Forming Like Water

29th May 2012

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Quotes From “The Art Of Racing In The Rain”

When I picked up this book all I knew was that it was a story about a man and his dog, written from the dog’s perspective. Nothing else, no hit of the plot line, characters, or a general opinion other than an excerpt on the front and back recommending it. But everyone knows those are taken out of context and are only used to promote the book. When I started into the book I tore through it. It is a light read, comical, and uplifting. As it turns out, the excerpts were right.  Anyways here are a few lines that stuck out in my mine:

“Such a simple concept, yet so true: that which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through inattention or ignorance, our sucesses and our failures have been brought on by no one other than ourselves.” p.43

“It makes one realize that physicality of our world is a boundary to us inly if our wills is weak; a true champion can accomplish things that a normal person would think impossible.” p.65

“In racing they say your car goes where your eyes go. The driver who cannot tear his eyes away from the wall as he spins out of control will meet the wall; the driver who loos down the track as he feels his tires break free will regain control of his vehicle.

Your car goes where your eyes go. Simply another way of saying that which you manifest is before you.” p.83

“‘If it was anybody’s fault,’ Deny said, ‘it was mine for being where I could get collected.’

This is something I’d heard him say before: getting angry at another driver for a driving incident is pointless. You need to watch the drivers around you, understand their skill, confidence, and aggression level, and drive with them accordingly. Know who is driving next to you. any problems that may occur have ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where you are and what you are doing there.” p. 91

“When I return to this world, I will be a man. I will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small, dexterous tongue. I will shake hands with other men, grasping firmly with my opposable thumbs. And I will teach people all that I know. And when I see a man or a woman or child in trouble, I will extend my hand, both metaphorically and physically. I will offer my hand. To him. To her. To you. To the world. I will be a good citizen, a good partner in the endeavor of life that we all share.” p.312 

“Racers are often called selfish and egotistical. I myself have called race car drivers selfish; I was wrong. To be a champion, you must have no ego at all. You must not exist as a separate entity, you must give yourself over to the race. You are nothing if not for your team, your car, your shoes, your ties. Do not mistake confidence and self-awareness for egotism.” p.314

25th May 2012

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Quotes From “Above All Else”

This book is by Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld and is about his life as a skydiver who almost died in a plane crash, went into a coma, was told he would probably never walk, yet alone skydive again, and then managed to become a 3x World Champion skydiver. It’s more about the human condition and how if there is a will there is a way. It was interesting to read, his story of cheating death and doing the impossible. As I’ve done with other books, here are a few excerpts that I enjoyed:

“A dream is someting we want to do and believe is possible for us to achieve. It’s on our radar; we plan to do it someday when we have the time or money or courage. But the excuses are too many, and that time rarely comes.

A goal is a dream we decide we must achieve and we will do whatever necessary to achieve it. A goal is the specific target, or series of targets, we aim for when we decide to pursue our dreams.” p.37

“It helped me realize that the superficial things we often value far too much are in themselves worthless. t became very clear to me that one thing life certainly was about was finding things we truly love, challenging ourselves to be the best we can possibly be at them, and sharing our passion and love of life with anyone who cared to be a part of it. It is in this journey that we will discover who we really are, what we are capable of, and choose who we want to be.” p.194

“It’s been said that the true worth of our pursuit of victory is defined by the obstacles we must overcome to achieve it.” p.200

“Everything that defined us as winners happened long before the meet.The commitment, dedication, passion, perseverance, and drive, the qualities that overcame all obstacles and led us to victory are not rewarded as prizes that come with a gold metal. It was the pursuit of our dream that we had chosen to practice and continually strengthened these qualities in life and training.  They were who we were, who we had chosen to be, and trained to become. We had brought them to the meet with us.” p.228

“How to push your performance to your full potential and constantly perform at that level s a trained skill and the same skill regardless of the particular activity you’re involved with.” p.233

“There will always be people who talk a good game. It is easy to act confident, have a fun personality when you are not being pushed or tested.  Wait until the struggles, challenges, and demands of training set in, and then we’ll see who’s laughing.” p.263

“By definition, choosing to stay in our comfort zone is the same thing as choosing not to improve, experiment, or explore new ideas. Whether intentional or not, the team has established the goal of maintaining the status quo.  They will never be the best they can be.  They will never win.” p.283

“We operate on instinct when our minds are calm, undistracted, and purely focused in the moment.  It is an incredible yet very natural experience. Our senses pick up and make us aware of everything that is happening around us. We see, hear, and feel what we are confronted with and instinctively respond to it without analysis, or at times without even conscious thought.” p.287

“There is one thing that s absolutely essential to nderstand: the ability to perform at your best is a trained skill.  Though your “best” performance level will progress with training and time, the skill to perform at that best is the same skill for a novice as it is for a pro. The skill to perform at your best will remain the same skill even as your “best” advances.” p.294

15th February 2012

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Quotes From “Deep Survival”

This past summer before I left for Europe I was Lifeguarding when I saw a co-worker reading a book on his break titled Deep Survival by Laurence Gonzales, and it caught my interest.  I asked him what it was about since the picture is a guy standing atop a small rock pillar overlooking a cliff, with a rope as his lifeline.  Long story short it’s about the psychology of survival in extreme situations, giving examples of people in the situations, and what they did to get out of the situations or not.  It was interesting and had a few good quotes, so without further ado, here they are:

“Malcom Gladwell, writing in the New Yorker, put it succinctly: ‘Choking is about thinking too much. Panic is about thinking too little.’”  p.67

“Survivors aren’t fearless. They use fear: they turn it into anger and focus.”  p.175 

“The skills were not mere skills. They were long-held practices that developed an attitude of quiet humility. They encouraged a slow, thoughtful, confident examination off the self and the environment.” p.187

“A man of action does whatever he must, isn’t afraid, and doesn’t worry.” p.221

He saw that to lose everything at the edge of such a glorious eternity is far sweeter than to win by plodding through a cautious, painless, and featureless life.  And that, of course, is why people undertake adventures such as solo voyages of the Atlantic to begin with.  The true survivor isn’t someone with nothing to lose. He has something precious to lose. But at the same time he is willing to be it all on himself.  And it makes what he has that much richer.  Days stolen are always sweeter than days given.” p.225

“As he lay there in a heap by the rudder pedals, my father watched his would-be assassin with a sort of dim, swooning amusement as the man tried to get the firing mechanism sorted out.  Then my father began laughing, which infuriated the German, who was cursing a blue streak.  My father was able to understand German reasonably well and was struck by the movie-like quality of the scene.  It was a bit much: to get blown out of the sky and fall 27,00 feet without a parachute-and survive-only to lang in the exact spot where there’s a pissed-off farmer with a gun.  He couldn’t stop laughing.  It was the beginning of his salvation, not the end. Humor was the key.” p.263

“The real heroism of the astronauts is not in the risks they take-any idiot can throw his life away-but in the much more arduous lengths to which they go to protect themselves from harm.  They know that adventure becomes folly when you stop looking out for number one.  It’s not selfishness, it’s that fine distinction between going forth boldly and going forth blindly, a balance between dedication to the mission and informed caution. It takes real skill to strike that balance, and at their best, adventures are both bold and cautious.  That means knowing where the envelope ends, and moreover, knowing yourself well enough to estimate correctly just how far beyond it you can go and still get back.” p.292

“Survivors know, whether they are conscious of it or not, that to live at all is to fly upside down (640 people died in 1999 while chocking on food; 320 died in the bath tub). You’re already flying upside down. You might as well turn on the smoke and have some fun. Then when a different sort of challenge presents itself, you can face it with the same equanimity.” p.294

“We can live a life of bored caution and die of cancer.  Better to take the adventure, minimize the risks, get the information, and then go forward in the knowledge that we’ve done everything we can.” p.295

“No, some people would rather not see it, but the bull is there for all of us.  Some of us choose to pass the cape in front of its horns.  To live life is to risk it. And when you feel the rush of air and catch the stink of hot breath in your face, you enter the secret order of those who have seen their own death close up.  It makes us live much more intensely. So intense it is for some that it seals their fate; once they’ve tasted it, they just can’t stop. And in their cases, perhaps we have to accept that the light that burns the brightest burns half as long.” p.295

Tagged: quotesliteraturesurvivaldeepsurvival