Even worse, they want to drag others down into their tomb. If you're hopeful and ambitious, they'll try to convince you your ideas are impossible. They'll say you're wasting your time.

Oh, I am—it's much safer to be fond of dangerous people.

Mrs. Ballinger is one of the ladies who pursue Culture in bands, as though it were dangerous to meet alone. To this end she had founded the Lunch Club, an association composed of herself and several other indomitable huntresses of erudition.

A man only learns in two ways, one by reading, and the other by association with smarter people.

Adrian Neville, who's my best friend, I rode with him on the road. He was the most crisp, athletic, poignant guy - never missed a step. It was insane. I had never seen anybody who could move in a wrestling ring like him; it was like second-nature to him. Flips - name it - agile jumping in and out of the ring effortlessly to the top rope like crazy.

In the area I grew up, there were loads of gangs and stuff like that, and I was a bit of a fighter growing up. So, it was easy to be attracted to it, but I had my brother there giving me good advice, telling me it's pointless joining gangs, and things like that. I've always listened to him.

It's very important to surround yourself with people you can learn from.

Certainly when you're surrounded by top-class players, like Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard, all of them, you only can make progress in a situation like that.

Time is exactly what we do not have. What decreases in a culture of affluence is precisely and strangely time—along with wisdom and friendship. These are the very things that the human heart was created for, that the human heart feeds on and lives for. No wonder we are producing so many depressed, unhealthy and even violent people, while also leaving a huge carbon footprint on this poor planet.

First half of life folks will seldom have the courage to go forward at this point unless they have a guide, a friend, a Virgil, a Tiresias, a Beatrice, a soul friend or a stumbling block to guide them toward the goal. There are few in our religious culture who understand the necessity of mature, internalized conscience so wise guides are hard to find. You will have many more Aarons building you golden calves than Moses' leading you on any exodus.

While it is wise to learn from experience, it is wiser to learn from the experiences of others.

Imagine how much needless frustration could be avoided if we learned from each other's life lessons. Mature people develop the habit of extracting lessons from everyday experiences.