David Keen > David's Quotes

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”
― Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

“Our job in this life is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”
― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“Not all addictions are rooted in abuse or trauma, but I do believe they can all be traced to painful experience. A hurt is at the centre of all addictive behaviours. It is present in the gambler, the Internet addict, the compulsive shopper and the workaholic. The wound may not be as deep and the ache not as excruciating, and it may even be entirely hidden—but it’s there. As we’ll see, the effects of early stress or adverse experiences directly shape both the psychology and the neurobiology of addiction in the brain.”
― Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“It is impossible to understand addiction without asking what relief the addict finds, or hopes to find, in the drug or the addictive behaviour.”
― Gabor Mate, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“True mastery transcends any particular art. It stems from mastery of oneself--the ability, developed through self-discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the surroundings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself.”
― Bruce Lee

“Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it's within your reach. And it'll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It'll be worth it, I promise.”
― Steve Wozniak

“I think there is a profound and enduring beauty in simplicity; in clarity, in efficiency. True simplicity is derived from so much more than just the absence of clutter and ornamentation. It's about bringing order to complexity.”
― Jonathan Ive, As Little Design as Possible

“Not every story has a happy ending, ... but the discoveries of science, the teachings of the heart, and the revelations of the soul all assure us that no human being is ever beyond redemption. The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists. How to support that possibility in others and in ourselves is the ultimate question.”
― Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“The difference between passion and addiction is that between a divine spark and a flame that incinerates.”
― Gabor Maté, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“The attempt to escape from pain, is what creates more pain.”
― Gabor Maté

“When I watch Björk sing, It's right here, that spot at the top of the forehead. Neil Young is the same. He sings to this spot in his head. And what he's singing, he's already heard. He's hearing it come out. And the same with Björk. When she's singing, she's singing what she's hearing so there's no force. It's a force in itself.
What I realised watching Michael Stipe, was that this is someone whose voice is in command of them rather than the other way around. It's very natural but it takes a long time for that to become natural. Like any singer, it takes a long time to find that, and it keeps changing. How I sing now feels different to a few years ago. It's just where you're at. Singing is nothing but being in the moment. That's it.
I remember during OK Computer, I still thought "I need to be slightly drunk" or "I need to do something beforehand so that I'm in the right space, man", but it's all bollocks, because basically you just gotta learn to be there with it when you do it.
You're not trying to prove anything. You're not trying to get anywhere. You're not trying to achieve anything. You're not trying to get this emotion across. You're not in this space trying to get this space across. You're not trying to get this mindset across or anything. You're just letting it happen.”
― Thom Yorke