Ego Is the Enemy

Passion is form over function. Purpose is function, function, function.

The only relationship between work and chatter is that one kills the other.

The pretense of knowledge is our most dangerous vice, because it prevents us from getting any better. Studious self-assessment is the antidote.

What humans require in our ascent is purpose and realism. Purpose, you could say, is like passion with boundaries. Realism is detachment and perspective.

The ego we see most commonly goes by a more casual definition: an unhealthy belief in our own importance. Arrogance. Self-centered ambition.

Doing the right thing was enough. Serving his country, his God, and doing his duty faithfully was all that mattered.

Face the symptoms. Cure the disease. Ego makes it so hard—it’s easier to delay, to double down, to deliberately avoid seeing the changes we need to make in our lives.

The questions remain: Are you going to make it worse? Or are you going to emerge from this with your dignity and character intact?

The only real failure is abandoning your principles. Killing what you love because you can’t bear to part from it is selfish and stupid.

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.

Ego rejects trade-offs. Why compromise? Ego wants it all.

Success casts a spell over us. The problem lies in the path that got us to success in the first place.

The complete and utter sense of certainty that got you here can become a liability if you’re not careful.

When we lack a connection to anything larger or bigger than us, it’s like a piece of our soul is gone.

Nothing draws us away from those questions like material success—when we are always busy, stressed, put upon, distracted, reported to, relied on, apart from.

Almost always, your road to victory goes through a place called 'failure.

This moment is not your life. But it is a moment in your life. How will you use it?