Mark Manson

“Improvement at anything is based on thousands of tiny failures, and the magnitude of your success is based on how many times you've failed at something.”

“Despite dreaming about making a living through his art, the real potential of becoming An Artist Nobody Likes was far, far scarier than remaining An Artist Nobody’s Heard Of. At least he was comfortable with and used to being An Artist Nobody’s Heard Of.”

“Much of the self-help world is predicated on peddling highs to people rather than solving legitimate problems. Many self-help gurus teach you new forms of denial and pump you up with exercises that feel good in the short term, while ignoring the underlying issue. Remember, nobody who is actually happy has to stand in front of a mirror and tell himself that he’s happy.”

“If I ask you, 'What do you want out of life?' and you say something like, 'I want to be happy and have a great family and a job I like,' it's so ubiquitous that it doesn't even mean anything. Everyone wants that.”

“When people lay around whining to their therapists and ex-wives that they're finally going to 'change' themselves, they are promising something imaginary and made up.”

“I think humility - which I think is a very good value to adopt - is basically an extension of understanding your own ignorance.”

“I started my blog back in 2009 because every Internet business and marketing seminar I watched at the time told me I had to. I had been trying to get a business started selling dating and life advice and was struggling.”

“True love - that is, deep, abiding love that is impervious to emotional whims or fancy - is a choice. It's a constant commitment to a person regardless of the present circumstances.”

“Our moral philosophy determines our values - what we care about and what we don't care about - and our values determine our decisions, actions, and beliefs. Therefore, moral philosophy applies to everything in our lives.”

“Seeking approval and people pleasing forces you to alter your actions and speech to no longer reflect what you actually think or feel.”

“Death is important for a couple reasons. The first is that death creates scarcity in our life, which therefore gives our decisions meaning and value. From a practical point of view, it therefore makes sense that we keep our own deaths in mind when deciding how to use our time.”

“There's a paradox with self-improvement, and it is this: the ultimate goal of all self-improvement is to reach the point where you no longer feel the need to improve yourself.”

“Little things, when we're caught up and fretting about them, often appear to be big and meaningful and world-changing in the moment they are happening.”

“No truly happy person feels the need to stand in front of a mirror and recite that she's happy. She just is.”

“This entitlement plays out in one of two ways:1.   I’m awesome and the rest of you all suck, so I deserve special treatment.2.   I suck and the rest of you are all awesome, so I deserve special treatment.Opposite mindset on the outside, but the same selfish creamy core in the middle.”

“By itself, love is never enough to sustain a relationship.”

“For all we know, we are the only shot the universe has at intelligent self-organization. Therefore, we need to take it seriously.”

“'War and Peace' may be the most epic thing ever created by a human being.”

“Ultimately, I think, as humans, we all care deeply about our life's legacy, and contemplating our own mortality is the only real way to approach that question of legacy honestly.”

“You can always do something about the problems life gives you.”