01 Nov THE OBSTACLE IS THE WAY
12 Quotes from “The Obstacle is the way”
“Whatever we face, we have a choice: Will we be blocked by obstacles, or will we advance through and over them?”
“There is no good or bad without us, there is only perception. There is the event itself and the story we tell ourselves about what it means.”
“Focusing exclusively on what is in our power magnifies and enhances our power.”
“Our perceptions determine, to an incredibly large degree, what we are and are not capable of. In many ways, they determine reality itself. When we believe in the obstacle more than in the goal, which will inevitably triumph?”
“There is always a countermove, always an escape or a way through, so there is no reason to get worked up. No one said it would be easy and, of course, the stakes are high, but the path is there for those ready to take it.”
“All we need to do is those three little duties—to try hard, to be honest, and to help others and ourselves. That’s all that’s been asked of us. No more and no less.”
“We decide what we will make of each and every situation. We decide whether we’ll break or whether we’ll resist.”
“Failure shows us the way—by showing us what isn’t the way.”
“It’s supposed to be hard. Your first attempts aren’t going to work. It’s going to take a lot out of you—but energy is an asset we can always find more of. It’s a renewable resource. Stop looking for an epiphany, and start looking for weak points. Stop looking for angels, and start looking for angles.”
“True will is quiet humility, resilience, and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised by bluster and ambition. See which lasts longer under the hardest of obstacles.”
“Wherever we are, whatever we’re doing and wherever we are going, we owe it to ourselves, to our art, to the world to do it well. That’s our primary duty. And our obligation. When action is our priority, vanity falls away.”
“You’ll have far better luck toughening yourself up than you ever will trying to take the teeth out of a world that is—at best—indifferent to your existence.”