It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles.
Then the victory is yours.
It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or demons, heaven or hell.

— Dhammapada, Chapter 8: The Thousands

Oftentimes, chasing what we want most in life is the biggest waste of time. I have wasted a lot of time on half-baked essays and software projects. My desire to be a great writer and builder led me astray over and over again.

Give up on your “dreams” – if it does not arise naturally in your life, then it is not worth the mindshare.

The point is not to become indifferent or uninvolved or to hide, but rather to find peace.

Are you truly living, if right now is not enough? … No, you are a hungry ghost—not quite alive, or dead—but somewhere in between: roaming among the living, a lifeless husk, seeking more and more until your time is up.

Don’t feed the system of distractions that plague our world. Don’t aspire to be them.

Stop praising idols who have spent their lives tabulating fake accomplishments and electronic bank notes.

Quit following influencers who spend their time building emerald cities and other manipulative aesthetics.

Discredit ‘thinkers’ who waste their lives making arbitrary distinctions and meaningless concepts.

Reject your desires. Find some peace—quit wasting your life.