While the history books are filled with tales of obsessive, visionary geniuses who remade the world in their image with sheer, almost irrational force, I’ve found that if you go looking you’ll find that history is also made by individuals who fought their egos at every turn, who eschewed the spotlight, and who put their higher goals above their desire for recognition.Ryan Holiday
Impressing people is utterly different from being truly impressiveRyan Holiday
Almost universally, the kind of performance we give on social media is positive. It’s more 'let me tell you how well things are going. Look how great I am.' It's rarely the truth: 'I am scared. I am struggling. I don’t know.'Ryan Holiday
It is not enough to be recognized merely for what we've done, what we've built, what we've accomplished. We want to be known for our cleverness. We wish to be talked about for our technique, for the impossible hero lyric.Ryan Holiday
All of us regularly say yes unthinkingly, or out of vague attraction, or out of greed or vanity. Because we can’t say no — because we might miss out on something if we did. We think 'yes' will let us accomplish more, when in reality 'yes' often slows us down.Ryan Holiday
Ego is the enemy of what you want and of what you have: Of mastering a craft. Of real creative insight. Of working well with others. Of building loyalty and support. Of longevity. Of repeating and retaining your success.Ryan Holiday
Ego inhibits true success by preventing a direct and honest connection to the world around us.Ryan Holiday
Ego is stolen. Confidence is earned.Ryan Holiday
What we want and what we need are rarely the same.Ryan Holiday
To whatever we aspire, our task is the same: Push through the weeds of arrogance or fretfulness until we can find the open space of humility and of truth.Ryan Holiday