Martin Svoboda

“It's not about what I want. It's about what's fair!”

“Madness, as you know, is like gravity, all it takes is a little push.”

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

“What is rare is not raw talent, skill, or even confidence, but humility, diligence, and self-awareness.”

“A true student is like a sponge. Absorbing what goes on around him, filtering it, latching on to what he can hold. A student is self-critical and self-motivated, always trying to improve his understanding so that he can move on to the next topic, the next challenge. A real student is also his own teacher and his own critic. There is no room for ego there.”

“Once we get those muddy, maddening, confusing thoughts on the page, we face our day with clearer eyes.”

“Not here to worship what is known, but to question it.”

“Information is like a bank. Some of us are rich. Some of us are poor with information. All of us can be rich. Our job, your job is to rob the bank. To kill the guard…”

“It is useless to seek the soul of things beneath their surface, for their surface is their soul.”

“Ours is a culture where we wear our ability to get by on very little sleep as a kind of badge of honor that symbolizes work ethic, or toughness, or some other virtue—but really, it’s a total profound failure of priorities and of self-respect.”

“So the goal isn’t to get good ideas; the goal is to get bad ideas. Because once you get enough bad ideas, then some good ones have to show up.”

“Dance as though no one's watching
Sing as though no one's listening
Love as though you've never been hurt
Work as though you don't need the money.
Live as though it's heaven on earth”

“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone. People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone”

“There is no such thing as perfection, there are only standards. And after you have set a standard you learn that it was not high enough. You want to surpass it.”

“It is not enough to have knowledge, one must also apply it. It is not enough to have wishes, one must also accomplish.”

“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.”

“Either you’re trying to make something spectacular with no compromises or you’re not.”

“It is our weakness that calls forth the grace of God. You show your weakness, He gives us strength.”

“All dictatorships take away our freedom to choose. We both know that. Or reveal our own weaknesses.”