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c724fbc
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Just imagine for a day that you do not know anything, that what you believe could be completely false. Let go of your preconceptions and even your most cherished beliefs. Experiment. Force yourself to hold the opposite opinion or see the world through your enemy's eyes. Listen to the people around you with more attentiveness. See everything as a source for education--even the most banal encounters. Imagine that the world is still full of my..
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Robert Greene |
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8eca5eb
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What does it matter if another player, your friend or rival, intended good things and had only your interests at heart, if the effects of his action lead to so much ruin and confusion? It is only natural for people to cover up their actions with all kinds of justifications, always assuming that they have acted out of goodness. You must learn to inwardly laugh each time you hear this and never get caught up in gauging someone's intentions an..
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Robert Greene |
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5d96ec4
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Never take your position for granted and never let any favors you receive go to your head.
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Robert Greene |
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ff5f054
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you must engrave deeply in your mind and never forget: your emotional commitment to what you are doing will be translated into your work. If you go at your work with half a heart, it will show in the lackluster results and in the laggard way in which you reach the end. If you are doing something primarily for money and without a real emotional commitment, it will translate into something that lacks a soul and that has no connection to you..
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Robert Greene |
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a751d59
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It is your own bad strategies, not the unfair opponent, that are to blame for your failures. You are responsible for the good and bad in your life.
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Robert Greene |
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bb75f8f
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The problem is that we humans are deep conformists.
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strengths
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Robert Greene |
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23b2e6f
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The truth is that creative activity is one that involves the entire self - our emotions, our levels of energy, our characters, and our minds.
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whole-self
emotions
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Robert Greene |
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08febb8
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Religion humanizes this universe, makes us feel important and loved. We are not animals governed by uncontrollable drives, animals that die for no apparent reason, but creatures made in the image of supreme being
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Robert Greene |
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04722b8
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You cannot repress anger or love, or avoid feeling them, and you should not try.
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Robert Greene |
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64b346c
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Sometimes any emotion is better than the boredom of security.
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Robert Greene |
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cbf39df
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Understand: your mind is weaker than your emotions. But you become aware of this weakness only in moments of adversity--precisely the time when you need strength. What best equips you to cope with tthe heat of battle is neither more knowledge nor more intellect. What makes your mind stronger, and more able to control your emotions, is internal discipline and toughness.No one can teach you this skill; you cannot learn it by reading about it...
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mind
power
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Robert Greene |
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0d237ed
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Religion is the great balm of existence because it takes us outside ourselves, connects us to something larger
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Robert Greene |
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95bbdd0
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The real poetry and beauty in life comes from an intense relationship with reality in all its aspects. Realism is in fact the ideal we must aspire to, the highest point of human rationality.
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reality
life-lessons
truth
rational
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Robert Greene |
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535f211
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JUDGMENT Be wary of friends--they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.
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Robert Greene |
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2327d43
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The Tiny Wound. It is small but painful and irritating. You try all sorts of medicaments, you com- plain, you scratch and pick at the scab. Doctors only make it worse, transforming the tiny wound into a grave matter. If only you had left the wound alone, letting time heal it and freeing yourself of worry.
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Robert Greene |
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77f081b
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LAW 9 WIN THROUGH YOUR ACTIONS, NEVER THROUGH ARGUMENT JUDGMENT Any momentary triumph you think you have gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.
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Robert Greene |
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3ce7c53
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Too often we make a separation in our lives--there is work and there is life outside work, where we find real pleasure and fulfillment. Work is often seen as a means for making money so we can enjoy that second life that we lead. Even if we derive some satisfaction from our careers we still tend to compartmentalize our lives in this way. This is a depressing attitude, because in the end we spend a substantial part of our waking life at work..
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Robert Greene |
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8755c68
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Never argue. In society nothing must be discussed; give only results. (Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881)
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Robert Greene |
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47aaa3c
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Those qualities that separate us are often ridiculed by others or criticized by teachers. Because of these judgments, we might see our strengths as disabilities and try to work around them in order to fit in. But anything that is peculiar to our makeup is precisely what we must pay the deepest attention to and lean on in our rise to mastery.
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judgments
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Robert Greene |
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ae1621c
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Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.
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Robert Greene |
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a7feefc
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Let us call this quality the Original Mind. This mind looked at the world more directly--not through words and received ideas. It was flexible and receptive to new information. Retaining a memory of this Original Mind, we cannot help but feel nostalgia for the intensity with which we used to experience the world. As the years pass, this intensity inevitably diminishes. We come to see the world through a screen of words and opinions; our pri..
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Robert Greene |
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3e6addc
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You may think that what you'd like to recapture from your youth is your looks, your physical fitness, your simple pleasures, but what you really need is the fluidity of mind you once possessed.
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Robert Greene |
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1aff125
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Image: An Oak Tree. The oak that resists the wind loses its branches one by one, and with nothing left to protect it, the trunk fi nally snaps. The oak that bends lives long er, its trunk grow ing wider, its roots deeper and more tenacious.
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Robert Greene |
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2ba95d4
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Most people don't have the patience to absorb their minds in the fine points and minutiae that are intrinsically part of their work. They are in a hurry to create effects and make a splash; they think in large brush strokes. Their work inevitably reveals their lack of attention to detail - it doesn't connect deeply with the public, and it feels flimsy.
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rushed-work
results
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Robert Greene |
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e74cbdd
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The mighty lion toys with the mouse that crosses his path--any other reaction would mar his fearsome reputation.
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Robert Greene |
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cb121be
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if no resistances or obstacles face you, you must create them. No seduction can proceed without them.
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Robert Greene |
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ceb9796
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The people around you are generally mysterious. You are never quite sure about their intentions. They present an appearance that is often deceptive--their manipulative actions don't match their lofty words or promises. All of this can prove confusing. Seeing people as they are, instead of what you think they should be, would mean having a greater sense of their motives.
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Robert Greene |
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fa12e59
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If you view everything through the lens of fear, then you tend to stay in retreat mode. You can just as easily see a crises or problem as a challenge, an opportunity to prove your mettle, the chance to strengthen and toughen yourself, or a call to collective action. By seeing it as a challenge, you will have converted this negative into a positive purely by a mental process that will result in positive action as well.
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Robert Greene |
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6077cf9
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It is natural to want to employ your friends when you find yourself in times of need. The world is a harsh place, and your friends soften the harshness. Besides, you know them. Why depend on a stranger when you have a friend at hand? Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure. TACITUS, c. A.D. 55-120 The problem is that you often do not know your friends as well as you imagine...
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Robert Greene |
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7d110b0
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It is not much good being wise among fools and sane among lunatics.
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Robert Greene |
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ad6bb37
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The dreamers, those who misread the actual state of affairs and act upon their emotions, are often the source of the greatest mistakes in history--the wars that are not thought out, the disasters that are not foreseen
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reality
truth
realist
dreamer
mistakes
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Robert Greene |
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b47bc0c
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You must avoid at all cost the idea that you can manage learning several skills at a time. You need to develop your powers of concentration, and understand that trying to multitask will be the death of the process.
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Robert Greene |
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44702ad
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Louis XI (1423-1483), the great Spider King of France, had a weakness for astrology. He kept a court astrologer whom he admired, until one day the man predicted that a lady of the court would die within eight days. When the prophecy came true, Louis was terrified, thinking that either the man had murdered the woman to prove his accuracy or that he was so versed in his science that his powers threatened Louis himself. In either case he had t..
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Robert Greene |
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66fbde5
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You like to imagine yourself in control of your fate, consciously planning the course of your life as best you can. But you are largely unaware of how deeply your emotions dominate you. They make you veer toward ideas that soothe your ego. They make you look for evidence that confirms what you already want to believe. They make you see what you want to see, depending on your mood, and this disconnect from reality is the source of the bad de..
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Robert Greene |
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dc14f67
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True ownership can come only from within. It comes from a disdain for anything or anybody that impinges upon your mobility, from a confidence in your own decisions, and from the use of your time in constant pursuit of education and improvement.
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Robert Greene |
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c540c44
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There is a popular saying in Japan that goes "Tada yori takai mono wa nai," meaning: "Nothing is more costly than something given free of charge." THE UNSPOKEN WAY, MICHIHIRO MATSUMOTO, 1988"
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Robert Greene |
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ffdb6ef
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As Gracian said, "The truth is generally seen, rarely heard."
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Robert Greene |
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e5476af
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To the extent that we believe we can skip steps, avoid the process, magically gain power through political connections or easy formulas, or depend on our natural talents, we move against this grain and reverse our natural powers. We become slaves to time - as it passes, we grow weaker, less capable, trapped in some dead end career. We become captive to the opinions and fears of others." (9) "This intense connection and desires allows them t..
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success
hardwork
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Robert Greene |
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bc770e7
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M]any believe that by being honest and open they are winning people's hearts and showing their good nature.They are greatly deluded. Honesty is actually a blunt instrument, which bloodies more than it cuts. Your honesty is likely to offend people; it is much more prudent to tailor your words, telling people what they want to hear rather than the coarse and ugly truth of what you feel or think. More important, by being unabashedly open you m..
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Robert Greene |
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ca029a2
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those who make a show or display of innocence are the least innocent of all.
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Robert Greene |
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38a6bff
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At your birth a seed is planted. That seed is your uniqueness. It wants to grow, transform itself, and flower to its full potential. It has a natural, assertive energy to it. Your Life's Task is to bring that seed to flower, to express your uniqueness through your work. You have a destiny to fulfill. The stronger you feel and maintain it--as a force, a voice or in whatever form-- the greater your chance of fulfilling this Life's Task and ac..
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Robert Greene |
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255871a
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Do not wait for a coronation; the greatest emperors crown themselves.
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politics
boldness
crown
bold
power
king
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Robert Greene |
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b7c9dbb
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Learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.
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Robert Greene |
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99fc4b4
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Think of the mind as a river: the faster it flows, the better it keeps up with the present and responds to change. The faster it flows, also the more it refreshes itself and the greater its energy. Obsessional thoughts, past experiences (whether traumas or successes), and preconceived notions are like boulders or mud in this river, settling and hardening there and damming it up. The river stops moving; stagnation sets in. You must wage cons..
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Robert Greene |