planning tomorrow's work.

Why should a person want to force everyone into his way of thinking in all aspects? Even he succeeded in doing it, wouldn't it make the world a boring place? The superior person is tolerant, and appreciative of the difference in people.

Just because you choose to shave daily, it does not mean that you should get mad at your neighbor for having a beard.

The game that you start out terribly can end up being your best performance ever if you follow through and maintain your poise.

Accepting that you are not perfect will get you a lot closer to perfection.

If you are absolutely terrified of making even the smallest and most inconsequential mistake, then you will probably end up making a big one. Be more concerned with avoiding significant mistakes than insignificant ones.

Learning a new skill, being creative, or getting exposure to new things are all great ways to enhance the mind's fitness.

You can win because of fear, and you can lose because of fear.

You cannot be everything. You cannot do everything at once.

One person cannot possibly answer correctly for everyone.

It is fine to have your own opinion, but it is important to acknowledge that other people have their own opinions, too.

A lot of people act surprised that others have different opinions than them.

Knowing is important, but applying what you know is often more important than knowing.

If you are doing something, do not overdo it.

Deal with matters in the proper succession.

No one's opinion has the power in and of itself to supercede your self-belief.

Matching the right action for the right situation is a valuable skill, and sometimes the right action is no action.

Do not do something that does not need doing.

Being spontaneous is everything, and so is being planned and prepared.

Sometimes when things get too easy, certain people get in the bad habit of sabotaging themselves.

Different people have different goals, different ideas, and different perspectives.

Do not defend something that does not need defending.

What you do not finish off can come back and haunt you.

Base your actions only on what is right, and not on other people's approval and disapproval. People's approval and disproval are not necessarily indicators of what is right and wrong.

The past is usually overrated.

A good offense can be a valuable component of a good defense, and vice-versa.

If things did not go perfectly, that does not mean that everything went wrong.

There are more variables in life than there are in sports. In baseball, its three strikes and you are out. In life, sometimes you can swing as much as you want, sometimes you can wait for hundreds of pitches until you get the one you want to swing at, sometimes you only get one pitch, sometimes you are the only player on the team, sometimes there is no opposing pitcher, sometimes you will have two balls thrown at you at the same time, and sometimes you will show up for a game but there will not be a game to play.

Thinking big is fine, but trying to do too much in too little time can cause an excessive performance anxiety.

Dig deep, and you will make breakthroughs.

Today's hero can be tomorrow's goat, and today's goat can be tomorrow's hero.

You have a right and duty to be the unique person that is you. You have a right to draw on whatever sources you need to fulfill this right and duty.

Being somewhat accurate is much different than being very accurate. On one hand, sometimes a high degree of accuracy is very important. On the other hand, it is wrong to waste efforts on being very accurate on something that does not need a high degree of accuracy.

Many people have missed out on great achievements in fear of looking ridiculous.

Even if you have political freedom and financial freedom, it does not necessarily mean that you have emotional freedom.

My not-trying is trying, my trying is not-trying, my trying is trying, and my not-trying is not-trying.

In the long run, accurate and regular communication is more effective than force.

Most people neglect to actually ask for what they want.

If your major business is making fun of others, then you are making a mockery of yourself.

Even if it is the sunniest day of the year, you will not get any sunlight unless you are in the sunlight.

What we are searching high and low for might be right in front of us.

Do not take everything on all at once.

Too much self-doubt can cause you to try to force things you should not force.

If you view the world through a self-limiting perspective, then change your perspective of the world.

What appears hidden and far away might be unhidden and close.

One good action is better than all the world's good but unused teachings and intentions.

Understand that other people have habits.

To deal with your bad feelings, put them in the context of the big picture.

Adapt and live life the way it is meant to be lived, and not according to rigid ideas.

Sometimes a person's childhood environment demands too much perfectionism of them and excessively criticizes them, which some children respond to by becoming totally terrified of making even small mistakes, which often discourages them from having a healthy expression of feelings, and / or often lessens their skill as asserting themselves.

Many people worry and regret and feel guilty about certain actions, yet they often repeat the same behavior. Either realize that you did not make as severe an error as you thought you did and thus erred in feeling worriful and regretful and guilty, or realize that you need to change your behavior to avoid making the same mistake.

Acknowledge that you do not want to be harmed.

Do not try to chew on your next mouthful of food while you are chewing your current mouthful of food.

Have constructive responses to things.

I am a real person.

Treat the beneficial as beneficial, treat the unbeneficial as unbeneficial, and treat the harmless as harmless.

Imagine a person is nice and benefits from it, and then he concludes that it is always beneficial to be nice. And imagine that a person is mean and benefits from it, and then concludes that it is always beneficial to be mean. Either way is wrong, because either way does not deal with the pressing needs of circumstances. It is better to allow one's actions to correspond with the proper circumstances at one time. Thus we cannot conclude that niceness is an ideal behavior or meanness is an ideal behavior, because holding to one point does not account for applying the right action to the right circumstance.

If a tree fall is the forest, and every person and animal in the world is deaf, then does the tree make a sound? I say yes. I believe that to think otherwise is a result of having a limited perspective.

Do not use your weaknesses to hamper your strengths.

Recognize others and have a sense of affinity and benevolence, but also live in your own selfish viewpoint.

People are by nature selfish, yet they act too wobbly on this subject and do not acknowledge their need for selfishness. It would be better for one to know that he is selfish.

Is there a limit to a person? I do not know the answer to that, but I feel that most of the time, it is more of a conceptual matter than a useful one. If we just cultivated the tremendous good that is available to be utilized at this moment, we would literally astound ourselves. It is more important to cultivate this good than to assign a conclusion as to whether there is a limit.

Do not embrace unrighteousness and resist righteousness.

Self improvement is the most noble of focuses, yet is can be inauspicious if it becomes to fixed on such a perspective of "I need to become."

Existence does not make sense. Does sense make sense?

Some people are always having work and construction done on their house, and constantly complaining about the annoyances that go with the construction. This is like setting your own self up for a trap.

We can cultivate positive things from our past, but we can never go back to the past.

I use the wisdom I have in certain areas of life in order to overcome and eliminate the foolishness I have in other areas of life. I do not use the foolishness I have in certain areas of to overcome and eliminate the wisdom I have in other areas of life.

I overcome negative forces. Negative forces do not overcome me.

There is a difference between trusting yourself to evade danger and trusting yourself to endure danger. For instance, trusting yourself to make decisions to stay out of the way of bullets is different than standing in the way of bullets and trusting yourself to not let them harm you if they hit you.

Many people who are too demanding of themselves often devote too much energy to the wrong things.

People's view of a champion is often clouded by the champion's excellence. And so, they often notice trivial excellence or even the non-excellence of the champion, and consider that as his main excellence.

Understanding others contributes to your own inner peace and safety.

Prioritize protection of yourself over other people's opinions, and even over your own opinions.

Eat the food you are eating now instead of the food that you are about to eat.

In order to avoid a very minor and inconsequential misfortune, people sometimes expose themselves to the big risk of some very serious misfortune.

An important part of understanding others is to understand what they do not understand about you.

The main motivator of people is fear. At the root of fear, the main motivators of people are: 1. self-interests and self preservation 2. self-esteem and the desire to feel good about oneself 3. the desire to express oneself and to communicate 4. the desire to be known, appreciated and esteemed by others 5. the desire for sex 6. the desire for human interaction 7. the desire for a supreme feeling of personal empowerment (includes the desire for challenges) 8. the desire to avoid boredom 9. the desire to avoid what is really painful

If you appeal more than one of someone's emotions at once, it will probably leave him confused and overwhelmed.

A single word or gesture done at the right time can have an amazing effect.

Let people know you appreciate them.

Most of life phenomenon is in cycles. For instance, you eat, and then you get hungry, and then you eat, and then you get hungry, and so on. If you eat all the time, you will not get hungry. If you are hungry all the time, you are not eating.

You have right to investigate and use your own brain to think, rather than accepting and believing prevailing widely known "facts."

The lesser person walks in dangerous paths, looking for lucky occurrences.

Purity bring power and strength.

Sycophancy is not kindness. Impertinence is not necessarily sincerity.

People seldom forgive those who make them blush.

Just as a young ram that is raised and treated well to provide food for a guest, and will live as long as no guest comes, but will be killed once a guest arrives; so also does the person who sins and courts unrighteousness only gain a hellish existence.

There are plenty of instances where two people live a long time knowing each other as friends, and never interact with each other from their souls openly with sincerity.

Different people seek joy in different way by different means.

Self-forgiveness is needed for joy.

Be wealthy enough to fulfill your needs.

Forsake your faults.

Do not have too many desires, but still have variety in your life. Variety is conducive to one's nerves, health and joy.

The lesser person, in vain attempt to be happier than others, is often more miserable than most people.

It is a joy to know what you cannot change.

Much of the misery of the world comes from people's not going straight at things.

There is a joy in thinking interesting thoughts.

Even the people that the world considers successful often have few days of real joy.

The lesser person views the world as the limits of his own view.

It is almost always better to use time on the current problem than on fretting over the past.

Do not enter every fight.

Know when to retreat.

Forgive, but do not forget. Let go of the past.

Action is a much greater kind of help than advice.

It is better to reveal someone his own riches than to share yours with him.

It is easier to visit friends than to live with them.

When someone asks for an opinion, they almost always prefer praise more than objectiveness.

Most people view friends primarily as a way to flatter their own self-love.

Decide to do things based on whether you are sure of yourself, not on whether others are sure of you.

What you think about yourself is much more important than what others think about you.

He who masters himself is the conqueror of conquerors.

Belief is half the battle.

You gain time when you stop paying so much attention to people's opinions, and instead are motivated and concerned with doing what is right.

Do not sell your days for money.

Do your daily duties.

Always endeavor to choose the best way. If it is difficult, custom will make it easy.

Prefer dreams of the future over history of the past.

The only history that is valuable is the history that you make now.

We must live now, in this universe.

The lesser person adheres to a way of life not suitable to his te, and thus hampers his self-development.

Accept life as it is.

Live up to your opportunities.

Make the most of your resources.

There is such thing as something for nothing.

Do not demand too much or too little of yourself.

To seek excellence-isn't this invigorating? To seek perfection-doesn't this open the door for possibilities?

Do not get caught up in superficial standards and time wasting.

A prudent calculated risk is not the same as a bad risk.

Sarah Doherty

What people obtain too cheaply, they esteem to lightly.

Confessing evil is the first beginning of virtue.

No one can take the superior person's heart.

The lesser person continues to want things he does not try to attain.

Start and continue what you should start and continue. Stop what you should not do.

To know what to fear and what not to fear-this is courage.

What you do when you do not know what to do

An ounce of performance is worth a ton of promises.

Live instead of watching yourself live.

Avowing a mistake or fault is in and of itself a kind of victory.

If you make a mistake, do not mistakenly claim you did not make a mistake.

The person who acts with sincerity, who keeps it real, who abides by righteousness, who protects himself, and who does not thwart himself-even if the world does not say he is a success, I say he is.

The ideally virtuous person cares not about money, compliments, or vanity.

The greatest inventor of all is accident.

Most failures are caused by lack of self-trust.

When karmas enter the soul and bond to it, bondage of soul happens.

Stop karma influx with right faith, right knowledge, and right actions.

Karma is a special category of matter.

Not perceptible

Medium-of-motion

Medium-of-rest / non-motion

space (medium of room)

time

soul (realization of 3 jewels, austerities, energy, and its manifestation)

Perceptible

matter (sound, darkness, luster, etc.)

Right conduct destroys karmas.

9: soul, non-soul, binding of soul by karmas, punya, papa, what causes the soul to be affected by sins, being watchful and preventing what causes the soul to be affected by sins, annihilation of karma, liberation

Self-control stops influx of karmas

Believe in the soul

Believe in the world.

Karma is caused by attachment, non-makoto, greed, wrong belief

L. Mahavira and his teachings 110.B, 111.1, 2

Believe in righteousness, accept it, practice it, comply with it, study it, understand it, and abide by it.

Avoid vulgar people.

Do not do the wrong kinds of things. Do the right kinds of things.

The superior person loves learning and loves discipline. The lesser person hates learning and hates discipline.

Give up attachments that enslave people.

It is better to accumulate other people's bad opinions, than expose yourself to a much more significant danger.

A problem with perfectionism or excessive effort is that it can cause a person to turn away advantages.

It is common for a person to sacrifice over 95% of his own life's authenticity in order to satisfy other people's petty and trivial demands, opinions, and biases.

Satisfy your enjoyment more than your vanity. The superior person satisfies himself more than his vanity. The lesser person satisfies his vanity more than himself.

The superior person is eager to play and learn, just like a child is.

Do not neglect the present or the future.

I dare to be different.

Analects 4:2-jen or no jen?

Understanding the Koran.

Holman Quicksource Guide to Understanding the Bible

TT Ching Hackett

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know other people's strength and weaknesses. Do not overgeneralize.

Is there a limit to a person? I do not know. But in truth, the answer to that is more of a conceptual matter than a useful one. If a person just cultivated the tremendous good that is available to be acquired at his moment, he would literally astound himself. It is more important to cultivate this good than to assign a conclusion as to whether there is s a limit.

Use people's names on the phone.

Have unique responses to others rather than insincere preplanned responses.

A single word, gesture, or action at the right time / moment can have an amazing effect.

Use power words.

Here are some good methods to manipulate others: Speak in religious like chants and hymns. Use eloquent, pandering language. Employ captivating and powerful body language. Make mesmerizing mannerisms. Institute pressure ploys.

To get a confession, do not give a person room for defense.

The superior person is fearful of what should be feared. He is not intimidated of what he should not be intimidated by.

To do what he should do and not do what he should not do-this is what the superior person does.

To think what he should think and not think what he should not think-this is what the superior person thinks.

To say what he should say and not say what he should not say-this is what the superior person says.

To pay attention to what he should pay attention to and not pay attention to what he should not pay attention to-this is what the superior person attends to.

To perspective do what he should do and not do what he should not do-this is what the superior person does.

Just as a boxer adjusts to his conditions and opponents, so also does the superior person adjust to his conditions and his foes.

Just as a person climbing steps climbs the current step he is on, so also does the genuine person live in the present moment.

Even a viewpoint that is best for one moment can be held on too long and become a destructive viewpoint for another moment.

Just as you should be aware of a salesman who is trying to sell you something you are better of without, so also should you

The miserable rarely have anything good to say about anything, unless they are trying to protect their own vanity.

Assumptions cause karmas.

Delusions case karmas.

A path of purification is treaded and achieved by a person' s own efforts.

Right faith, right knowledge, and right actions pursued simultaneously are the path to liberation, like a ladder where both sides and the rungs are all needed, and each rung is like a stage leading to liberation.

Life's goal is to conquer oneself, purify the soul, and experience the true characteristics of infinite faith, knowledge, energy, and bliss.

Rigid programmed knowledge is one-perspectived. Learning should be wide-ranged.

Personality / expressiveness / self-respect / assertiveness / poise/ composure

Independent Publisher Magazine

Reference Book Review

I only do what is right right now.

Do not neglect self-expression.

If you have been doing wrong actions, stop doing it right now. Do not just feel guilty about it-stop doing it.

Two ladies were talking to each other.

One said, "How is your daughter Rebecca?"

The other replied with a happy expression, "Fantastic. She has a really fabulous husband. He does not make her clean and cook. She sleeps until noon, and her maid serves her all day. She goes shopping and eats at fine restaurants, and wears the most exquisite clothing."

Her friend then asked, "And how is your son Jonathan doing?"

"Oh," she replied with a mean look on her face. "He is married to one of those fancy women who takes advantage of men. She does not do anything all day-that good-for-nothing. She sleeps until noon. She has a maid do everything for her. She never cooks or cleans. And she spends all of my son's money on her shopping and eating at fine restaurants!"

A real estate agent was trying to sell a summerhouse to a man. The agent said, "This home is surely something special. Look at how close it is to the river. It is almost as if you are right on the river. If you want the best, you must get this house."

"Well," said the man, "what is so good about being near the river?"

"What is so good!" the agent exclaimed. "I do not even know where to begin! You will have a magnificent view of the river. Your whole family can bathe and swim in it. You can wash your laundry in it. You can fish in it. And you can row in it!"

The man countered, "But what if the river starts flowing too high and washes away the house?"

"What are you talking about!" the agent quickly answered. "I mean, just look at how far this house is from the river!"

A great city was besieged, and its inhabitants were called together to consider the best means of protecting it from the enemy. A bricklayer earnestly recommended bricks as affording the best material for an effective resistance; a carpenter, with equal enthusiasm, proposed timber as a preferable method of defense; and a currier said that hides and leather would be the best material for resistance.

Do not be a liar.

Thoughts and conduct that purify the mind and soul also annihilate karmas.

Do not put off righteousness. Do not put off obliterating karmas and stopping karma influx. Tread the path of righteousness as soon as possible.

Aim for liberation of the soul.

Have a good personality with equanimity.

Invoke confidence in others.

Travel the spiritual path, and climb the stages of spiritual evolution.

Desire the right things, and do not desire the wrong things.

Care about safety first, and then about authenticity and liberation.

Help children in need.

Often eat while standing.

Purify your soul. Keep your soul free from every kind of defileness. Know what causes the bondage of soul, and knowing it, remove it.

The person who can handle his main foes within and obliterate them-he is a hero.

Like one lamp is enough the show the way to a person if his eyes are open, so also a little right knowledge is of great benefit to a person who is purified.

Have friends. Have relations. Have good complexion. Have good health. Have wisdom. Have nobleness. Have empowerment.

Enjoy the unrivalled pleasures of human life at the right time.

Remove, avoid, and leave off vanity, greed, and unauthenticity.

Recognize the sin in the vain, and ceaselessly desire virtue.

Do not do as people generally do if it is wrong. Do as people generally do if it is right.

Just as a person who risks a thousand dollars just for the sake of acquiring one cent, or a person who loses health by eating what he knows will bring him poor health, so also do superficial desires substituted for divine pleasures thousands of times less valuable.

Through penances and austerities, shake off remnants of karmas.

Take care of yourself.

Like merchants pass over the sea, the pious cross over the impassable.

Do not be dominated by others.

Vanity, delusion, greed, carelessness, illness, idleness

Shut the door to evil influx.

Physical austerities and mental discipline eradicate accumulated karmas.

Dissociate yourself with any wrong belief.

Propagate spiritual values by means best suited for the time and place.

Do 100 times more than you watch your self do.

Replace wrong with right. You cannot use wrong to make right.

Occasionally temporarily remove a certain food taste or group from your diet.

Devote about half of your waking hours to study and meditation.

Have right friendships.

Appreciate what is good.

Have freedom from greed.

The self is the cause of liberation.

Combine the purity of a child with maturity of an adult.

Destroy evil.

Practice righteousness as soon as possible.

Superficial deeds and lack of authenticity does not make a person a genuine Nirgrantha

Possessions and wealth cannot release sin of bondage caused by a person's karmas.

Practice self-forgiveness, and do not repeat mistakes.

If one does not stop assumptions, then he cannot obtain purity, and purity is the supreme way of obliterating karmas.

Atone for your sins and misdeeds done through unrighteousness and carelessness.

My real quest and is my diligent pursuit of discipline, self-control, self-study, meditation, righteousness, and ideal virtue.

Right speech is that which produces right conduct.

Virtuous company is conducive to virtues.

Some do good and talk about doing good. Some do good and do not talk about doing good. Some do not do good and talk about doing good. Some do not do good and do not talk about doing good.

The fruit of proper actions is liberation.

The essence of right teachings is right conduct.

The world rewards the appearance of virtue more often than it rewards the virtue itself.

When people hear something straightforward and outright, they will rarely give it much attention, and think it to be shallow. And yet, if it is presented to them with secrecy and obscurity, they will often consider it brilliant and deep! This is foolish! It is as if people would rather be confused than informed!

The people of the world often praise a work that takes many pages to say very little, and that presents information in a way that makes it hard to understand; and they also often dismiss works that do the opposite, and they consider them shallow and un-academic! In fact, many of what the world considers its greatest works of literature are actually works that almost nobody has read, and almost nobody who has read it understands it, and yet almost everybody praises.

And so, if I present a simple idea clearly in a few pages, most people will probably glance at it and not think much of it. And yet, if I hide and scatter that information in a large obscure ambiguous book, and then people devote their time and discover and decipher it with their own diligence, they will consider the book great, and will cherish the information.

People often believe that everywhere and all the time there are all kinds of incredibly big exciting things happening continuously. Is this really true? I do not think so. In fact, the opposite is usually quite true.

Most people are usually just telling stories about the past, and doing things that are rather mundane most of the time. I would guess that even the life of Puffy is mostly filled with ordinary event, or if not ordinary, at least highly repetitious and similar events.

And so, people are often impacted greatly by any example of things that are uncommon or enthusiastic.

My body is in harmony with my heart and mind. My heart and mind are in harmony with my energies. My energies are in harmony with my spirit. My spirit is in harmony with Tao.

My experience and awareness are fully aware. I am not really sure if I perceive things with my senses and body, through my heart and brain, or in my internal organs and gut. It is just a pure experience of things.

Wen Hui's cook was cutting up an ox. Whenever he applied his hand, leaned forward with his shoulder, planted his foot, and employed the pressure of his knee, in the audible ripping off of the skin, and slicing operation of the knife, the sounds were all in regular cadence. Movements and sounds proceeded as in the dance of "The Mulberry Forest" and the blended notes of "The King Shau."

Wen Hui remarked, "It's unbelievable how your skill and method are so perfected!"

The cook put down his knife and replied, "The Way is what this is about. The Way goes beyond skill and method.

"When I first began cutting up oxen, I could see nothing but the entire ox's carcass. After three years, I could see beyond the entire mass, and I could see its distinctions. And now, I deal with the ox through my whole being and spirit instead of with just my eyes.

"My spirit is free since my perception and senses have been transcended. Observing the natural lines, I put my knife through the great crevices and slide it through the great cavities, taking advantage of things as they are. I avoid the ligaments and tendons, and even more so the great bones.

"A great cook cuts, and needs a new knife each year. An ordinary cook cuts rather carelessly, and needs a new knife every month. As for me, I have been using this knife for nineteen years-it has cut up thousands of oxen, but is still sharp as when it first came from the whetstone. There are small interval spaces in the joints. And the blade's edge has no significant thickness-so when you enter such a thin thing into the spaces, it also has plenty of room to easily move about and wander. That is why it is still as fresh as when it first came from the whetstone.

"However, in my cutting, I sometimes come up to a complicated point. That is when I inspect the difficulties and prepare myself, and with caution and prudence, I focus and keep my eyes fixated on what I am doing and working on, and move my knife with delicacy and subtleness. With a slight and sudden movement of the knife, the difficult part comes apart like clumps of dirt crumbling back to earth.

"And then I stand there holding my knife in my hand, looking all around me, leisurely content and satisfied, and enjoying my success. And then I wipe my knife clean and put it away."

Wen Hui remarked, "Excellent! Listening to my cook speak, I have learned how to nurture life."

Joe Girard

People usually have inaccurate views of their strengths and weaknesses, and this usually hampers their self-development.

Should it matter if it is transmitted from the past and copied, or if it is cultivated in the present and originated? I say that as it applies to righteousness, it should not.

Should we neglect the new and praise the old just because the former is classic and the latter is not? I say no. Should we be biased towards Shakespeare and biased against a new movie, in order to appreciate the classics? I say no. Should we say that Orison Swett Marden is not as wise as Lao Tzu, solely because Lao Tzu is ancient and Orison Swett Marden is not? I say no.

And on the flipside, should we condemn someone as being unoriginal if he is transmitting and copying? I say no. You do not need to reinvent the wheel. Why condemn Puffy for sampling other songs? Why condemn Bill Gates for purchasing existing software and altering it to fit needs?

View and reference should be made on what it is and if it is right, regardless of whether it is transmitted or newly instituted, and regardless of whether it is copied or originated. To base judgments on anything else is not maximizing the good.

People will often condemn something for being wrong, and yet, if that same thing is increased in number and severity and also is put it in a certain luster, then not only will most people in the world not condemn it anymore, but they also might even go so far as to praise it!

For example, if someone robs someone else, most people in the world will condemn the act. But then take the example of a public robbery, and many people will call it "financial skill" and will not condemn it, and many might even praise it.

Or, if someone murders someone else, most people in the world will condemn the act. But then take the example of offensive warfare and the unjust capture of provinces, and most people will label it "a conquest" or perhaps "an act of self-defense" and will not condemn it, and many might even praise it.

As far as benevolence goes, is there really anything that makes the public robbery or offensive warfare any different from a sum of many robberies and murders? I say there is not much difference. And yet, people praise the individual example, and condemn the multiplied example! How characteristic this often is of humanity!

Or, to give an example not just based on multiples of numbers, this is comparable to a person condemning a woman for lewdness for wearing a short skirt, while not condemning a woman who walks around completely naked! This is comparable to a person calling a little black "black," and then calling a lot of black "white"!

Let cheerfulness in when it appears. Most people hesitate to let it in, because they first want to determine if they have reason to have cheerfulness, or because they fear being bothered by cheerfulness. Cheerfulness is an immediate gain.

Do not become a slave to what other people appear to think. Set limits.

Everything-that-is is comprised of loka (universe_ and aaloka (non-universe). Aloka is formless, eternal , infinite, inactive, and perceivable only by the supreme self-conqerors.

Hsun Tzu's naturalistc view of Tien was like the Taoists view. Han Fei Tzu was on eof Hsun Tzu's pupils.

Truth comes to people firthand, but they rarely realize, and often remain delusional in ther views for a long time.

The past exists in the past, and not the present. Evryone knows that the past cannot travel to the present. SO then, how can anyone say that the present is capable of traveleing.

People who seek the past in the present will not find it.

Contorl your fellings, so that they will accord with the mean.

Nourish your nature. Rectfy your mind.

Many people praise what they do not understand, and condemn what is easily understood.

Soul

Non-soul:

medium-of-motion- formless, inactive, eternal, no matter-like qualities

medium-of-rest

space

time

There are four types of mental activities and speech: true, untrue, partially true and partially untrue, and neither true nor untrue (desires, purposes, inclinations)

Arthantas

Tapas allow one to obliterate karmas, develop self-control, and purify the soul.

Avoid mournful and cruel contemplation.

Eight levels

Eight levels of self-discipline and progress leading to pure activity and liberation:

1. Faint spiritual light

2. Slightly distinct enlightenment

3. More distinct enlightenment, self-restraint, posture control

4. Breath control, focus on spiritual realization

5. Good conduct, capable of deep thinking, withdrawal of sense form external objects

6. Internal concentration

7. Self-meditation, developed power of right discrimination

8. Consummation of development, attainment of pure supreme bliss, gradual annihilation of non-obscuring karmas, freedom form karmas (liberation)

Love your neighbor as yourself, neighbor = Jews

Conquer vanity through modesty.

Conquer greed by contentment.

Do not converse too much with foolish people.

The superior person is devoted to learning. The somewhat superior person is devoted to enjoying good things. The lesser person is devoted to greed, and complaining about trifling things.

The nature of soul is equanimity

Reality can be viewed and understood from various viewpoins or angles.

Character is far superior to status or birth rank. Health is far superior to riches. Learning is far superior to royalty.

Things chase, but the root of the cause of the phenomenon of change is unchanging. The way of the superior person is to understand the root and abide by it.

Analects 14:4 (Taoists say Confucius is the one who knows he cannot succeed, but keeps on trying to do it.

The stage that Hsun Tzu was talking about was what Confucius achieved late in hs life.

Arthur Schopenhauer: manuscript remains in 4 volumes Arthur Hubscher, EFJ Payne

People are often most biased of all when contemplating their own self.

Most people do not reflect. Most people consider thinking a burden. Most people mostly take superficial things seriously. Most people are vulnerable to delusions and fallacies that someone talks them into.

If there is a firefighting team, and the captain himself is the one that transports containers of water and goes to the fire, then he is only doing one person's function, and not much will get done.

But if he uses authority to give orders to the others, then he can reside over many people.

Let me want, do, and achieve what is right. Let me conquer foes. Let me beat challenges. Let me avoid sin.

Give me exoneration for my past bad actions. Give me correction of my present bad actions. Give me protection from my future bad actions.

Let us be at peace. Let people's souls be relaxed. Remove all evil from our path.

When the moon dies every month, let the sin in me die with it. When the moon is reborn each month, let the good in me be reborn with it.

At dawn I am thankful for the good night, and ask for a good day. At dusk I am thankful for the good day, and ask for a good night.

Grant me an understanding heart. Let me see into the hearts of people. Let me know people's strengths and weaknesses. Let me know people's hopes and despairs. Let me know people's successes and failures. Let me know people's need of love and need to love.

Teach me the best way of doing the best thing.

Guide me from everything that threatens my spirit's welfare. Give me patience and steadfastness in adversity. Strengthen my weakness. Guide me through trouble and distress.

Let me know what I ought to know. Let me love what I ought to love. Let me praise what I ought to praise. Let me value what I ought to value. Let me hate what I ought to hate.

Do not let me judge by appearances. Let me recognize based on authenticity

Let me be removed from bad people and companions. Let me associate with good people and good companions.

Grant that I pursue righteousness. Help me have a pure soul.

I avow my sins. I confess my sins.

Let me pursue righteousness all the time. Let me be abide by righteousness and avoid unrighteousness.

Let me destroy accumulated karmas and stop karma influx

Let me be wise from past experiences, and not foolish from them.

Let me make the best use of each moment and opportunity.

Grant me a long life.

Grant me fortitude.

May I have right faith, right knowledge, and right actions.

Show me Tao.

May I love, pursue, and get righteousness.

May I love and respect myself.

I avow what I ought to have thought but did not think, what I ought to have said but did not say, and what I ought to have done but did not do. I atone these, and repent with reparation.

Let this day be righteous.

May I tread the path of righteousness.

Strengthen me and give me power.

Let me free my soul from karmas.

Let me always travel the path of righteousness.

Let me know and appreciate other people's points of view.

Let me control my mind.

Let me not pursue the path of greed.

Let my mind be guided to righteousness.

Guide me on the path of righteousness.

Give me strength to defeat sin.

Let me atone my sins with my own initiative.

I am thankful for the preservation of my life. I am thankful for the joy of living. I am thankful for the powers of my mind and heart.

Let me make righteous adjustments.

Do not let the way of sin drag me down.

Give me a pure soul.

Give me cheerfulness.

May I see the goodness.

Fortify myself from disappointments and disaster.

Give me control over myself.

May my desires never be greedy.

Do not let me feel that I must say something on every subject and every occasion.

Help me to enter into the mind of everyone who talks with me, and keep me alive to the feelings of each one present. Give me a quick perception of the feelings and needs of others and make me eager-hearted in helping them.

May I be piloted by strength.

May I be preserved by power.

May I be instructed by wisdom.

May I be protected by what is safe.

May I be defended by what is shielding.

May I be directed by Tao.

May I be guarded by what stops the snares of evil and the temptations of the world.

By each good action I seek forgiveness for every sin.

I maintain purity of thought, speech, action, memory, mind, and understanding.

I am thankful for the days and nights.

I am thankful for good news.

I am thankful for joys.

Let us not be cast down by wrong.

Let us have right thoughts.

You are blessed and kept.

If a wicked person turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is just and right, he shall save his soul alive.

Keep me in Tao.

Restore my soul.

Lead me in the path of righteousness.

Show me Tao. Teach me Tao. Lead me in Tao.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin.

I acknowledge my transgressions.

Create in me a clean heart. Renew a right spirit within me.

Bless me.

Keep me from evil. Deliver me from evil. Do not let pain be brought to me.

I confess my sins, and cleanse my self from unrighteousness.

Keep us in Tao, not in non-Tao.

Deliver us from evil.

Exercise for reversing spacing: sit still, with all attention focused in the center of your chest, and slowly surrender and realize that instead of looking, you are being observed; instead of hearing, you are being heard; instead of touching, you are being touched; instead of tasting, your are being tasted-so make yourself good tasting. Finally, allow yourself to be breathed.

Shift Focus to Other Person-Forget Ourselves

There are many people who just hold everything inside, and barely ever express themselves, even though it feels so good the few times and few facets of their life that they do express themselves.

Now, surely there are some times we cannot do anything and everything unrestrained and haphazardly. But there is a big difference between that and stifling yourself and almost suffocating yourself everyday, and holding everything in and never being expressive.

And a person can also get the extent that not only do they lack expressiveness in their interaction with other people and the outside universe, but also lack being expressive with their own self. And that is terrible.

Limiting oneself to only a select few outlets of expression is not good enough. It is like being dead. It is incredibly terrible.

I believe that self-expression is one of the most fundamental aspects of being a person, and is a fundamental human emotion.

We want to communicate and express ourselves. When a person severely neglects this for a long period of time, it opens the door for bad things to happen.

Of course, surely we need to be deceptive at times. It is a part of life. But that deceptiveness should only be used for a higher purpose. Being deceptive is sometimes used to help our survival, and that is part of our self-expression. But don't lose sight of yourself.

It might be somewhat tough or complex to describe these things, but it is not tough or complex to live them. It right there and always there, waiting for you to do it.

The answers to most of your problems are usually staring you right in the face.

So what are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it?

You can continuously turn away, but it is right there. It is right there.

You can act like it is not, but where is that going to get you? You are just going to keep putting off life and putting off living.

We need to not lose sight of ourselves.

Sometimes you need to drop yourself to gain yourself.

Sometimes you need to change to gain yourself.

I don't know if there is necessarily a fixed unchanging part of yourself.

Your self is always changing. Roll with the moment. Be real. When you are not, it is painful.

"One moment of sincere life.."

. A lot of people can relate to that. You know what I mean?

The moment is a very significant thing in our lives. We can't really measure it. We know its there.

"We don't remember day, we remember moments."

"One moment of sincere life"

And it is true. Isn't it?

You can just think back to yourself. One moment can mean so much.

Tennessee Williams

One sacred moment. You've got to cultivate that. You've got to live like that. We've got to do right living. And remember to protect yourself.

Its better to lose a minute of your

Does the world owe you anything? I don't know, but you definitely owe things to yourself.

Imagination beats the will. Thus, it becomes clear that we should bid our imagination to our doing.

Everything is an opportunity cost-meaning that for every choice you make, you are turning away another potential choice.

Why have technology and innovation expanded at a faster rate as time went by? I believe this trend is primarily due to communication and organization, which can build up upon themselves, and thus increase exponentially.

Here's another question: Why were the Europeans who came to the Western Hemisphere in the 1500s able to defeat the Native Americans in war, even despite the fact that in general, the Native Americans were superior fighters?

Is it because the Europeans outnumbered the Native Americans? I don't think that gets to the root of the matter. After all, Europeans arriving on North American by boat do not seem to have such a usable numbers advantage when facing the many Native Americans already in the Americas.

Perhaps it was because of the European's technology advantage. Yet I don't think that gets to the root of the scenario. In fact, I believe that the reason the Europeans had the technology also explains the root cause of why the Europeans defeated the Native Americans; namely-the answer to both of these is organization and communication.

Thus, the superior person will utilize organization and communication.

Even if a person does a lot of talking, that does not necessarily indicate he is expressing himself. And if a person lives a lot, that also does not necessarily indicate he is expressing himself. Merely living or talking does not necessarily constitute self-expression.

Think positively. Believe in yourself. You got to do it.

Most people are preparing to live; few are actually living.

All wisdom can be expressed in two phrases: What is done for you-allow it to be done. What you must do yourself-make sure you do it. [Khawwas]

If things are going right, let them be right; if not, make them be right.

Let your good habits be good habits, and eliminate your good habits and convert them to bad habits.

Someone who day by day gains awareness of his deficiencies, and month by month does not forget what he has become proficient in, can really be called a lover of learning. [Tzu Hsia]

We have choices. Major choices, they come to us every once and a while.

Do we imagine the right things for ourselves or the wrongs things?

The universe is giving you a choice. It is the most evident thing in the universe. You always come to the choice.

Now, a lot of people start feeling helpless; for some reason, when they live the experience of life, a lot of people when they get in certain situations, they start thinking that they're helpless. They're not. They are faced with a choice every time. They are constantly faced with choices. They take the better choices or the worse ones.

When a person only starts paying attention to negative feedback, and thinks "This was wrong, this was wrong, that was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong…" then soon a person will think that everything is wrong. And you start feeling helpless, and that is it. You just throw your choice out the door.

But your choice is always there. Don't throw your choice out the door. We must make the right choices. We must believe in ourselves. We must be good to ourselves. We must find the proper path, and utilize every moment.

I'm not saying you have to act so forcefully in your life, and force certain feelings in yourself, or you can't allow yourself to be bored, or contemplate the pointlessness of the universe, or the voidness, or the nothingness, or anything like that. That's not what I am saying.

What I am saying is that

Isn't it strange when an athlete gets a non-major injury or gets an illness, and that the athlete's performance often remains the same? Think about it.

People often bring up the time Michael Jordan had a severe flu and poured in 63 points in a playoff game. Or as another example, think about all the times a football player is limping around in between plays, and then all of a sudden when the play starts he runs over people.

Why does this happen to Michael Jordan and those football players?

It is because they are utilizing more. They have less capacity, but they are using more of it. It is only when they get themselves in the situation of getting the injury or the illness that they allow themselves to utilize so much more. So even with the limp or illness, they are often as good as they ever were. Isn't that incredible?

In 1990, boxer James Buster Douglas had a sever flu-really severe-and he fought Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title-Tyson being a man who was considered invincible at the time.

And Douglas knocked Mike Tyson out!

Even if Douglas was at full strength, everyone would have still been anticipating before the fight that "This guy Douglas is going to get knocked out in one or two rounds." Everyone expected him to be destroyed immediately, and yet we won that fight, he beat the invincible Mike Tyson. James Buster Douglas did that in 1990 in Tokyo Japan with a severe flu.

Now imagine if a person just utilized more in those areas that they have deficiencies, allows all advantages to be advantages, looks in his or her own interest-imagine how amazing that person would be, imagine the foes they would overcome.

We got to utilize everything, without forcing a perfectionist view where we sacrifice the major in order to pursue the insignificant.

**

Don't allow negative things to manifest themselves in you. If something is not right, don't allow it. Don't allow it.

A lot of us just become deluded with all these negatives that accumulated, and we just let it become habitual-and we have forgotten the true sight of ourselves.

If our nature, our expression of what is like to do of what we want to do now, is neglected, and we just sit and we allow some pleasure to happen but we neglect so many more, we start to neglect the greater good. Don't do that. Don't do that. You don't need to turn to these bad things.

Don't forget that you got to respect the individuality.

There is no religion that says you got to live a bad life or cultivate negativity. There is no religion that doesn't consider things sacred.

Even if a religion is based on self-asceticism / discipline / deprivation, it is not geared at actually depriving yourself of the good, of life, of the vital life force, of the vital energy. It is not meant to deprive you of that. It has its own viewpoint of right conduct, but that right conduct is geared at something ultimately positive, the greater good.

Act in your best interest. Be good to yourself. Do only what is right.

Do not neglect yourself. Do not neglect your nature. Do not neglect this moment. Do not neglect the universe. Do not neglect your te-power. Do not neglect the chi.

The Tao that can be described is not the real Tao, the name that can be named is not the real name. [Lao Tzu]

Tao? It is the unnamable. It is the indescribable. But it is everything. It is Tao. The essence is there for you. It is always there. It is always there.

There is so much that we ought to utilize. Utilize it.

A lot of people want to sit there and think, "Can it be done? Can it be done? What is the limit?"

But when you do that, you get too caught up in names, and you neglect the simple act, the Tao.

You have to cultivate al the good that is in front of you, step by step, just do it, just take it, its right there.

You just meet it halfway.

Ripe fruit falls by itself, but it doesn't fall in your mouth. [Chinese Proverb]

You don't have to chop down a tree to get is fruit.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Meet it halfway, and you have found the Path.

We get so use to disguising ourselves

That happens to so many people. Even for people who have met their true nature-they do lose sight of their next true nature for the next moment. It happens, because that it the way the external environment is.

The toughest thing that you will face is probably your relationship with the past. It can be very difficult-for it is so easy to get distraught with it.

On one hand, the past is important, and its out duty to learn form it. There is so much to cultivate from it, there is positivity that can be deduced from it, it is part of our nature to have a perspective of it, and it is part of our human emotion.

But on the other hand, when you get attached to the past, when you cling to the past, that is one of the worst things ever. You pretty much lose. You might win at certain things, but in the greater scope of things you lose when you are attached to the past.

I'm in the present. I move on from the past.

If you cling to the past, you just neglect life. And it happens all the time. It is tough.

And anytime you have any thoughts regarding the past, it cannot be fully accurate. It is a matter of perspective and inaccuracies. Sometimes you complicate what is simple, sometimes you simplify what is complicated.

Every time you look at the past, it is through a tainted inaccurate glass, it is never how you suppose it to be, and you cannot trust it absolutely.

There are some people like Sigmund Freud who take things to an extreme and feel that if you want to solve a problem, you must do an in depth analysis and study of your childhood, etc.

I don't know about that, I can't really say if that has any worth, but everyone needs to work out their own way in relation with the past and let it be constructive and conducive to the proper present mindset, rather than destructive and harmful.

To deal with the past, you've got to deal with it as it is applicable to your own Way.

If you get caught up in delusion, then who knows?

Studies or statistics frequently present themselves as assertions…but they are often far from conclusive.

Acknowledge/ recognize…especially specifics.

Anger, anxiety, guilt, regret, worry…what do they mean?

Mix and match mind & no-mind

Aimless worry is worthless

Self-knowledge, self-understanding

Constructive responses.

Weakness into strength, but also see that some weaknesses might not be as concrete as thought.

Fitting the right action with the right time and the right need is a valuable skill.

Variety is fun.

The person who fails to see that things are a matter of degree _________

If you only experience the suffering of possible misfortunes, but you wallow in that exclusively, that is not very useful at all.

It is a bad habit to always carryings the worries around of certain things subjects that you will never perform, yet not actually doing them-then you are getting the worst of both worlds.

Be More In Touch with Your Feelings

Gradual exposure is cool.

Have Faith.

The Panther.

Finding the cause of the effect

Get on with your life.

Today is happening today.

Emotional balance is fun.

It is easy to look down on others, but it is only effective in some ways and in some situations.

How can you feel that you have someone else totally figured out if you haven't even figured out yourself?

Breathing is one of my favorite activities.

The person who has found balance has conquered his own universe.

Hopefully, you will make the right changes.

The person who thinks with unjustified absolutes will have difficulty looking at the big picture.

New Bill of Rights/ Ten Commandments

My ____ is something that makes me feel good about myself.

Permission/ Allowed

I am a real person

Resilience

Problems can be defined as potential solutions.

Strongest people have problems, too, but they also solve problems, and have fun doing it.

You shouldn't apply one thing to everything.

Change

Balance wound up with loose

Don't Forget "What Went Right"

Many behavior researchers believe that success is often determined by how a person views past experiences and uses them to shape attitudes, beliefs, a self-image, reference thoughts, and ultimately, behavior. And believe it or not, most people focus on their failures, mistakes, frustrations, and rejections almost exclusively, and pay very little attention to their successes. But many behavioral scientists believe that:

To effectively shape your perspective for success, you must consider "what went right" and "what went wrong."

Focusing on the positives of what happened will remind you what types of feelings and behaviors you need to duplicate to succeed, and what it feels like to succeed. It will allow you to continue to find ways that work. It will also help you continuously mold yourself towards this positive behavior. And the more you think about what winning experiences feel like, the more likely that you will continue to behave in ways that you believe will contribute to your success. Orienting your thinking more towards what went right will also prevent you from having an excessively negative-biased viewpoint, and hurting your self image through unbalanced thinking.

Of course, you can also use went wrong can also be an effective tool to determine how to improve. But when it is the only or primary tool a person uses, this can become destructive. Many people get in the habit of making "what went wrong" virtually all they focus on-they become determined to only focus on the faults they made, and leave every experience focusing on what went wrong. This viewpoint can cause someone to:

Feel like no matter what they do, it is wrong.

Feel trapped and helpless, but also continue to feel responsible for everything, and placing the burden and blame of almost everything squeal on themselves

Feel guilty, regretful, and shameful for almost whatever they do.

Start to focus on themselves and why they are inadequate, instead of focus on the process and experience of things.

Become easily intimidated by situations

Continuously replay the negative events in their life, but for the most part fail to learn from them, and to find and implement a positive behavior.

Additionally, people often view what went wrong and often use this to conclude that they are inadequate, and to take themselves out of a process and experience-oriented state of mind, and become primarily focused on subjective measures of performance. This threat of being inadequate might make a person less prone to using what went wrong to come up with a productive behavior to implement.

Obviously, your decision-making should be based on both your positive and negative experiences. But once again, you should consider how effective it is to include what went right when you view events after they happened. Consider this-if a baby who was trying to learn to walk only focused on what she was doing wrong, this would hurt the baby's progress, because she would have no reference point of the right way to walk. But a baby also remembers what it feels like when they are doing something right in their progression and practice-what it feels like to gain better balance.

And another thing-don't jump to conclusions. Success if often a result of both choice and chance. Use common sense, and don't look at superstitions.

Here is one more thing: if you want to think of what could go wrong, use it to make a decision. But once you have made the decision, your thoughts shoul be focused on what will go right. For instance, if you are deciding on whether you should walk on a tightrope between two skyscrapers, that is the time to at least consider what would go wrong (and hopefully, you will decide not to do it!). But if you decide to walk the tightrope, yurt mind should be on success all the way, and not at all on what it would be like to feel.

Avoid Pleasure Resistance

Many people often resist and reject positive and/or pleasureful experiences, not out of caution or the dread of pain, but just for the sake of doing so. This is not surprising considering many world cultures, religions, parental-type influences, and media sources indirectly suggest inaccurate and destructive messages such as:

it is selfish and wrong to be focused on your needs, feelings, and self-interest

you should learn to suppress, discredit, and neglect your needs and feelings

virtually anything and everything in life is about sacrifice

life is mostly negative, and you should reject positive things

there is a group of people who deserve success, pleasure, and good things, and you are not one of them

you should discredit yourself and your experiences, and rely on the logic and

reasoning of everyone else

you should make negativity and failure your way of thinking and your way of life

you must meet up with unreasonable and unbalanced expectations for you, and if

you don't, you almost certainly meet constant disapproval, rejection, criticism, or blame

to be acceptable and moral, you have deny positive experiences

These error-filled and destructive messages often cause people to discredit themselves, and develop pleasure resistance and pleasure anxiety, which psychologist Wilhelm Reich described as "the foundation of the fear of a free, independent way of living." Pleasure anxiety is a bad habit of resisting positive forces, and is characterized by such behavior as:

stopping and suppressing natural urges

moping in feelings of guilt, worry, regret, and shame

always punishing oneself, and then trying to hide from the frequent torment of self-punishment

using only abusive methods as motivational tools, and never using rewarding methods

fearing and being threatened by pleasure

allowing only a few kinds of pleasures, but resisting others

viewing pleasure as a loss of control

living with and being unaware of constant and unnecessary minor pain

living and working mostly to please others

neglecting one's needs, feelings, and self

suppressing love from oneself and others

becoming a perfectionist

becoming excessively pessimistic

only looking for faults and negatives in things and ignoring positives

believing that the only way to be loved is to forfeits ones needs for the needs of another

neglecting to pay attention to oneself, and never being guided by good feelings

neglecting basic, inner, and deep-seated pleasures, and replacing them with excessive reliance on external pleasures like materialism, consumerism, being liked by as many people as possible, drugs, alcohol, and television

becoming a spectator in life instead of a participant

focusing exclusively on achieving, and neglecting the experience of experiencing

finding it hard to enjoy and live in the present moment

never being spontaneous

fearing that the only way to prevent falling apart and being overwhelmed is to always stay tight and restricted

building up chronic physical tension, and hampering blood flow

feeling as if one needs to force himself to do something beneficial, rather than just let it happen because it is beneficial

not granting oneself the freedom to be what they want to be, do what one wants to do, or have fun

Many people have at least some pleasure resistance. It can be remedied. At times it might be difficult, but for the most part is relatively easy and simple. Some keys to overcoming pleasure resistance are:

Develop a more balanced outlook in life.

Begin allowing and harnessing pleasure and positivity, and when your anxiety of pleasure kicks in, realize it, and gradually allow yourself to tolerate the positive feelings and experiences. Step-by-step and day-by-day, you will make progress and begin gain touch with your feelings.

Learn to see the positives and negatives in life

Be in touch with your present self, and don't just robotically do what is expected of you or what will meet the least disapproval from others.

Accept yourself as a person.

Visualize and internally experience positive, successful, and rewarding events occurring in your life

Practice relaxation

Release negativity and excess physical tension

Become experience-oriented, instead of just focusing on doing, achieving, and judging performance levels

Build a reference point of good feelings and success by remembering and recreating great experiences of your past.

Avoid excess anything in your life, and practice moderation in all things.

Review the above false messages that apply to you, and realize that they are faulty and destructive.

Allow yourself to be heard by yourself.

Treat yourself well.

Realize that life is not all about sacrifices.

Don't feel guilty for attending to your needs, feelings, desires, and self-interest.

Realize that you are inherently as deserving of success as anyone else is.

Don't set unbalanced or unreasonable expectations of yourself.

Rely on rewarding measures for motivation more than you do on abusive methods.

Accurately see both positive and negative feedback.

See things as a matter of degree, and as a combination of positives and negatives

Have fun.

You will face great frustration and personal entrapment unless you acknowledge your needs, feelings, and self-interest, and will put you at a disadvantage in almost every situation you encounter, and also make you very easy to be taken advantage of by others.

The more you suppress, discredit, and neglect your needs and feelings, the more y

Instead of trying to change other people, sometimes you should change your reaction to other people.

Understanding your reaction to others will help you understand yourself."

If you always have a problem with what everyone else does, then your view of other people is constantly creating problems for yourself.

If you don't accept others as individuals, then it is unlikely that you will accept yourself as an individual.

If you want to understand others, it helps to understand yourself. If you want to understand yourself, it helps to understand others.

Self-discipline is different from haphazard self-torture."

If you face the real problem, you will get the real solution."

If you are going to think of the worst-case scenario, you should also think of the best-case scenario."

Just because you can't see something in the dark, it doesn't mean that it ceases to exist.

You should not have your emotions tied to having other people agree with you.

Often, it is not the doing that requires energy-it is the unnecessary baggage attached to the doing.

How you treat yourself is generally more important than how others treat you.

It is vain to appreciate diamonds and rubies more than nature and people."

Many hunters have killed their dinner due to their true confidence, and many hunters have become dinner due to their false confidence."

If you are a strong person who used to be weak, it doesn't mean that you are a weak person who went on a journey of becoming strong-it might mean that you originally were neither weak nor strong, and you went on a journey of becoming weak and then becoming strong.

If you carry yourself with authority and conviction, people will most likely believe you are the authority. And if you do it convincingly enough, even you yourself will believe that you are the authority. And for most practical purposes, you will be the authority."

Accept what progress you already have, and get what progress you don't have."

Only do things well if they are worth doing well.

Don't spend two hours on what needs only one minute, and don't spend only one minute on what needs two hours.

It is bad strategy to focus so much on what you don't have, that you neglect to effectively you use what you have. In many cases, just the utilization one's strengths alone can result in the win.

The best learning begins with curiosity."

Little-by-little is often the fastest way of doing something."

Think inside and outside of the box."

Winning, despite having very challenging parts at times, is often overall easier than losing.

We worry about the future most when we don't take care of the present."

Perfectionism can rob you of your confidence and poise."

Just because you are not perfect, it does not mean that you are worthless.

One year of regret does not change even one second of a past event.

I live in the present, I move on from the past. Yet I also utilize the past in order to learn and develop myself. I replay the feelings of doing something positive in order to guide myself towards that good, and experience myself winning. I review the negative actions in order to determine what I should consider avoiding. Yet I don't jump to conclusions.

It's the right time to eat when it's the right time to eat, so eat when it's the right time to eat. It's the right time to rest when it's the right time to rest, so rest when it's the right time to rest. It's the right time to smile when it's the right time to smile, so smile when it's the right time to smile. It's always the right time for timeliness.

Other people's thoughts only exist to you in the sense of you perceiving their thoughts.

The sun sustains life for us now, but if were 50% closer, it would kill us.

Discouragement has killed many dreams that would have gone on to become great achievements.

It is difficult to do today's work at the same time you are planning tomorrow's work.

If you only accept perfection, then you will eventually cause yourself to quit.

You don't need to force everyone into your way of thinking. After all, even if you succeeded in doing it, it would make the world a boring place. Appreciate the differences in people.

The game that you start out terribly can end up being your best performance ever if you follow through and maintain your poise. Relax, stay focused, stay confident, stay in the game, don't panic, stay balanced, have fun.

Accepting that you are not perfect will get you a lot closer to perfection.

It is impossible to do everything at once.

You can't be everything. You can't do everything at once.

If you are absolutely terrified of making even the smallest and most inconsequential mistake, then you will probably end up making a big one. Be more concerned with avoiding significant mistakes than insignificant ones.

One person cannot possibly answer correctly for everyone.

You are living today, not yesterday or tomorrow.

It is fine to have your own opinion, but it is important to acknowledge that other people have their own opinions, too.

A lot of people act surprised that others have different opinions than they do.

Knowing is important, but applying what you know is often more important than knowing.

Climbing Mount Everest is a miracle, and so is eating an apple. Achieving immortality is a miracle, and so is breathing air. The extraordinary is a miracle, and so is the ordinary. Everything is a miracle, so whose to say that you can't have your own miracles?"

Remove the hype before you analyze things.

Companionship is great, and so is solitude.

If you are doing something, don't overdo it."

Deal with matters in the proper succession.

Realize that people barely put any care or thought into at least some if not most of their opinions."

If everyone assumes that everyone else will get the job done and nobody actually does the job himself, then the job will not get done."

Matching the right action for the right situation is a valuable skill, and sometimes the right action is no action."

Anyone can be victorious on a given day, but a true champion is the person who effectively deals with adversity and setbacks.

Don't do something that doesn't need doing.

Don't defend something that doesn't need defending."

Demanding that everybody should always agree with you will strain your emotions.

What you don't finish off can come back and haunt you.

The past is usually overrated.

A good offense can be a valuable component of a good defense, and vice-versa.

If things didn't go perfectly, that doesn't mean that everything went wrong. And if everything did go wrong (which almost never happens), that doesn't mean that everything will go wrong next time. And if everything did go wrong that next time, that doesn't mean that you are a failure as a person."

Other people are free to have their own beliefs, and so are you."

There are more variables in life than there are in sports. In baseball, its three strikes and you are out. In life, sometimes you can swing as much as you want, sometimes you can wait for hundreds of pitches until you get the one you want to swing at, sometimes you only get one pitch, sometimes you are the only player on the team, sometimes there is no opposing pitcher, sometimes you will have two balls thrown at you at the same time, and sometimes you will show up for a game but there won't be a game to play."

Don't make yourself miserable."

You have a right and duty to be the unique person that is you, and you can draw on whatever sources you need to fulfill this right and duty."

Feelings, common sense, and reasoning all deserve at least some attention and acknowledgment."

Share the real genuine sincere you with the world and with yourself."

Everyday, do one day's work, because it is nearly impossible to get away with doing two days work per day, and it is usually not very effective to do just a half a day's work per day."

Even if you think someone else is totally wrong, don't be too intent and stubborn in immediately and automatically waving off his opinion and shouting out in disagreement. This is not just courtesy to another person, it is also courtesy to yourself.

Sometimes you make big leaps of progress when you are not even looking or noticing.

Being somewhat accurate is much different than being very accurate, but don't waist you efforts on being very accurate on something that doesn't need a high degree of accuracy.

Medical 'facts' change daily; so don't let them cause you to doubt your ability to recover.

Many people have missed out on great achievements in fear of looking ridiculous.

Genuineness and sincerity are valuable qualities, and so are elusiveness and cunning.

Even if you have political freedom and financial freedom, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have emotional freedom.

Is it better to be king of your own life than king of a vast empire. No empire is more important than yourself.

Sometimes, showing off is pointless-but then again, in some situations it is very useful.

Bad assumptions can have a way of biting you in the ass.

My not-trying is trying, my trying is not-trying, my trying is trying, and my not-trying is not-trying.

Understanding your reaction to other people can help you understand yourself.

Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

Most people neglect to actually ask for what they want.

I am a different person at every moment."

Even if it's the sunniest day of the year, you won't get any sunlight unless you are in the sunlight."

What we are searching high and low for might be right in front of us."

Too much self-doubt can cause you to try to force things you shouldn't force."

If you view the world through a self-limiting perspective, then change your perspective of the world."

Chronic anxiety often stems not just from straightforward anxiety, but also from anxiety about anxiety, as well as anxiety about the absence of anxiety."

It can be very frustrating to pursue success but not allow it to happen."

Don't bear burdens that aren't there."

The person who thinks negatively about himself often has an excessive viewpoint that others are thinking negatively about him."

Instead of trying to do everything properly, do the proper thing."

We cannot create time."

What appears hidden and far away might be unhidden and close."

You shouldn't have to force yourself to do beneficial things-you should just do them."

It is foolish to believe that you are less deserving than then the people around you."

Don't embrace the negative and resist the positive."

I can do whatever the fuck I want to do."

Just because someone commits an unsatisfactory action, it does not necessarily mean that he is a wholly unsatisfactory person."

The power is already there. All you need to do is harness it, and it will in turn result in more power, and that will in turn result in more power, and so on, and so forth."

You already have power within you to change any aspect of you at any moment. To use it, unleash it."

It is true that a good beginning can yield a good ending, but nevertheless, it is also possible to start off a loser and end up a winner."

Breathe the current moment's breath in the current moment; don't try to breath every breath you will ever breath and have ever breathed in the past all in the current moment."

If you get a little bit better everyday-you will get a lot better in no time."

Those who can communicate well with others are incredibly powerful. Those who can communicate well with themselves are even more powerful."

One good action is better than all the world's good teachings and intentions."

People believe in superstitions mainly for three reasons: 1. the natural human need for self-discipline 2. fear, combined with the fact that it is difficult and imprecise to analyze cause and effect 3. the human tendency to want or need to believe something, particularly metaphysical or supernatural things."

Sometimes people care more about the way something might be interpreted than they care about using it for their own advantage."

I ask myself, 'What is the best thing for me to do right now?' Then if I know the answer, I do it. If I don't know, I wait until it is more clear."

The truly poorest people are those who value material goods more than themselves."

Some people are too critical of themselves and do not see their good actions and points. Some people don't appreciate the good, and only look for the bad. Some people only think of what can go wrong, but neglect to also think what can go right."

Don't rely too heavily on 'clock time.'"

Treat yourself well."

Criticism should not be unreasonable."

Understand that other people have habits."

Feel good about yourself."

Enjoy other people."

Learn to relax and quiet your mind."

Learn to manage negative thoughts and feelings."

It is important to have developed good and useful problem solving skills."

Excitement and fear are not necessarily always hand in hand.

Relaxation should be a part of everyone's life.

There is positive energy all around you. All you need to do is open yourself to it.

To deal with your bad feelings; put them in the context of the big picture."

Sometimes just 'chill out' and let yourself be bored."

Sometimes, observe yourself from an outsider perspective."

Your viewpoint of things should be revised to account for the world's changes. Thus, you will see what the world is, not what your fixed impression of it is."

Your social self is not the complete picture of who you are."

There are a countless number of points of view to everything."

Adapt and live life the way it is meant to be lived, and not according to rigid ideas."

Put first things first."

Sometimes, you have to beat others to win, and sometimes, there are win/win situations. Know which one you are facing, and when to use each."

Almost everyone wants to be a cowboy, but not everyone wants to ride the range. And then there are even some people who want to ride the range, but don't want to be a cowboy."

Genuine and sincere listening is like directly listening to another person's heart."

Are we humans having a spiritual experience, or spiritual beings having a human experience?"

Sometimes you need to surrender to the universe in order to get what you need."

We each have a unique soul."

Use encouragement."

There is unlimited universe in the energy that is always available for anyone to harness."

No thoughts exist independent of emotion. Thoughts and emotions go hand in hand."

Rejection is one of the most common fears of people."

People have a need to feel accepted."

A person has various needs for balance, including needs for satisfying work/play, good relationships, self-esteem, self-preservation/protection, challenges, and growth."

I only use other people's perspectives when it is advantageous for me to do so."

Through comparing and relating things, it seems as if we base our perspective on everything that exists in the universe except for the actual universe itself and the concept of existence."

You are what you eat holds some truth to it-especially the part that no matter how good we eat, we are all partially shit."

The universe's themes are variety, change, and cause and effect; from our perspective, we live with these themes through chance and our choices; much of our choices are based on our habits, reasoning, emotions, and our personal nature-and our personal nature is something that I still haven't figured out yet."

When your perspective is fixed towards being excessively on one side of anything, this increases your vulnerability of problems. It is better to be in tune with viewing things from the proper perspectives, and fit your perspective to correspond to the current moment and circumstances."

Before you ponder whether the glass if half full or half empty, first decide if you are thirsty or not."

Balance is the supreme theme for a person to put into practice. Balance is a link with the infinite."

Not everything can be categorized."

Rodney Ohebsions said: "Do not be too unobjective when listening to others, but on the other hand, do not allow them to make you believe absurdities."

Do the right thing at the right time in the right place in the right amount at the right intensity."

Develop and cultivate positive self-confidence."

Experience inner calm in your life.

Sometimes a person's childhood environment demands to much perfectionism of them and excessively criticizes them, which some children respond to by becoming totally terrified of making even small mistakes, which often discourages them from having a healthy expression of feelings, and/or often lessens their skill as asserting themselves."

Variate thought and no-thoughy.

True confidence can sometimes be an elusive concept."

Many people worry and regret and feel guilty about certain actions, yet they often repeat the same behavior. Either realize that you did not make as severe an error as you thought you did and thus erred in feeling worriful and regretful and guilty, or realize that you need to change your behavior to avoid making the same mistake."

Acknowledge that you do not want to be harmed."

Don't try to chew on your next mouthful of food while you are chewing your current mouthful of food.

Fitting the right action with the right time and the right need is a valuable skill.

Every day is different, every hour is different, every minute is different, every moment is different."

Imagine a person is nice and benefits from it, and then he concludes that it is always beneficial to be nice. And imagine that a person is mean and benefits from it, and then concludes that it is always beneficial to be mean. Either way is wrong, because either way does not deal with the pressing needs of circumstances. It is better to allow one's actions to correspond with the proper circumstances at one time. Thus we cannot conclude that niceness is an ideal behavior or meanness is an ideal behavior, because holding to one point does not account for applying the right action to the right circumstance.

Everything in the universe is unique. There are no two points in space that are the same, there are no two points in time that are the same, there are no two people that are the same, there are no two objects are the same. Uniqueness is the underlining principle of this universe. But paradoxically enough, only when you acknowledge this, can you experience the unity of things.

If a tree fall is the forest, and every person and animal in the world is deaf, then does the tree make a sound? Yes. Thus, when we perceive things through our senses, who is to say that there is not an infinite number of senses that can be perceived in the universe, and not just the five that we usually describe our experience with (tough, taste, smell, sight, hearing)?

People act as if there is so much going on all the time, when in fact, most of the time, barely anything going on. People often put on a show acting as if there is so much joy going on, when in fact, there is often not."

People often assume that what is generally accepted as true by the scientific community, is in fact rue. Yet historically, the scientific has been right about some things and wrong about some things. Are we to assume that for some reason, all science is true today, even though it has never been all true before?"

Utilize your strengths to turn your weaknesses into strengths. Do not use your weaknesses to hamper your strengths."

Know your strengths and weaknesses. Know other people's strengths and weaknesses."

To recognize others and have a sense of affinity, and to also live in one's own selfish viewpoint;-that is being a free person."

People are by nature selfish, yet they act too wobbly on this subject and don't acknowledge their need for selfishness. It would be better for one to know that he is selfish."

Is there a limit to a person? I don't know the answer to that, but I feel that it is more of a conceptual matter than a useful one. If we just cultivated the tremendous good that is available to be utilized at this moment, we would literally astound ourselves. It is more important to cultivate this good than to assign a conclusion as to whether there is a limit."

Although displeasing others needs to be avoided in certain circumstances; on the other hand, in the practical process of day to day life, we often need to do things that will displease others."

Self improvement is the most noble of focuses, yet is can be unadvantageous to be too fixed on such a perspective of 'I need to become.'"

Existence doesn't make sense. Does sense make sense?"

In its general sense, exercise is not good, and exercise is not bad. The right amount of exercise is good; the wrong amount of exercise is bad. Exercise done at the right time is good; exercise done at the wrong time is bad."

Some people are always having work and construction done on their house, and constantly complaining about the annoyances that go with the construction. Don't be like those people."

We can cultivate positive things from our past, but we can never go back to the past."

I use the wisdom I have in certain areas of life in order to overcome and eliminate the foolishness I have in other areas of life. And I do not use the foolishness I have in certain areas of to overcome and eliminate the wisdom I have in other areas of life."

I overcome negative forces; negative forces don't overcome me."

When you do wrong, do not see the wrong as yourself and thus hate yourself. Instead, see the wrong independently of yourself and hate it."

There is a difference between trusting yourself to evade danger and trusting yourself to endure danger. For instance, trusting yourself to make decisions to stay out of the way of bullets is different than standing in the way of bullets and trusting yourself to not let them harm you if they hit you."

Many people who are too demanding of themselves often devote too much energy to the wrong things."

Don't cling to the past."

A person who studies a champion might be clouded by the champion's high level, and then when the person tries to pattern himself after the champion, he will begin to attend to trivial details first (some of which the champion might not even be good at, but just appears to be good at), and will neglect the main and most effective points of the champion."

Reasoning can be advantageous; yet is can also be disadvantageous."

Understanding others contributes to your own inner peace and safety."

Rodney Ohebsion: "If you understand a person's general biases well as his specific biases to you, you have gone a long way in understanding that person."

At times, it is advantageous to emphasize the use of one sense more than the others. However, in the long run, it is not advantageous to be so intent on utilizing one sense that you neglect to properly utilize all the others."

Give things that deserve attention the attention that they deserve."

Use your energy in the right places and not the wrong places."

Prioritize protection of yourself over other people's opinions, and even over your own opinions."

Nothing bewilders people more than sincerity."

Many different paths can lead to the same thing."

If you are looking for something, you might find it-even if it didn't originally exist."

If you won 76 to 75, it doesn't mean that you did everything right. If you lost 75 to 76, it doesn't mean that you did everything wrong."

Eat the food you are eating now instead of the food that you are about to eat."

In order to avoid a very minor and inconsequential misfortune, sometimes people expose themselves to the big risk of some very serious misfortune. Don't do this!"

Understanding others is a means of understanding their reaction to you."

An important part of understanding others is to understand what they don't understand about you."

The main motivator of people is fear. At the root of fear, the main motivators of people are: 1. self-interests and self preservation 2. self-esteem and the desire to feel good about oneself 3. the desire to express oneself and to communicate 4. the desire to be known, appreciated and esteemed by others 5. the desire for sex 6. the desire for human interaction 7. the desire for a supreme feeling of personal empowerment (includes the desire for challenges) 8. the desire to avoid boredom 9. the desire to avoid what is really painful

The person who always looks at the big picture will have difficultly with the immediate. The person who only looks at the immediate will have difficulty looking at the big picture. The superior person does not neglect the immediate viewpoint or the big picture. Yet it is only the immediate that we immediately meet, and it is even the immediate that we consider the big picture in."

To hypnotize yourself or someone else, get the person relaxed. Get them focused on only one thing at a time. Communicate with short statements, and connect those statements in a rhythmic way. Don't overwhelm them. Don't introduce too many variables. Break complex goals into simple manageable ones. Go step by step. Keep suggestions simple, concise, believable, and desirable. Use positive wording. Use clear and suitable images. Use repetition. Use synonyms. Set a definitive time for things to happen in."

When people argue, they often try to prove themselves more than they try to prove what they are arguing."

To persuade others, listen to them, know them, understand them, find any common points of interest, try to make it seem like you got your points from them, get them to agree on little things based on their statements, and lead it up to big things."

If you appeal more than one of someone's emotions at once, it will probably leave him/her confused and overwhelmed."

A single word or gesture done at the right time can have an amazing effect."

Do not make things more difficult than they are."

If you appreciate something about someone, then sometimes you should let them know this."

Complimenting something unique and specific about someone usually has more of an impact

In its general sense, anger is not necessarily good or bad."

People respond intensely to encouragement. The best encouragement is timed appropriately."

Most of like phenomenon is in cycles. For instance, you eat, and then you get hungry, and then you eat, and then you get hungry… If you eat all the time, you won't get hungry. If you are hungry all the time, you are not eating."