Bill

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
― Seneca

“The Stoics also articulated the mood that we should aspire to as our default setting—ataraxia (literally, ‘without disturbance’)—a carefully calibrated state of tranquillity that is not happiness, or joy, or any of the ecstatic states found in religious or mystical experiences, or in the more modern highs of falling in love or taking cocaine. Instead, ataraxia is a state of contentment or peace where the world can be falling in around your ears, but your equilibrium is undisturbed.”
― Brigid Delaney, Reasons Not to Worry: How to Be Stoic in Chaotic Times—A Practical Guide to Stoicism for Self-Improvement and Personal Growth

“I learned a lesson I’d never forget. The lesson was that, when you have setbacks and failures, you can’t overreact to them.”
― Angela Duckworth, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

“I've tried in this telling, time and time again, to pinpoint the moment where everything starts to fall apart. Everything, meaning me. But there's also the opposite, where some little nut cracks open inside you and a tree starts to grow. Even harder to nail. Because that thing's going to be growing a long time before you notice. Years maybe. then one day you say, Huh, that little crack between my ears has turned into this whole damn tree of wonderful. 515”
― Barbara Kingsolver, Demon Copperhead