Eric Greitens > Quotes

“There were a number of definitions of courage, but now I was seeing it in its simplest form: you do what has to be done day after day, and you never quit.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“...it's not enough to fight for a better world; we also have to live lives worth fighting for.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“As warriors, as humanitarians, they've taught me that without courage, compassion falters, and that without compassion, courage has no direction.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“The first step to building resilience is to take responsibility for who you are and for your life. If you’re not willing to do that, stop wasting your time reading this letter. The essence of responsibility is the acceptance of the consequences—good and bad—of your actions.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“A good peace, a solid peace, a peace in which communities can flourish, can only be built when we ask ourselves and each other to be more than just good, and better than just strong. And a good life, a meaningful life, a life in which we can enjoy the world and live with purpose, can only be built if we do more than live for ourselves.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“If we want to change something, we must begin with understanding. But if we want to love something, we must begin with acceptance.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility. Humility leads to clarity. Humility leads to an open mind and a forgiving heart. With an open mind and a forgiving heart, I see every person as superior to me in some way; with every person as my teacher, I grow in wisdom. As I grow in wisdom, humility becomes ever more my guide. I begin with humility, I act with humility, I end with humility.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“One of the reasons you are suffering right now is precisely because the purpose of your struggle is unclear. What are you working toward? What are you fighting for? Who are you going to be?”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“What happens to us becomes part of us. Resilient people do not bounce back from hard experiences; they find healthy ways to integrate them into their lives. In time, people find that great calamity met with great spirit can create great strength.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Courage overcomes, but does not replace, fear. Joy overcomes, but does not replace, pain.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“When we’re struggling, we don’t need a book in our hands. We need the right words in our minds. When things are tough, a mantra does more good than a manifesto.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Practice builds habits. Our habits are our character. When it comes to virtue, practice “makes a very great difference—or rather, all the difference.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Smiling and breathing. These are simple things. Exercising and serving. These are simple things. Being grateful and gracious. These are simple things. Acting with humility. Acting with courage. These are simple things. Some people try to make this business of living too complicated,”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Life is short. Life is uncertain. But we know that we have today. And we have each other. I believe that for each of us, there is a place on the frontlines.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“I’ve learned that courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin, and that every warrior, every humanitarian, every citizen is built to live with both.

“In fact, to win a war, to create peace, to save a life, or just to live a good life requires of us — of every one of us — that we be both good and strong.”
― Eric Greitens

“People always ask me, "What kind of people make it through Hell Week?" I don't really have an answer to that. I do know-- generally-- who won't make it through Hell Week. The weightlifting meatheads who think the size of their biceps indicates their strength: they usually fail. The kids covered in tattoos announcing to the world how tough they are: they usually fail. The preening leaders who don't want to be dirty: they usually fail. The "me first, look at me, I'm the best" former athletes who've always been told they're stars: they usually fail. The blowhards who have a thousand stories about what they're going to do but a thin record of what they've actually done: they usually fail. The whiners, the "this is not fair" guys: they usually fail.”
― Eric Greitens, The Warrior's Heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage

“Start with this: not all pain matters. There are people whose attention is consistently drawn away from their purpose and toward their pain, like a moth to a light. Such people, who pay attention to every annoyance and obstacle in their way, are usually unsuccessful in their endeavors. In extreme cases they are mentally ill. A healthy person, a flourishing person, learns to move past a lot of annoyance and a good deal of pain.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“If you take responsibility for anything in your life, know that you’ll feel fear. That fear will manifest itself in many ways: fear of embarrassment, fear of failure, fear of hurt. Such fears are entirely natural and healthy, and you should recognize them as proof that you’ve chosen work worth doing. Every worthy challenge will inspire some fear.   A”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Alone, human beings can feel hunger. Alone, we can feel cold. Alone, we can feel pain. To feel poor, however, is something we do only in comparison to others.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“Mother Teresa's missionaries were able to embrace people—complete with all sorts of weaknesses, failures, foibles, strengths, and faiths—and work with them wholeheartedly. The sisters lived their entire lives in faith, but to me, it seemed that they needed to whisper barely a word about their theology because the integrity of their work said everything. After spending time in a place of such care and love, I came to understand that when we see self-righteousness it is often an expression of self-doubt and self-hatred. In a place where people are able to accept themselves, love themselves, and know that they are loved, there is no need to criticize or compare, cajole or convince. The sisters concentrated, instead, on loving their neighbors.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“A veteran who comes home from war is returning from one of the most intense experiences a human being can have. Even if he was not under fire every day, he woke up every morning as part of a team. He started every day with a purpose, and a mission that mattered to those around him.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“If people can live through genocide and retain compassion, if they can take strength in pain, if they are able, still, to laugh, then certainly we can learn something from them.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“I thought of Pericles' speech to the families of the Athenian war dead, in which he said, "What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“First, you can develop resilience. Anyone can do it. No one can do it for you. You and you alone have to do the work. Second, you can develop resilience. It’s possible to build virtues. It’s possible to change your character. It’s possible, therefore, to change the direction of your life. Third, you can develop resilience. Resilience cannot be purchased or given to you; you have to do the hard work of building excellence in your life.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Never cease chiseling your own statue.   —PLOTINUS (205–270)   You”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“Those who are excellent at their work have learned to comfortably coexist with failure. The excellent fail more often than the mediocre. They begin more. They attempt more. They attack more. Mastery lives quietly atop a mountain of mistakes.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“If you're a real frogman," he said, "then every time a woman leaves your side, she'll feel better about herself." ... The message felt similar to what Earl had taught: being strong meant being able to do good, to lift up and protect those whose lives you touched.”
― Eric Greitens, The Warrior's Heart: Becoming a Man of Compassion and Courage

“Across the globe, even in the world's "worst places," people found ways to turn pain into wisdom and suffering into strength. They made their own actions, their very lives, into a memorial that honored the people they had lost.”
― Eric Greitens, The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL

“If you start with humility, you see every person as your teacher.”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses . . . in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.   —MUHAMMAD ALI”
― Eric Greitens, Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life