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60fddec
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When you meet a swordsman, draw your sword: Do not recite poetry to one who is not a poet.
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Robert Greene |
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bff909e
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We are all in search of feeling more connected to reality--to other people, the times we live in, the natural world, our character, and our own uniqueness. Our culture increasingly tends to separate us from these realities in various ways. We indulge in drugs or alcohol, or engage in dangerous sports or risky behavior, just to wake ourselves up from the sleep of our daily existence and feel a heightened sense of connection to reality. In th..
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Robert Greene |
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34f4699
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Never be distracted by people's glamorous portraits of themselves and their lives; search and dig for what really imprisons them.
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Robert Greene |
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95ca1a7
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The human tongue is a beast that few can master.
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Robert Greene |
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69416a8
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Her seductive power, however, did not lie in her looks [...]. In reality, Cleopatra was physically unexceptional and had no political power, yet both Caesar and Antony, brave and clever men, saw none of this. What they saw was a woman who constantly transformed herself before their eyes, a one-woman spectacle. Her dress and makeup changed from day to day, but always gave her a heightened, goddesslike appearance. Her words could be banal eno..
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Robert Greene |
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539c3b5
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He who poses as a fool is not a fool.
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Robert Greene |
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1a52275
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Do not fight them. Instead think of them the way you think of children, or pets, not important enough to affect your mental balance
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Robert Greene |
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30ddc5e
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Your fears are a kind of prison that confines you within a limited range of action. The less you fear, the more power you will have and the more fully you will live.
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Robert Greene |
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302769e
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The most effective attitude to adopt is one of supreme acceptance. The world is full of people with different characters and temperaments. We all have a dark side, a tendency to manipulate, and aggressive desires. The most dangerous types are those who repress their desires or deny the existence of them, often acting them out in the most underhanded ways. Some people have dark qualities that are especially pronounced. You cannot change such..
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personality
human-nature
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Robert Greene |
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0eff168
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Become who you are by learning who you are.
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Robert Greene |
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3237455
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The problem with all students, he said, is that they inevitably stop somewhere. They hear an idea and they hold on to it until it becomes dead; they want to flatter themselves that they know the truth. But true Zen never stops, never congeals into such truths. That is why everyone must constantly be pushed to the abyss, starting over and feeling their utter worthlessness as a student. Without suffering and doubts, the mind will come to rest..
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suffering
spirit
learning
life
truth
perpetual
student
zen
mastery
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Robert Greene |
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e0162f3
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Desire is both imitative (we like what others like) and competitive (we want to take away from others what they have). As children, we wanted to monopolize the attention of a parent, to draw it away from other siblings. This sense of rivalry... makes people compete for the attention.
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Robert Greene |
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8e4c6f0
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Oysters open completely when the moon is full; and when the crab sees one it throws a piece of stone or seaweed into it and the oyster cannot close again so that it serves the crab for meat. Such is the fate of him who opens his mouth too much and thereby puts himself at the mercy of the listener. Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519
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Robert Greene |
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0e816c4
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By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.
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Robert Greene |
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64cefaf
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It is in fact the height of selfishness to merely consume what others create and to retreat into a shell of limited goals and immediate pleasures.
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goals
selfishness
pleasure
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Robert Greene |
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b31d663
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The passive ironic attitude is not cool or romantic, but pathetic and destructive.
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Robert Greene |
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a29d665
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Fools say that they learn by experience. I prefer to profit by others' experience.
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Robert Greene |
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f5b0709
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There is too little mystery in the world; too many people say exactly what they feel or want.
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Robert Greene |
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9f5c713
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If we experience any failures or setbacks, we do not forget them because they offend our self-esteem. Instead we reflect on them deeply, trying to figure out what went wrong and discern whether there are any patterns to our mistakes.
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setbacks
offense
failures
patterns
mistakes
forgetfulness
self-esteem
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Robert Greene |
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a916467
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With our limited senses and consciousness, we only glimpse a small portion of reality. Furthermore, everything in the universe is in a state of constant flux. Simple words and thoughts cannot capture this flux or complexity. The only solution for an enlightened person is to let the mind absorb itself in what it experiences, without having to form a judgment on what it all means. The mind must be able to feel doubt and uncertainty for as lon..
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Robert Greene |
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5e98fd7
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If, for example, you are miserly by nature, you will never go beyond a certain limit; only generous souls attain greatness.
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Robert Greene |
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ace0c66
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Long Time. The famous seventeenth-century Ming painter Chou Yung relates a story that altered his behavior forever. Late one winter afternoon he set out to visit a town that lay across the river from his own town. He was bringing some important books and papers with him and had commissioned a young boy to help him carry them. As the ferry neared the other side of the river, Chou Yung asked the boatman if they would have time to get to the t..
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Robert Greene |
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81bfe44
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Hide your intentions not by closing up (with the risk of appearing secretive, and making people suspicious) but by talking endlessly about your desires and goals-just not the real ones.
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Robert Greene |
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ba991a3
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All masters want to appear more brilliant than other people.
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Robert Greene |
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58e3ee0
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Sadness of any sort is also seductive, particularly if it seems deep-rooted, even spiritual, rather than needy or pathetic--it makes people come to you.
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Robert Greene |
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77ae66b
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Events in life mean nothing if you do not reflect on them in a deep way, and ideas from books are pointless if they have no application to life as you live it.
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reading
motivational
life
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Robert Greene |
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a552298
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The conventional mind is passive - it consumes information and regurgitates it in familiar forms. The dimensional mind is active, transforming everything it digests into something new and original, creating instead of consuming.
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conventionalism
passivity
creativity
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Robert Greene |
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4113547
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All of us have access to a higher form of intelligence, one that can allow us to see more of the world, to anticipate trends, to respond with speed and accuracy to any circumstance. This intelligence is cultivated by deply immersing ourselves in a field of study and staying true to our inclinations, no matter how unconventional our approach might seem to other. Through such intense immersion over many years we come to internalize and gain a..
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Robert Greene |
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5f5ec1b
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A man said to a Dervish: "Why do I not see you more often?" The Dervish replied, "Because the words 'Why have you not been to see me?' are sweeter to my ear than the words 'Why have you come again?"
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Robert Greene |
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9c1ba5d
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Without enemies around us, we grow lazy. An enemy at our heels sharpens our wits, keeping us focused and alert. It is sometimes better, then, to use enemies as enemies rather than transforming them into friends or allies.
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Robert Greene |
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aa037a0
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You must understand the following: In order to master a field, you must love the subject and feel a profound connection to it. Your interest must transcend the field itself and border on the religious.
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Robert Greene |
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65506cd
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A natural response when people feel overwhelmed is to retreat into various forms of passivity. If we don't try too much in life, if we limit our circle of action, we can give ourselves the illusion of control. The less we attempt, the less chances of failure. If we can make it look like we are not really responsible for our fate, for what happens to us in life, then our apparent powerlessness is more palatable.
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risk
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Robert Greene |
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f71aea6
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The key to such power is ambiguity. In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine.
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seduction
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Robert Greene |
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8574cf0
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Actually, your past successes are your biggest obstacle: every battle, every war, is different, and you cannot assume that what worked before will work today.
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Robert Greene |
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16dc48e
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Some 2,600 years ago the ancient Greek poet Pindar wrote, "Become who you are by learning who you are." What he meant is the following: You are born with a particular makeup and tendencies that mark you as a piece of fate. It is who you are to the core. Some people never become who they are; they stop trusting in themselves; they conform to the tastes of others, and they end up wearing a mask that hides their true nature. If you allow yours..
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Robert Greene |
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cf73e49
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Power is a game, and in games you do not judge your opponents by their intentions but by the effects of their actions.
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power
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Robert Greene |
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42a85fb
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The key then to attaining this higher level of intelligence is to make our years of study qualitatively rich. We don't simply absorb information - we internalize it and make it our own by finding some way to put this knowledge to practical use.
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internalization
practical-application
quality
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Robert Greene |
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3123dff
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DESPISE THE FREE LUNCH JUDGMENT What is offered for free is dangerous-it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price--there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.
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Robert Greene |
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7ba277d
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Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good.
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Robert Greene |
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f0091eb
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Most people are perpetually locked in the present. Their decisions are overly influenced by the most immediate event; they easily become emotional and ascribe greater significance to a problem than it should have in reality.
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present-minded
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Robert Greene |
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72bb4f3
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Our natural tendency is to project onto other people our own belief and value systems, in ways in which we are not even aware.
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Robert Greene |
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aa919f1
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There is almost a touch of condescension in the act of hiring friends that secretly afflicts them. The injury will come out slowly: A little more honesty, flashes of resentment and envy here and there, and before you know it your friendship fades. The more favors and gifts you supply to revive the friendship, the less gratitude you receive.
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Robert Greene |
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c9b4626
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Everything that happens to you is a form of instruction if you pay attention.
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Robert Greene |
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ab92c0e
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The Shadow. It cannot be grasped. Chase your shadow and it will, flee; turn your back on it and it will follow you. It is also a person's dark side, the thing that makes them mysterious. After they have given us pleasure, the shadow of their withdrawal makes us yearn for their return, much as clouds make us yearn for the sun.
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Robert Greene |