“The real test of your character is not how much you deal with adversity — although that will teach you much. The real test is how you deal with power. The only cure for power is humility and the admission that your power comes from luck. The small person believes they are superior; the superior person knows they are lucky.”
Source: Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I Wish I'd Known Earlier
“That sadness that you do not speak of,
that haunts you in the ache of midnight.
Give it to me.
I want to heal that.”
“We are great fools. 'He has spent his life in idleness,' we say, and 'I have done nothing today.' What! have you not lived? That is not only the fundamental, but the most noble of your occupations. 'If I had been put in charge of some great affair, I might have shown what I could do.' Have you been able to reflect on your life and control it? Then you have performed the greatest work of all. To reveal herself and do her work, nature has no need of fortune. She manifests herself equally at all levels, and behind curtains as well as in the open. Our duty is to compose our character, not to compose books, to win not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live properly. All other things -- to reign, to lay up treasure, to build -- are at best but little aids and additions.”
“Life is a risk. Life is also punctuated by moments of great risk, and your identity and legacy are shaped by how you respond in those critical moments.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“Failing to recognize moments of great risk is like dancing in the dark. You may be on solid ground, or you may be twirling at the verge of a precipice—you don’t know.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“You should neither attempt to justify a bad risk because it turned out well nor regret too much a good risk that turned out badly.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“Don’t fear high expectations; embrace them. Choose to do hard things.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“Sit around too long thinking about how to begin and you’ll consume all your provisions while your ship rots in the harbor.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“Why leave the comfort of the harbor? Because you are a ship captain, and a ship captain sails.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions
“The best way to respond to a hero is to honor him, and the best way to honor a hero is to become a hero yourself.”
Source: The Talk: A Young Person's Guide to Life's Big Questions