59 quotes
An average man is too concerned with liking people or with being liked himself. A warrior likes, that's all. He likes whatever or whomever he wants for the hell of it.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A warrior has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country; he has only life to be lived, and under these circumstances, his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
As long as man feels that he is the most important thing in the world, he cannot really appreciate the world around him. He is like a horse with blinders; all he sees is himself, apart from everything else.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
Warriors speak of shamanism as a magical, mysterious bird which has paused in its flight for a moment in order to give man hope and purpose; warriors live under the wind of that bird, which they call the "bird of wisdom," the "bird of freedom."
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A warrior considers himself already dead, so there is nothing for him to lose. The worst has already happened to him, therefore he's clear and calm; judging him by his acts or by his words, one would never suspect that he has witnessed everything.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
For a warrior, to be inaccessible means that he touches the world around him sparingly. And above all, he deliberately avoids exhausting himself and others. He doesn’t use and squeeze people until they have shriveled to nothing, especially the people he loves.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
The spirit manifests itself to a warrior at every turn. However, this is not the entire truth. The entire truth is that the spirit reveals itself to everyone with the same intensity and consistency, but only warriors are consistently attuned to such revelations.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy - it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
Warriors have an ulterior purpose for their acts, which has nothing to do with personal gain. The average man acts only if there is the chance for profit. Warriors act not for profit, but for the spirit.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A warrior must know first that his acts are useless, and yet, he must proceed as if he didn't know it. That's a shaman's "controlled folly."
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
Denying oneself is an indulgence. The indulgence of denying is by far the worst; it forces us to believe that we are doing great things, when in effect we are only fixed within ourselves.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A warrior-hunter deals intimately with his world, and yet he is inaccessible to that same world. He taps it lightly, stays for as long as he needs to, and then swiftly moves away, leaving hardly a mark.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
Knowledge comes to a warrior, floating, like specks of gold dust, the same dust that covers the wings of moths. So for a warrior, knowledge is like taking a shower, or being rained on by specks of dark gold dust.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
The compulsion to possess and hold on to things is not unique. Everyone who wants to follow the warrior's path has to rid himself of this fixation in order not to focus our dreaming body on the weak face of the second attention.
The Eagle's Gift (1981)
The only possible course that a warrior has is to act consistently and without reservations. At a certain moment, he knows enough of the warriors' way to act accordingly, but his old habits and routines may stand in his way.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
A warrior must learn to be available and unavailable at the precise turn of the read. It is useless for a warrior to be unwittingly available at all times, as it is useless for him to hide when everybody knows that he is hiding.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
To be angry at people means that one considers their acts to be important. It is imperative to cease to feel that way. The acts of men cannot be important enough to offset our only viable alternative: our unchangeable encounter with infinity.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)
Whenever a warrior decides to do something he must go all the way, but he must take responsibility for what he does. No matter what he does, he must know first why he is doing it, and then he must proceed with his actions without having doubts or remorse about them.
The Wheel of Time: Shamans of Ancient Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death and the Universe (1998)