Mickey Patel

Man chases “happiness.” But in actuality, he doesn’t chase happiness at all. He chases freedom from pain. And he believes that happiness is the opposite of pain. And it is this that sinks him. He chases and hopes for “positive events,” something to go his way, so that he can gain a moment of happiness. But he does not understand that no matter how

Being smart means thinking things through. It means trying to fnd the real answer, not the easiest answer.

Many of your friends will be afraid to give you harsh feedback. Remedy that by asking: “What’s the 10% I need to keep, no matter what? A followup question: “What’s the 10% I’ll cut, if I absolutely had to cut?” (Got this from my interview with Tim Ferris

Thought can only create the pattern, and according to that pattern, formula, act - and hence conflict.

The mind can go anywhere it wishes. You need not go With It. The mind can entertain any thoughts that it wishes. They have nothing to do with you. For you are not the mind.

You can almost always improve your writing by being more specific. Don’t write “I got in my car” when you can write “I got in my ‘65 Mustang.”

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my work loves me as much as I love it—that it wants to play with me as much as I want to play with it—and that this source of love and play is boundless.

I do not know of any artist (successful or unsuccessful, amateur or pro) who does not long for that kind of time. I do not know of any creative soul who does not dream of calm, cool, grass-growing days in which to work without interruption. Somehow, though, nobody ever seems to achieve it. Or if they do achieve it (through a grant, for instance, or