Hand-picked quotes about time from the best non-fiction books

Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skillful management of energy.

Any form of stress that prompts discomfort has the potential to expand our capacity - physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually - so long as it is followed by adequate recovery.

We tend to be overly optimistic when we map out timelines, goals, targets, and other horizons. We look at the best-case scenario instead of using the past to determine what a more realistic scenario would look like.

Self-discipline is self-caring. If we feel ourselves valuable, then we will feel our time to be valuable, to organize it and protect it and make maximum use of it.

We, too, must learn to live our own lives as a series of sprints - fully engaging for periods of time, and then fully disengaging and seeking renewal before jumping back into the fray.

Money’s greatest intrinsic value—and this can’t be overstated—is its ability to give you control over your time.

Compared to generations prior, control over your time has diminished. And since controlling your time is such a key happiness influencer, we shouldn’t be surprised that people don’t feel much happier even though we are, on average, richer than ever.

Happiness is a complicated subject because everyone’s different. But if there’s a common denominator in happiness—a universal fuel of joy—it’s that people want to control their lives.

Warren Buffett is a phenomenal investor. But you miss a key point if you attach all of his success to investing acumen. The real key to his success is that he’s been a phenomenal investor for three quarters of a century. Had he started investing in his 30s and retired in his 60s, few people would have ever heard of him.

Every one of our thoughts, emotions and behaviors has an energy consequence.

There’s only one way to stay wealthy: some combination of frugality and paranoia. Getting money is one thing. Keeping it is another.

To enjoy life, you don’t need fancy nonsense, but you do need to control your time and realize that most things just aren’t as serious as you make them out to be.

Good investing isn’t necessarily about earning the highest returns, because the highest returns tend to be one-off hits that can’t be repeated. It’s about earning pretty good returns that you can stick with and which can be repeated for the longest period of time. That’s when compounding runs wild.

More than I want big returns, I want to be financially unbreakable. And if I’m unbreakable I actually think I’ll get the biggest returns, because I’ll be able to stick around long enough for compounding to work wonders.

There are books on economic cycles, trading strategies, and sector bets. But the most powerful and important book should be called Shut Up And Wait. It’s just one page with a long-term chart of economic growth.

Creating positive rituals is the most powerful means we have found to effectively manage energy in the service of full engagement.

The limiting factor in building any “muscle” is that many of us back off at the slightest hint of discomfort. To meet increased demand in our lives, we must learn to systematically build and strengthen muscles wherever our capacity is insufficient.

Having more control over your time and options is becoming one of the most valuable currencies in the world.

I thought that if I waited long enough the problem might go away. Problems do not go away. They must be worked through or else they remain.

The power of rituals is that they insure that we use as little conscious energy as possible.

Each individual is so caught up in his own bullshit that he doesn't have two seconds to worry about yours.

Some of our existing habits help us get through the day, but take a long-term toll on our performance, health and happiness. Examples include relying on junk food for bursts of energy.

«People having control over their time tend to be happier in life» is a broad and common enough observation that you can do something with it.

“The only way to win in a Las Vegas casino is to exit as soon as you enter.” That’s exactly how the game of trying to keep up with other people’s wealth works, too.

Getting money requires taking risks, being optimistic, and putting yourself out there. But keeping money requires the opposite of taking risk. It requires humility, and fear that what you’ve made can be taken away from you just as fast.

Lack of time is lack of priorities. If I’m “busy,” it is because I’ve made choices that put me in that position.