Robert Greene (American author) Quotes

87 Sourced Quotes

When it comes to mastering a skill, time is the magic ingredient.

Robert Greene
Remember: The best deceivers do everything they can to cloak their roguish qualities. They cultivate an air of honesty in one area to disguise their dishonesty in others. Honesty is merely another decoy in their arsenal of weapons.

Robert Greene
Understand: A person of power instills a kind of fear by deliberately unsettling those around him to keep the initative on his side.

Robert Greene
Do not envy those who seem to be naturally gifted; it is often a curse, as such types rarely learn the value of diligence and focus, and they pay for this later in life.

Robert Greene
You must always be prepared to place a bet on yourself, on your future, by heading in a direction that others seem to fear.

Robert Greene
The time that leads to mastery is dependent on the intensity of our focus.

Robert Greene
The quiet mind is richer than a crown....Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss beggars enjoy when princes oft do miss.

Robert Greene
Do not leave your reputation to chance or gossip; it is your life's artwork, and you must craft it, hone it, and display it with the care of an artist.

Robert Greene
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Robert Greene
Our levels of desire, patience, persistence, and confidence end up playing a much larger role in success than sheer reasoning powers. Feel motivated and energized, we can overcome almost anything. Feeling bored and restless, our minds shut off and we become increasingly passive.

Robert Greene
The key then to attaining this higher level of intelligence is to make our years of study qualitatively rich. We don't simply absorb information - we internalize it and make it our own by finding some way to put this knowledge to practical use.

Robert Greene
The key to power, then, is the ability to judge who is best able to further your interests in all situations. Keep friends for friendship, but work with the skilled and competent.

Robert Greene
Never waste valuable time, or mental peace of mind, on the affairs of others—that is too high a price to pay.

Robert Greene
The passive ironic attitude is not cool or romantic, but pathetic and destructive.

Robert Greene
The need for certainty is the greatest disease the Mind faces

Robert Greene
Love is a lock that linketh noble minds,
Faith is the key that shuts the spring of love.

Robert Greene
The conventional mind is passive - it consumes information and regurgitates it in familiar forms. The dimensional mind is active, transforming everything it digests into something new and original, creating instead of consuming.

Robert Greene
Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.

Robert Greene
To succeed in the game of power, you have to master your emotions. But even if you succeed in gaining such self-control, you can never control the temperamental dispositions of those around you. And this presents a great danger.

Robert Greene
The world wants to assign you a role in life. And once you accept that role you are doomed.

Robert Greene
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Robert Greene
Nothing is stable in the realm of power, and even closest of friends can be transformed into the worst of enemies.

Robert Greene
Religion is the great balm of existence because it takes us outside ourselves, connects us to something larger

Robert Greene
Our times might emphasize equality, which we then mistake for the need for everyone to be the same, but what we really mean by this is the equal chance for people to express their differences, to let a thousand flowers bloom.

Robert Greene
Her lips are roses over-washed with dew, Or like the purple of Narcissus' flower; No frost their fair, no wind doth waste their power, But by her breath her beauties to renew.

Robert Greene
Animals behave in set patterns, which is why we are able to hunt and kill them. Only man has the capacity to consciously alter his behavior, to improvise and overcome the weight of routine and habit.

Robert Greene
Many a serious thinker has been produced in prisons, where we have nothing to do but think.

Robert Greene