George Saunders Quotes

One of the ideas that runs through this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] is this Buddhist notion that the mind is incredibly powerful; not the brain but the mind.

Science of mind teaches you how to realize how much control you have over your own life. It teaches you that we have the ability to change our lives at any point we choose.

When you're actually boxing, unless it's a proper grudge match, it's less about beating the person up and more about being better within yourself. Being patient, timing things, like chess, so really, it's as much down to you as what the other person does - and that's life.

The more meditation goes deep, the more you will become master of your own thoughts. You will say, "Stop!" and the mind stops. You will say, "Move!" and the mind begins to move. Once this capacity comes to you, you will not fall down again. Unless this is achieved, if you discontinue meditation, soon every result will be washed away.

Self-awareness is a key to self-mastery

Always staying focused is something that's been very tough for me. I'm still working on it.

In the end, it's a mental maturity to let your best come out.

I constantly push my body to meet what my mind wants me to be able to do.

Mindfulness has helped me succeed in almost every dimension of my life. By stopping regularly to look inward and become aware of my mental state, I stay connected to the source of my actions and thoughts and can guide them with considerably more intention.

Meditation is a lifelong process. Give it a try. As you get deeper and more disciplined into the process, you'll get deeper and more disciplined in your mind and life.

The philosophy of fasting calls upon us to know ourselves, to master ourselves, and to discipline ourselves the better to free ourselves. To fast is to identify our dependencies, and free ourselves from them.

I believe that the plight of life and all existence is to master one's self, you know, one day at a time.

The ego is there, but I'm learning to channel it.

I'm God because I have the power to control my mind.

It is the mind that makes the body.

To become a stoic is to endorse the truthfulness of its world view and accept its prescription for how you ought to live, not just to like how it makes you feel.

Awareness is empowering.

I do not ask for any crown But that which all may win; Nor try to conquer any world Except the one within.

Where the mind goes, the man follows.

I can control what I can control. I just focus on me, and that's it.

The mind is such a powerful thing, and when you learn how to control that it really turns a lot of things around.

Your mind is the most powerful weapon you have.

Once I dedicated my time to mixed martial arts, I became careful about what I let into my mind. I made a goal of being the best on Earth in mixed martial arts and fighting. I wanted to build my mind into something good, not just of the world. I wanted to be different.

When you hang out with yourself, you learn to keep yourself in check.

When I do martial arts, I feel like its inward facing. Like, I'm improving myself, I'm getting healthier. It's almost like mindfulness for something.