Robert Greene Quotes.
We do not see people as they are, but as they appear to us. And these appearances are usually misleading.
People expect your behavior to conform to known patterns and conventions. Your task as a strategist is to upset their expectations.
The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.
Few are drawn to the person whom others avoid and neglect; people gather around those who have already attracted interest.
Your unhappiness is a way of speaking to you, it’s telling you something isn’t right.
You have the power to think differently about who you are. You have the ability to turn off the critical voice inside of you. That’s not you. That’s coming from the culture. That’s coming from the outside of you. You’ve internalized the voice of your parents, your teachers, your friends.
When I was researching my book ‘The 33 Strategies of War’, I studied Napoleon extensively and I found myself wanting to ask Napoleon questions about things he did, and if was I interpreting his actions correctly.
Transforming yourself into a deep listener will not only prove more amusing as you open your mind to their mind, but you will gain the most invaluable lessons about human psychology.
I’ve always loved black culture; I don’t know any other way to put it. Since I was a kid I loved music and early jazz, Sly and the Family Stone. I’m older – I’m in my early 50s – so you’ll have to excuse me. That was always very exciting to me to connect to the culture on that level.
When you get angry, your options narrow.
I’m not who people expect me to be. I’m not Henry Kissinger.
Once people are aware of your presence, and perhaps vaguely intrigued, you need to stir their interest before it settles on someone else.
On a career level, I always advise people to look ahead and be open to changes in direction. That job that seems so good now can easily turn into a nightmare if you do not see the possible corners it can land you in.
As social animals, we are extremely susceptible to the moods of other people. This gives us the power to subtly infuse into people the appropriate mood for influencing them.
I had noticed that many of these successful people, historical and contemporary, shared certain common traits. They had a way of thinking that was exceptionally fluid; they could adapt to almost any circumstance; when confronted with problems, they could look at them from novel perspectives and solve them.
Understand: as children and young adults, we are taught to conform to certain codes of behavior and ways of doing things. We learn that being different comes with a social price.
In the normal flow of a conversation, our attention is divided. We hear parts of what other people are saying, in order to follow and keep the conversation going. At the same time, we’re planning what we’ll say next, some exciting story of our own.
