Quotes I've found interesting

The man who has anticipated the coming of troubles takes away their power when they arrive.

Seneca  

No one can alter how they are perceived or regarded in the minds of those who doubt and fear.

Terry Brooks,   The Last Druid

You deserve moments like that. Moments where you watch the snow fall. Moments where you sit quietly with a book. Moments where you look out the train window, not on a conference call, not checking email, not wondering how long until you arrive in the city, but a moment to check in with yourself, to think about your life and what you want to do with it. Moments with loved ones. Moments where you are grateful, connected, happy, creative, in the zone—doing whatever it is that you do best.  When the Stoics talk about stillness, they aren’t talking about some abstract notion. They are talking about maybe the most important thing you can be doing in your life. They are saying that all the “work” you are doing, all the thoughts you’re expending trying to get ahead, trying to force a breakthrough, are pointless.  The real way to charge ahead is to slow down. To clear your mind. To rejoice in perfect stillness, free of the future and the past, fully present and locked in. You can do it. You deserve that.

Ryan Holiday,   Daily Stoic Email, 4/23/2021

Is time you enjoyed wasting really wasted time?

Neil Parischa  

Don't just say that you have read books.  Show that through them you have learned to think better.

Epictetus  

To Marcus the true measure of his wealth was that whenever he saw someone in need of help, he could provide it. Moreover, that wealth afforded him a unique luxury: he would never have to ask for such a favor in return.

Ryan Holiday,   Daily Stoic Email, 11/19/2021

A Stoic thinks, acts, and then accepts. They do not dream, expect and wait.  Because they are not entitled, naive children.

Ryan Holiday,   Daily Stoic Email, 12/9/2021

Small things were important. Seconds were small things, and if you heaped enough of those on top of one another, they became a man's life.

Brandon Sanderson,   Towers of Midnight

The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.

Jack London  

A very small part of an historical piece of fiction I stumbled upon: the hero goes through a prison. He crosses path with a very secondary character locked behind bars that say to him: "Hero, I envy you to go on adventures while I rot here in prison with a life sentence. I deserved it but now my life is useless, I'll spend it here in this small cell, there's no point to it." Poor man. He can't have a family, accumulate wealth or be useful to his community. The hero then tranquillises him: "Don't worry friend, because even in prison you can still practice and live a virtuous life."

@aka457,   Reddit