Po Bronson quotes

As I get older, I've learned to listen to people rather than accuse them of things. (Po Bronson)
If you want to give yourself a fair chance to succeed, never expect too much too soon. View quote
Po Bronson
We've all lost something along the way. View quote
Po Bronson
Failure is hard, but success is far more dangerous. If you're successful at the wrong thing, the mix of praise and money and opportunity can lock you in forever. View quote
Po Bronson
Books have been my classroom and my confidant. Books have widened my horizons. Books have comforted me in my hardest times. Books have changed my life. View quote
Po Bronson
Interests evolve into hobbies or volunteer work, which grow into passions. It takes time, more time than anyone imagines. View quote
Po Bronson
A piece of writing has to seduce the reader; it has to suspend disbelief and earn the reader's trust. View quote
Po Bronson
There is nothing more genuine than breaking away from the chorus to learn the sound of your own voice. View quote
Po Bronson
Who you are is more important than what you do. The goal is to bring what you do in alignment with who you are, so you don't end up being someone you don't want to be. View quote
Po Bronson
There's a powerful transformative effect when you surround yourself with like-minded people. Peer pressure is a great thing when it helps you accomplish your goals instead of distracting you from them. View quote
Po Bronson
We all make mistakes, but we need to learn from them and move on. You can own a mistake, or the mistake will own you. (Po Bronson)
I used to want to change the world. Now I'm open to letting it change me. View quote
Po Bronson
The virtue of losing is we get used to the fact that competing and to lose doesn't kill you. It just makes you stronger. It just helps you get used to it. View quote
Po Bronson
Curiosity is a raw and genuine sign from deep inside our tangled psyches, and we'd do well to follow the direction it points us in. View quote
Po Bronson
A conventional ‘success' story is one where, with each next, the protagonist has more money, more respect, and more possessions. I'd like to suggest an alternative ‘success' story – one where, with each next, the protagonist is closer to finding that spot where he's no longer held back by his heart, and he explodes with talent, and his character blossoms, and the gift he has to offer the world is apparent. View quote
Po Bronson
But I'd rather help than watch. I'd rather have a heart than a mind. I'd rather expose too much than too little. I'd rather say hello to strangers than be afraid of them. I would rather know all this about myself than have more money than I need. I'd rather have something to love than a way to impress you. View quote
Po Bronson
Love that has been tested is far more awe-inspiring than love that has never known anything but bliss. View quote
Po Bronson
Good competitive skills means not just to compete hard, but to selectively compete, to harness your energy for the things that matter and, in some cases, to just realize it doesn't matter whether I win or lose here at all. View quote
Po Bronson
There was a culture that came out of the self-esteem movement which was don't anybody keep track of the goals. The kids keep track, but nobody keep track of the goals because we don't want the kids to have the experience of losing. And in depriving them losing, thinking it scarred them to lose, we made losing so taboo, so unspeakable, that we instead made losing more scary to kids, not less scary. View quote
Po Bronson
I think when a reader reads a whole book - which takes six to ten hours - that's kind of a gift to the author. The gift of close, undivided attention. To who else do we listen so closely for eight straight hours? And when readers give that gift to me, I'm grateful for it. View quote
Po Bronson
The important thing to know about playing to win and playing not to lose is that there are actually different neural networks that are being used. It's not very easy to do both at the same time and, if you are trying to have a playing to win mentality, you're going for it, there's some things that trip you up or trigger the wrong neural network. If you start worrying about your mistakes all of a sudden, if you get too focused on the facts and the details, these are going to shift your neural networks and sort of screw up your strategy. (Po Bronson)
I used to use business to make money. But I've learned that business is a tool. You can use it to support what you believe in. View quote
Po Bronson
Make sure your characters are worth spending ten hours with. That's how long it takes to read a book. Reading a book is like being trapped in a room for ten hours with those characters. Think of your main characters as dinner guests. Would your friends want to spend ten hours with the characters you've created? Your characters can be loveable, or they can be evil, but they'd better be compelling. If not, your reader will be bored and leave. View quote
Po Bronson
Write first. Worry about getting an agent or publisher later. Write it first. Prove you can do it and then others will listen. Tons of people talk about books they want to write. Far fewer are those who actually complete that vision. Don't be a talker. View quote
Po Bronson
Anytime you exhaust yourself trying to relax, that's active leisure. View quote
Po Bronson