Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears looms but the horror of the shade, and yet the menace of the years finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Recommended reading: Poems By William Ernest Henley.

Enlightenment – full enlightenment – is perceiving reality with an open, unfixated mind, even in the most difficult circumstances. It’s nothing more than that, actually.

Recommended reading: The Places that Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times.

That’s your responsibility as a person, as a human being – to constantly be updating your positions on as many things as possible. And if you don’t contradict yourself on a regular basis, then you’re not thinking.

Recommended reading: David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants.

We never really know whether an event is fortune or misfortune, we only know our ever-changing reactions to ever-changing events.

Recommended reading: The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are.

Don’t prepare. Begin. Remember, our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is Resistance. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do. Start before you’re ready.

Recommended reading: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles.

Life is as infinitely great and profound as the immensity of the stars above us. One can only look at it through the narrow keyhole of one’s personal existence. But through it one perceives more than one can see. So above all one must keep the keyhole clean.

Recommended reading: Franz Kafka: The Complete Stories.

In framing an ideal we may assume what we wish, but should avoid impossibilities.

Recommended reading: The Basic Works of Aristotle.

You are not responsible for your first thought. But you are responsible for your second thought and your first action. That is where your power lies.

Recommended reading: Neurotherapy and Neurofeedback: Brain-Based Treatment for Psychological and Behavioral Problems.

Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.

Recommended reading: Anne of Green Gables.

At the still point, there the dance is.

Recommended reading: Four Quartets.