“What happens if you stick at something long enough, and study it for so long, yo…” — Robert Greene

People have more freedom to bring more of their personal qualities into the role they play once they have established themselves and their competence is no longer in question. But this is always within limits.

The things that transfixed you as a child, that you found most exciting was not a passing fancy, but a message about what you're supposed to do.

Power works best when it is indirect - never coercing people; instead, getting them to voluntarily align with your interests.

Even as a child, Muhammad Ali got perverse pleasure out of being different. He liked the attention it got him, but most of all he just liked being himself: odd and independent.