Meister Eckhart (c. 1260–c. 1328) was a German theologian, philosopher, and mystic in the Dominican order. Eckhart was tried as a heretic during the Inquisition but died before a verdict was delivered.
CLEAR ALL
Learning any new skill involves relatively brief spurts of progress, each of which is followed by a slight decline to a plateau somewhat higher in most cases than that which preceded it . . . the upward spurts vary; the plateaus have their own dips and rises along the way. . . .
Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.
Stay a verb—don’t become a noun.
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This is how great intellectual breakthroughs usually happen in practice. It is rarely the isolated genius having a eureka moment alone in the lab. Nor is it merely a question of building on precedent, of standing on the shoulders of giants, in Newton’s famous phrase.
When things go wrong, you’ll find they usually go on getting worse for some time; but when things once start going right they often go on getting better and better.
You can’t do everything, but you can do one thing, and then another and another. In terms of energy, it’s better to make a wrong choice than none at all. You might begin by listing your priorities—for the day, for the week, for the month, for a lifetime. Start modestly.
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Backsliding is a universal experience. Every one of us resists significant change, no matter whether it’s for the worse or for the better. Our body, brain and behavior have a built-in tendency to stay the same within rather narrow limits, and to snap back when changed. . . .
For the master, surrender means there are no experts. There are only learners.
To be a learner, you’ve got to be willing to be a fool.
Perhaps we’ll never know how far the path can go, how much a human being can truly achieve, until we realize that the ultimate reward is not a gold medal but the path itself.