Eric Greitens

I have to remind ourselves and teach our children—that human beings can turn hardship into wisdom because we are born with the capacity for resilience, and we can make ourselves more resilient through practice

The point is to read in a way that leads to better thinking, and to think in a way that leads to better living.

But when you’re in bed and not tired and it’s bright outside and you can’t seem to get your feet on the floor, you start to see that a lot of our most important battles are the ones we fight for self-mastery

The benefits of struggling—of being challenged, afraid, pained, confused—are so precious that if they could be bottled, people would pay dearly for them

, they are not unique. Your struggles are very much like the struggles of those who went before you, and they are very much like the struggles of those who will come after you. Every human being from the beginning of time has suffered pain and hardship, difficulty and doubt

We can do better. Everyone can learn. We can all cultivate our character