Top 20 Intriguing Quotes from Mastery by Robert Greene

Last Updated on July 24, 2019 by The Unbounded Thinker

Last week, I shared 24 intriguing quotes from Mastery, and most of you loved them. I thus decided to share more intriguing quotes – that will help you achieve mastery – from the book.

‘The greatest impediment to creativity is your impatience.’
‘Anyone who would spend ten years absorbing the techniques and conventions of their field, trying them out, mastering them, exploring and personalizing them, would inevitably find their authentic voice and give birth to something unique and expressive.’
‘What you are trying to create will not magically take off after a few creative bursts of inspiration, but must be slowly evolved through a step-by-step process as you correct the flaws.’
‘If you begin with a feeling of tightness and pressure, focusing on the funding, the competition, or people’s opinions, you will stifle the associative powers of the brain and quickly turn your work into something without joy or life.’
‘To create a meaningful work of art or to make a discovery of invention requires great discipline, self-control, and emotional stability.’
‘You must come to embrace slowness as a virtue in itself. When it comes to creative endeavors, time is always relative. Whether your project takes months or years to complete, you will always experience a sense of impatience and a desire to get to the end.’
People are dying for the new, for what expresses the spirit of the time in an original way. By creating something new, you will create your own audience, and attain the ultimate position of power in culture.’
‘Through intense absorption in a particular field over a long period of time, Masters come to understand all the parts involved in what they are studying. They reach a point where all of this has to become internalized, and they are no longer seeing the parts, but gain an intuitive feel for the whole.’
‘The time that leads to mastery is dependent on the intensity of our focus.’
‘When you look at the exceptionally creative work of Masters, you must not ignore the years of practice, the endless routines, the hours of doubt, and the tenacious overcoming of obstacles these people endured. Creative energy is the fruit of such efforts and nothing else.’
‘No moment is wasted if you pay attention and learn the lessons contained in every experience.’
‘It is best to have wide knowledge of your field and other fields, giving your brain more possible associations and connections.’
‘We must learn how to quiet the anxiety we feel whenever we are confronted with anything that seems complex or chaotic. In our journey from apprenticeship to mastery we must patiently learn the various parts and skills that are required, never looking too far ahead. In moments of perceived crisis, we must develop the habit of maintaining our cool and never overreacting.’
‘You must maintain a sense of destiny, and feel continuously connected to it. You are unique, and there is a purpose to your uniqueness. You must see every setback, failure, or hardship as a trial along the way, as seeds that are being planted for further cultivation.’
‘In following this voice (your true self’s voice) you realize your own potential, and satisfy your deepest longings to create and express your uniqueness.’
‘To rise to mastery requires many hours of dedicated focus and practice. You cannot get there if your work brings you no joy and you are constantly struggling to overcome your own weaknesses.’
‘A high level of intuition, like any skill, requires practice and experience. At first, our intuitions might be so faint that we do not pay attention to them or trust them. All masters talk of this phenomenon. But over time they learn to notice these rapid ideas that come to them.’
‘Intuition, primitive or high level, is essentially driven by memory.’
‘Every moment, every experience contains deep lessons for us.’
‘There are many paths to mastery, and if you are persistent you will certainly find one that suits you.’