The Marble And The Sculptor

Man cannot remake himself without suffering, because he is both the marble and the sculptor. –Alexis Carrell.

Yesterday he was smart so he wanted to change the world. Today I am wise so I want to change myself. –Jalal al-Din Rumi.

All change is painful. You are sacrificing the person you are to become the person you want to be.

I’m not going to fool you. It’s going to be difficult. It’s going to be unpleasant. You are going to feel alone many times. You’re going to want to give up. They’re going to laugh at you. You’re going to wonder if it’s really worth it.

I can’t give you the answer, you’re going to have to find it.

If you want something you’ve never had, you’re going to have to do something you’ve never done.

The doctors are not going to give you health. Trainers are not going to get you in shape. Nutritionists are not going to make you lose weight. Teachers are not going to make you wise. Monks are not going to give you inner peace. Mentors are not going to make you rich. You have to take responsibility.

You have to do it.

What bothers you is training your patience. Whoever abandons you is teaching you to fend for yourself. What makes you angry is cultivating your self-control and temperance. What has power over you reminds you that you can take control again. What you hate instructs you in unconditional love. What you fear teaches you to overcome yourself. What you can’t have, gets you used to knowing how to let go.

Any opportunity, if you seize it with an open mind and a disposition toward action, is an excellent time to practice virtue.

It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent. The most flexible and adaptable to changes survive. –Charles Darwin.

What is the most important step a man can take? The first?

No. It’s not the first. It’s the next one. It’s always the next step.

What you are going to do next is more important than what you have done so far. Place your head on your shoulders, stick out your chest and look forward.