Which quotes have helped me?

A lot of quotes, thoughts and aphorisms make me think, question myself and move forward. That's something I like to do. In addition to the following quotes, I regularly read the writings of people I follow on X.

Avoid suffering

One can be very happy as long as one isn’t too caught up in their own heads. — Naval Ravikant

Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want. — Naval Ravikant

Being an optimist doesn’t mean you get complacent. It means you constantly look for ways to make the world better. — Bill Gates

Every man has two lives, and the second starts when he realizes he has just one. — Confucius

When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love. — Marcus Aurelius

Guilt is society’s voice talking in your head. — Naval Ravikant

Just like a low resting heart rate is the by-product of intense exercise, low anxiety is the by-product of intense self-examination. — Naval Ravikant

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are. — Buddhist saying

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. — Seneca

Don’t sell your soul to something you don’t care about. — Unknown author

Experiences happen when you disconnect. And I choose experiences over goods or information. — James Altucher

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. — Einstein

Don’t try to be someone else, seek to be yourself more. — Naval Ravikant

Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it. — Steven Pressfield

If you have no idea what you want, ask yourself this: What gives me energy? The answer gives you the path. — Chris Hladczuk

Death can have me when it earns me.  — Kratos

Time management

A busy mind accelerates the perceived passage of time. Buy more time by cultivating peace of mind. — Naval Ravikant

Relentlessly prune bullshit. — Paul Graham

There’s no such thing as information overload, only bad filters. — Naval Ravikant

When you wrestle with a pig, you both get covered in mud. — Unkwon author

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity. — Henry David Thoreau

When you learn something, you should get a return on that learning. Far too many people read books now just to say they’ve read lots of books. If you’re not applying what you’re learning, you’re consuming and wasting your time. — Benjamin P. Hardy

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. — R. Buckminster Fuller

A man who dares to waste an hour of time has not discovered the value of his life. — Charles Darwin

The question isn’t, “What will I be doing in 10 years?” But, “What will I wish I’d started 10 years from now?” — Sam Altman

Overthinking and overstimulation is a disease, it’s a road to misery. You want to learn how to settle in your mind. Learning to be alone and to enjoy your solitude is a superpower. — Naval Ravikant

You can’t achieve peace by focusing on external problems, because those are infinite. You gain peace by focusing on internal problems, and giving up on those that are not important. The peace we seek is not peace of mind, it’s peace from mind. — Naval Ravikant

Elon Musk got his best piece of advice from Douglas Adams’ book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and it was: “Don’t panic!” Musk says if you let your emotions take over, they can cloud your decision-making process, and cause you to make decisions you’ll regret later.

Life hack: When in bed, meditate. Either you will have a deep meditation, or fall asleep. Victory either way. — Naval Ravikant

Success

Discipline is remembering what you want.  — Lulie Tanett

I don’t care how much money or things you have. I don’t care whether you’re a top Wall Street banker. If somebody has to tell you when to be at work, what to wear and how to behave, you’re not a free person. You’re not actually rich. — Naval Ravikant

If you’re going through hell, keep going. — Winston Churchill

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm. — R.W. Emerson

I’m just looking to have as much fun as I can, and spend time with my friends, and experience new things, and go on adventures, and live every day to the fullest. — John John Florence

An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. — Winston Churchill

When you don’t take any action, you are making a choice to stay where you currently are. — Heather Yan

Mistakes are proof that you are trying.  — Unkwon author

The biggest obstacle to success is a lack of optimism.  — Unkwon author

Action speaks louder than words.  — Unkwon author

If you’re not having fun, you’re doing something wrong. — Groucho Marx (in the sense of you're not doing what's fun to you.)

Immerse yourself in what you love. — Daigo Umehara’s dad

If you aren’t curious about it, you’ll never be good at it. — Naval Ravikant

Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. — Naval Ravikant

Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear. — George Addair

I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle. — Steve Jobs

Find three hobbies: one that makes you money, one that makes you fit, and one that makes you smarter. — Naval Ravikant

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer the negative elements in your life, don’t sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy! — Dale Carnegie

It's remarkable the long-term advantage that people like us have gained by trying not to be stupid, rather than trying to be very clever. —   Charlie Munger

Creativity

The false idea that if I only had the right tools I would be super creative. By the way, the real trick to being creative is to not think about it, just do. You can go back and fix it later when you’re in the zone. — Notch

When something annoys you, it could be because you’re living in the future. Live in the future and build what seems interesting. The place to start looking for ideas is things you need. There must be things you need. What would you pay for right now? — Paul Graham

Imagination is more important than knowledge. — Albert Einstein

Creativity is just connecting things. — Steve Jobs

If you build for yourself, you will always have product-market fit. — Naval Ravikant

What I can not create I do not understand. — Richard Feynman

Money

You’ll benefit far more from changing your spending habits than making more money. — Mr. Money Mustache

Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want. — Anna Lappe