What no one seems to comprehend is that there is only one battle, and that we are compelled by our nature and the nature of reality to fight it again and again. The war that is coming is but an outer reflection of an irresistable inner reality... Publius
"What is true of archery and swordsmanship also applies to all the other arts. Thus, mastery in ink-painting is only attained when the hand, exercising perfect control over technique, executes what hovers before the mind's eye at the same moment when the mind begins to form it, without there being a hair's breadth between. Painting then becomes spontaneous calligraphy. Here again the painter's structions might be: Spend ten years observing bamboos, become a bamboo yourself, then forget everything and - paint." Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery
There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man's life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave. -- Ernest Hemingway
...For a master the rewards gained along the journey are fine, but they are not the main reason for the journey. Ultimatey, the master and the masters path are one. And if the traveller is fortunate -- that is, if the path is complex and profound enough -- the destination is two miles farther away fir every mile he or she travels... ~George Leonard~
When the senses contact sense objects, a person experiences pleasure or pain. These experiences are fleeting;they come and go. Bear them patiently, Arjuna. Those who are not affected by these changes, who are the same in pleasure and in pain, are truly wise and fit for immortality. Assert your strength and realize this!. The Bhagavad Gita
"It's been a rough day. I got up this morning, put on a shirt, and a button fell off. I picked up my briefcase and the handle came off. Now I'm afraid to go to the bathroom." Rodney Dangerfield...extract from Commodity Futures and Options by George Kleinmann