Robert Greene Quotes

“Do not swallow the easy moralism of the day, which urges honesty at the expense of desirability.”

“If you are observing someone you naturally dislike, or who reminds you of someone unpleasant in your past, you will tend to see almost any cue as unfriendly or hostile.

You will do the opposite for people you like. In these exercises you must strive to subtract your personal preferences and prejudices about people.”

“Learn to question yourself: Why this anger or resentment? Where does this incessant need for attention come from?

Under such scrutiny, your emotions will lose their hold on you. You will begin to think for yourself instead of reacting to what others give you.”

“Our continual connection to social media makes us prone to new forms of viral emotional effects. These are not media designed for calm reflection.”

“We are all self-absorbed, locked in our own worlds. It is a therapeutic and liberating experience to be drawn outside ourselves and into the world of another.”

“We see people not as they are, but as they appear to us. And these appearances are usually misleading.”

“We want to learn the lesson and not repeat the experience. But in truth, we do not like to look too closely at what we did; our introspection is limited.

Our natural response is to blame others, circumstances, or a momentary lapse of judgment.”

“What if we could find out what causes us to lie about who we are, or to inadvertently push people away?”

“You can recognize deep narcissists by the following behavior patterns: If they are ever insulted or challenged, they have no defense, nothing internal to soothe them or validate their worth.

They generally react with great rage, thirsting for vengeance, full of a sense of righteousness. This is the only way they know how to assuage their insecurities.

In such battles, they will position themselves as the wounded victim, confusing others and even drawing sympathy. They are prickly and oversensitive.

Almost everything is taken personally. They can become quite paranoid and have enemies in all directions to point to.”

“You like to imagine yourself in control of your fate, consciously planning the course of your life as best you can. But you are largely unaware of how deeply your emotions dominate you.

They make you veer toward ideas that soothe your ego. They make you look for evidence that confirms what you already want to believe. They make you see what you want to see, depending on your mood, and this disconnect from reality is the source of the bad decisions and negative patterns that haunt your life.

Rationality is the ability to counteract these emotional effects, to think instead of react, to open your mind to what is really happening, as opposed to what you are feeling. It does not come naturally; it is a power we must cultivate, but in doing so we realize our greatest potential.”