Target

“A Mauritanian folktale tells us about a rooster-phobe who would almost lose his mind whenever he encountered a rooster. “Why are you so afraid of the rooster?” the psychiatrist asks him. “The rooster thinks I’m corn.” “You’re not corn. You are a very big man. Nobody can mistake you for a tiny ear of corn,” the psychiatrist said. “I know that, Doctor. But the rooster doesn’t. Your job is to go to him and convince him that I am not corn.” The man was never healed, since talking with a rooster is impossible. End of story. For years I’ve been trying to convince the U.S. government that I am not corn.”
― Mohamedou Ould Slahi, The Mauritanian

“Understand: people will constantly attack you in life. One of their main weapons will be to instill in you doubts about yourself – your worth, your abilities, your potential. They will often disguise this as their objective opinion, but invariably it has a political purpose – they want to keep you down.”
― Robert Greene, The 50th Law: Overcoming Adversity Through Fearlessness

“The greatest prison people live in is the fear of what other people think.”
― David Icke

“So why was I so scared? Because crime is something relative; it's something the government defines and redefines whenever it pleases.”
― Mohamedou Ould Slahi, Guantánamo Diary