Warriors do not win victories by beating their heads against walls, but by overtaking the walls. Warriors jump over walls; they don’t demolish them.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
The warrior: silent in his struggle, undetainable because he has nothing to lose, functional and efficacious because he has everything to gain.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
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.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
The moment that he begins to walk along it, the warrior of the light recognizes the path.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
The internal dialogue is what grounds people in the daily world. The world is such and such or so and so, only because we talk to ourselves about its being such and such and so and so. The passageway into the world of shamans opens up after the warrior has learned to shut off his internal dialogue.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
When a warrior learns to stop the internal dialogue, everything becomes possible; the most far-fetched schemes become attainable.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
A warrior thinks of death when things become unclear. The idea of death is the only thing that tempers our spirit.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That’s the warrior’s way.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
If his spirit is distorted he should simply fix it—purge it, make it perfect—because there is no other task in our entire lives which is more worthwhile … To seek the perfection of the warrior’s spirit is the only task worthy of our temporariness, our manhood.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
For a warrior, to be inaccessible means that he touches the world around him sparingly. And above all, he deliberately avoids exhausting himself and others. He doesn’t use and squeeze people until they have shriveled to nothing, especially the people he loves.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Warriors of the light are not perfect. Their beauty lies in accepting this fact and still desiring to grow and to learn.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
The humbleness of a warrior is not the humbleness of the beggar. The warrior lowers his head to no one, but at the same time, he doesn’t permit anyone to lower his head to him. The beggar, on the other hand, falls to his knees at the drop of a hat and scrapes the floor to anyone he deems to be higher; but at the same time, he demands that someone lower than him scrape the floor for him.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Rich people do not back away from problems, do not avoid problems, and do not complain about problems. Rich people are financial warriors.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won’t give him time to cling to anything so he tries, without craving, all of everything.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one. It is rather an endless struggle that will go on to the very last moment of our lives. Nobody is born a warrior, in exactly the same way that nobody is born an average man. We make ourselves into one or the other.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
I was a warrior so my son could be a farmer so his son could be a poet.
—John Adams (1735–1826) 2nd US President, Founding Father, Statesman
A warrior doesn’t know remorse for anything he has done, because to isolate one’s acts as being mean, or ugly, or evil is to place an unwarranted importance on the self.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A warrior considers himself already dead, so there is nothing to lose. The worst has already happened to him, therefore he’s clear and calm; judging him by his acts or by his words, one would never suspect that he has witnessed everything.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A warrior of the light…never confuses tension with anxiety.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
The warrior of the light has a destiny to fulfill.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy—it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
A warrior acts as if he knows what he is doing, when in effect he knows nothing.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
There’s no emptiness in the life of a warrior. Everything is filled to the brim. Everything is filled to the brim, and everything is equal.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
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.
—Dan Millman (b.1946) American Children’s Books Writer, Sportsperson
The third level of wanting is “I commit to being rich”. The definition of the word commit is to “devote oneself unreservedly”. This means holding absolutely nothing back; giving 100 percent of everything you’ve got to achieving wealth. It means being willing to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes. This is the warrior’s way. No excuses, no ifs, no butts, no maybes—and failure isn’t an option. The warrior’s way is simple: “I will be rich or I will die trying”.
—T. Harv Eker (b.1954) American Motivational Speaker, Lecturer, Author
On some nights, he has nowhere to sleep, on others he suffers from insomnia. “That’s just how it is,” thinks the warrior. “I was the one who chose to walk this path”.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
The self-confidence of the warrior is not the self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average man is hooked to his fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
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