WAY OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR: A Book That Changes Lives

I had finally released my expectation that the world should fulfill me; with that, my disappointments had vanished. I would continue to do whatever was necessary to live in the everyday world, of course, but on my own conditions. I was starting to glimpse a profound sense of freedom even as I lived an ordinary life.

Golden Gate Bridge and the lights of San Francisco sparkling

“So whether or not my behavior meets your new standards, it should be clear to you that I have no compulsions or habits. My actions are conscious, spontaneous, intentional, and complete.”

the radio’s music, I sped north across the freeways of Los Angeles, then up and over the Grapevine, connecting with Route 99,

“You now see everything through a veil of associations about things, projected over a direct, simple awareness. You’ve ‘seen it all before’: it’s like watching a movie for the twentieth time. You see only memories of things, so you become bored, trapped in the mind. This is why you have to ‘lose your mind’ before you can come to your senses.”

So far I’ve seen beneath people’s social masks to their common fears and troubled minds, but that has only made me cynical, because I haven’t yet looked still deeper to find the light within them.”

“There is a saying: ‘When you sit, sit; when you stand, stand; whatever you do, don’t wobble.’ Once you make your choice, do it with all your spirit. Don’t be like the preacher who thought about praying while making love to his wife, and thought about making love to his wife while praying.”

“To rid yourself of old patterns, focus all your energy not on struggling with the old, but on building the new.”

Old urges continue to arise, but urges do not matter; only actions do. A warrior is as a warrior does.