Dan Millman quotes:

Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.

Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.

I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.

When you begin your transcendental training, focusing your best efforts, without attachment to outcomes, you will understand the peaceful warrior's way.

Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body.

Every positive change - every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness - involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.

When we feel stuck, going nowhere-even starting to slip backward-we may actually be backing up to get a running start.

Inward spiritual practices such as meditation, breathing techniques and self-analysis generate insights and enhance abilities, but none are so useful as learning to live harmoniously in a committed relationship, being a skillful parent, or juggling the demands of daily life.

There are times, you know, it's said in the Spiritual Tradition, just a glimpse at an enlightened personage can convey immense information at the sub-conscious level that sprouts later, that we don't even know.

I'd always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.

Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow, signaling the later days of autumn.

Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it's greedy or loving.

Unless someone truly has the power to say no, they never truly have the power to say yes.

Conscious evolution begins as we take responsibility for clearing our own obstructions.

Life has three rules: Paradox, Humor, and Change. - Paradox: Life is a mystery; don't waste your time trying to figure it out. - Humor: Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure - Change: Know that nothing ever stays the same.

The world's a puzzle; no need to make sense out of it. - Socrates

A warrior takes responsibility for his acts, for the most trivial of acts. An average man acts out his thoughts, and never takes responsibility for what he does.When we feel stuck, going nowhere -- even starting to slipbackward -- we may actually be backing up to get a runningstart.

Your greatest fear is death and your deepest craving is survival. You want Forever, you desire Eternity. In your deluded belief that you are this 'mind' or 'spirit' or 'soul', you find the escape clause in your contract with mortality. Perhaps as 'mind' you can wing free of the body when it dies, hmm?

Life is constantly supporting us and giving us gifts. It's a matter of opening ourselves to that.

You don't just have a story - you're a story in the making, and you never know what the next chapter's going to be. That's what makes it exciting.

Moderation? It's mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It's the devil's dilemma. It's neither doing nor not doing. It's the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It's for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation...is lukewarm tea, the devil's own brew.

Your body is malleable; you can sculpt it over time with daily habits of diet and exercise. The law of accommodation reminds us that the body may change slowly, but it will change.

In the real world, those of us who are most productive, successful, and satisfied focus not on fixing feelings or manipulating thoughts, but on what needs to be done-and then doing it-no matter what thoughts or feelings arise.

The seasons do not push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky. All things happen in their own good time.

I kind of got more interested in writing after I turned in my last college essay and nobody was going to tell me what kind of academic papers to write anymore. I could write whatever I wanted, and I realized that I actually liked it when I could choose what I would write.

Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.

We all have the archetype inside us of the enlightened being.

It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament. As your eyes open, you'll see that your state of health, happiness, and every circumstance of your life has been, in large part, arranged by you - consciously or unconsciously.

If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever.

Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds."

You are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your body, mind, and emotions through training, you reshape your life.

No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your spirit, it can never bring you ulimate happiness or peace. Life requires more that knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.

You haven't yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior's way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability--to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I've shown you by example that a warrior's life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior's sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.

Unless the desire to change remains strong, body and mind tend to return to old, familiar patterns. It takes time-from three to six months-for old habits to become obsolete. By the end of that time, you'll have adapted to a new pattern. In a sense, you'll have found a new way of life.

A jet plane cannot mow the lawn, but it can fly to distant destinations. Don't worry so much about what you can't do; just do what you can as only you can do it.

As poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, "We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water." Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?

It may be true that the unexamined life is not worth living-but neither is the unlived life worth examining.

Live in the Moment", "Empty Your Mind of the Trash" Wisdom is the Use of Knowledge

No matter what we feel or know, no matter what our potential gifts or talents, only action brings them to life. Those of us who only think we understand concepts such as commitment, courage, and love, one day discover that we only know when we act; doing becomes understanding.

Faith is our direct link to universal wisdom, reminding us that we know more than we have heard or read or studied that we have only to look, listen, and trust the love and wisdom of the Universal Spirit working through us all.

everyone tells you what's good for you. they don't want you to find your own answers. they want you to believe theirs.

Freedom from mental distraction equals power. Body mind masters eventually come to the realization that this and every moment, on or off the field, is the moment of truth.

Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness--if you had little time left to live--you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you...you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason--or you will never be at all.

I have an almost religious zeal... not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.

There are no ordinary moments.

As we stop monitoring others' opinions, we connect with our heart's wisdom.

If you want a kinder world, then behave with kindness; if you want a peaceful world, make peace within.

Live with a peaceful heart; cultivate a warrior's spirit.

As a peaceful warrior, I would choose when, where and how I would behave. With that commitment, I began to live the life of a warrior.

Peaceful warriors have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water clears. They remain unmoving until the right time, so the right action arises by itself. They do not seek fulfillment, but wait with open arms to welcome all things.

So trust the process of your life unfolding, and know with certainty, through the peaks and valleys of your journey, that your soul rests safe and secure in the arms of God.

. . . Action always happens in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the here and now. But the mind is like a phantom that lives only in the past or future. It's only power over you is to draw your attention our of the present.

Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.

Simplicity has power. Founding our life on constructive, positive behavior is the simplest, most direct, and powerful approach I've ever found-simple, but not easy.

We are both burdened and blessed by the great responsibility of the will - the power of choice. Our future is determined, in large part, by the choices we make now. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can and do choose our response to whatever arises. Reclaiming the power of choice, we find the courage to live fully in the world.

A flash of enlightenment offers a preview of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what separates you from that state - your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs, false associations, and other mental structures. Just when our lives are starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse - because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done.

When you release your expectations that the world should fulfill you, your disappointments vanish.

Babe Ruth was the home-run king of his time, but also the strikeout king.

Before you can see the Light, you have to deal with the darkness.

A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does

The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.

If babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk or talk. Can you imagine infants stomping, 'Aarggh! Screwed up again!' Fortunately, babies are free of self-criticism. They just keep practicing.

Ships are safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for. So set sail on the stormy sea of love. You're going to get soaked at times, but at least you'll know you're alive.

All these years I had been sustained by an illusion-happiness through victory- and now that illusion was burned to ashes. I was no more happier, no more fullfilled, for all my achievements. Finally I saw through the clouds I saw that I had never learned how to enjoy life, only how to achieve. All my life i had been busy seeking happiness, but never finding it or sustaining it.

Our sense of self-worth is the single most important determinant of the health, abundance, and joy we allow into our lives.

Process transforms any journey into a series of small steps, taken one by one, to reach any goal. Process transcends time, teaches patience, rests on a solid foundation of careful preparation, and embodies trust in our unfolding potential.

Life comes at us in waves. We can't predict or control those waves, but we can learn to surf

Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort-expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.

Like this gas tank, you are overflowing with preconceptions, full of useless knowledge. You hold many facts and opinions, yet know little of yourself. Before you can learn, you'll have to first empty your tank.

Ultimately, fear of failure generates a vicious circle that creates what is most feared. To break this cycle, you need to make peace with failure. It isn't enough to merely tolerate it; you need to appreciate the failure and use it ...

The quality of your moments produces the quality of your life. So, as thoughts come and go and the waves of mind rush on, Carpe punctum-Seize this moment. It deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again.

I was a world champion on the trampoline at an international level, and gymnastics competitor.

Yes, I did shatter my leg, and it really changed my life, in a way. It wasn't much fun, but it did open me up, and as we all know intuitively, adversity can develop resources.

Saints were saints because they acted with loving kindness whether they felt like it or not.

We're immersed in the spirit of God all the time. We just don't notice.

Stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.

Everything you need to know is within you. Listen. Feel. Trust the body's wisdom.

Choice means giving up something you want for something else you want more.

Energy follows thought; we move toward, but not beyond, what we can imagine. What we assume, expect, or believe creates and colors our experience. By expanding our deepest beliefs about what is possible, we change our experience of life.

You can change your life with a simple shift of attention. But to make that simple shift, you have to find your heart. It's the only way. Accept yourself, then transcend yourself.

Allow rather than resist what arises in the present moment-inside or out. Let it be interesting rather than good or bad.

There is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path.

The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.

Enlightenment is not an attainment; it is a realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes. If a blind man realizes that he can see, has the world changed?

Don't wait until you die to learn the warrior's way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasion and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you lived.

Surrender means accepting this moment, this body, and this life with open arms. Surrender involves getting out of your own way and living in accord with a higher will, expressed as the wisdom of the heart. Far more than passive acceptance, surrender uses every challenge as a means of spiritual growth and expanded awareness.

We are here to live moment by moment, and each moment brings a task, a challenge, a goal. It's good to have big goals, but we need to connect the dots between where we are and where we are going, one day, one moment at a time.

Coming to appreciate your worth can, in some cases, dramatically improve your circumstances by changing the choices you make and the actions you take. And as you begin to treat yourself with more respect, other people begin to do the same, since we subconsciously "train" others how to treat us through messages we send through body language, tone of voice, and other subtle cues and behaviors. Discovering your innate worth and living from that place allows you to make more constructive choices-to choose the higher roads of life

Your fears are not walls, but hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.

The universe does not judge us; it only provides consequences and lessons and opportunities to balance and learn through the law of cause and effect. Compassion is the recognition that we are each doing the best we can within the limits of our current beliefs and capacities.

This planet is a divine school, and daily life a classroom. Our choice of teachers depends on what we need to learn.

Find the heart of it. Make the complex simple, and you can achieve mastery.

Thoughts naturally arise. The point of meditation is not to banish thoughts but to make peace with them by realizing their lack of substance.

If you desire to dig a well to reach water, your efforts are more fruitful if you dig one 100-foot-deep hole than if you dig ten holes each 10 feet deep.

While some of us act without thinking, too many of us think without acting.

Dream big. Start small and then connect the dots

You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.

Your fears are not walls, but hurdles.

There are times to let things happen, and times to make things happen. Now is that time. You will either make things happen, watch what happens, or wonder what happened.

Life is not a private affair. A story and its lessons are only made useful if shared.

Every choice eventually leads to wisdom.

Carry your groceries, garden, and do other activities that keep you moving. You will add more years to your life and more life to your years.

If you want peace of mind I suggest you resign as general manager of the universe.

It's better to make a mistake with the full force of your being than to timidly avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit. Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, action and consequence, then making a choice.

The world's a puzzle; no need to make sense out of it." - Socrates

The warrior is Here, Now.

A Zen student asked his roshi the most important element of Zen.The roshi replied, "Attention." "Yes, thank you," the student replied. "But can you tell me the second most important element?"And the roshi replied, "Attention."

Embrace the higher truth that everything comes to pass exactly as it should. Find peace and wisdom by accepting what is.

Life is the only real teacher. It offers many experiences....But the lessons of experience are hidden.

Faith is the courage to live your life as if everything that happens does so for your highest good and learning. Like it or not.

In life, stress happens when you resist what arises.

The secret of change consists in concentrating one's energy to create the new, and not to fight against the old.

You're a prisoner of your own illusions - about yourself and about the world.

Better never begin; once begun, better finish.

I had lost my mind and fallen into my heart.

Anybody can be happy when things are going well, and I've learned that. But when things aren't going well it draws out the inner warrior in us to radiate that and bring whatever happiness we can to the situation.

You have to lose your mind in order to regain your senses.

The only laws are paradox, humor and change.

There are no mistakes, only lessons. If you don't learn the lesson the first time, they get harder.

To see where something leads, it's best to wait until you've reached the end.