You can't control what happens to you, you can only control how you react to it. So, focusing on what's in your control and accepting for the time being what's beyond your control is a really useful therapeutic idea.
— Jules Evans“Look at someone like Leonardo da Vinci, he was interested in so many different areas, and connected the dots to create his amazing work. Look at Steve Jobs. He took calligraphy at university, and applied it to create the user interface for the Mac! The more we understand, the more we can ask questions.”— Christian Busch
The quote archive
Wisdom in fragments
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
Our emotions are connected to our beliefs and opinions. Epictetus said what causes men suffering is not events, but their opinion about events. That piece of wisdom is very useful because it gives you some ability to have control over your emotions.
— Jules EvansWe all have philosophies which form the basis for our motivations and what we do with our days. Everyone has their own philosophy of life; every institution has a philosophy... but for most of us, those philosophies are unexamined and more or less automatic and instinctual.
— Jules EvansEndurance stays with you across everything, if you do it one place, you can do it anywhere. You're able to sustain because you've already trained your brain to do that.
— David BlaineIllusionist & Street Magician Known for Endurance Stunts & Television Specials
We have the ability to push much further than we think is possible, but the brain wants us to rest to allow the body to recover. With practice and training we can overcome almost any discomfort.
— David BlaineIllusionist & Street Magician Known for Endurance Stunts & Television Specials
The way you eliminate fear is to approach your situation from every angle, almost as though it were a logic puzzle. It's also setting a goal but not being afraid to back away if you think that you're going to do irreversible damage on the way there.
— David BlaineIllusionist & Street Magician Known for Endurance Stunts & Television Specials
Endurance is mind over body. It's about tapping into something within us that allows us to push further than we ever thought possible, especially at our weakest moments.
— David BlaineIllusionist & Street Magician Known for Endurance Stunts & Television Specials
Humans often come together by believing in ideas that may only exist in our imaginations. 50 years ago, talking to somebody on the other side of the world with a device that fits in your hand, walking on the moon, or sending a rocket to Pluto would have been beyond our realities and could only have been possible with magic.
— David BlaineIllusionist & Street Magician Known for Endurance Stunts & Television Specials
When you have the confidence that you really are an expert closer, you're a competent closer, the word no doesn't matter, because you know that there's going to be a certain number of no's and a certain number of yes's.
— Jordan BelfortStock Broker Convicted of Fraud; Subject of "The Wolf of Wall Street
Every person is different, but every sale is the same. The question is, where does the person start out on the certainty continuum?
— Jordan BelfortStock Broker Convicted of Fraud; Subject of "The Wolf of Wall Street
By using the Straight Line System, you can get yourself to a level where you're certainly good enough at sales, where your skill in that area is not going to be what holds you back in life.
— Jordan BelfortStock Broker Convicted of Fraud; Subject of "The Wolf of Wall Street
It makes you respect money more when it comes from something you create, rather than just trading back and forth with someone else's cash.
— Jordan BelfortStock Broker Convicted of Fraud; Subject of "The Wolf of Wall Street
I don't think it's money that corrupts people, I really don't. I think it's the idea that when you make money without having a tangible creation attached to that money, it has no value.
— Jordan BelfortStock Broker Convicted of Fraud; Subject of "The Wolf of Wall Street
Nobody should ever feel isolated, or like they have nowhere to turn. Whether it's at school, home, or in the workplace. Nobody should ever feel a cultural burden of silence around mental health challenges.
— Chirlane McCrayWife of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; Mental Health Advocate & Poet
The truth is that many in the clergy don't know what to do when people come to them with something that can't be prayed away! They need the right training, support and signposting skills to help.
— Chirlane McCrayWife of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; Mental Health Advocate & Poet
The first and most important part of tackling mental health challenges is to drive cultural change. If you don't change the culture around mental health- people will continue to be stigmatised, people will continue to stay silent, people will not seek the help they need.
— Chirlane McCrayWife of NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio; Mental Health Advocate & Poet