A. A. Long

I accepted the hard truth that hoping and wishing are like gambling on long shots, and if I wanted to be better, I had to start living every day with a sense of urgency. Because that is the only way to turn the odds in your favor.

If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.

If wisdom is the true criterion of freedom, the principal burden of slavery shifts from the outer to the inner, from the physical to the mental, and philosophy not manumission becomes the source of liberty.

The best thing you can do to live a long time is to eat the highest-quality food.

The clearest pattern we observe in the long-term history of humanity isn’t the constancy of conflict, but rather the increasing scale of cooperation. A hundred thousand years ago, Sapiens could cooperate only at the level of bands. Over the millennia, we have found ways to create communities of strangers, first on the level of tribes and eventually on the level of religions, trade networks, and states.

Concentration means you keep the insight alive for a long time. It’s not just a flash; that’s not enough to liberate you. So in your daily life, you keep that insight of nonself, of emptiness, of impermanence alive.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.

Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life than his age.

Create a clear picture of what you want in the long run and you will find that your endurance for pain and strife, discipline and hard work will naturally increase to levels you never thought you had. A new world will open up for you—a world where you can have anything you want . . . as long as you commit.

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures in the doctor's book.

I have lived a long life and had many troubles, most of which never happened.

‘How long am I going to be dead?’ With that eternal perspective, you can now make your own choice and leave the worrying, the fears, the question of whether you can afford it and the guilt to those who are going to be alive forever.

If you’re single-mindedly focused on your long-term goal, you’ll be more effective in the short term and get there faster.

As long as Americans continue to practice nutritional indifference, they will suffer the consequences. Don’t expect any significant protection from marginal changes.

Dweck’s research shows conclusively that in the long run the growth mindset trumps talent, and the fixed mindset limits the fulfillment of talent.

As long as a flicker of life exists, there’s hope—hope to fight back, to rebuild, to grow, to become more, to emerge victorious in the greatest, most important battle of all—the conquest of self.

So long as we believe in our heart of hearts that our capacity is limited and we grow anxious and unhappy, we are lacking in faith. One who truly trusts in God has no right to be anxious about anything.

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.

We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.

This research helps us understand that as long as the carbohydrates we eat are unrefined (and our guts are generally heathy), the amounts of macronutrients we consume may not matter. Conversely, if our guts are damaged and we are suffering from SIBO or related problems, a low-carbohydrate diet (which prunes back the microbiome) may be a smart treatment option, at least until we can fix the gut. Some people (like myself) seem to do better long term by keeping carbs on the low side (100 to 150g/day), while other people find they tolerate larger amounts of unrefined carbs.

How long and how hard can you stick to one thing? Your success in life will depend largely on this.

Unfortunately, short-term feel-good is often long-term bad. Instant gratification is a populous plague and its predominant side effects are easily spotted: debt and obesity.

A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

“ The RAVE Diet & Lifestyle is a long-term health regimen designed not only to lose weight, but also to enhance your health and energy level and to prevent (and even reverse) the common diseases that are ravaging Americans today. Most diet plans start with a bang and have you lose 20 pounds in a few months. I would rather you change your eating habits first and gradually lose those 20 pounds over the course of a year so they will stay off the rest of your life and never come back.

It had been a long day, and it was sure to be a longer night. But these are the moments I lived for. Life is at its most extraordinary during the struggle, not during times of idle contentment, and this was sure to be an epic contest.

Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.

The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not to live in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.

Eating this way has worked for me for a long time now, and I have seen it work sustainably for thousands of others around the world. But the parts of your brain that have been hijacked by sugar and flour are going to put up a huge fight. They want you to find the ‘diet’ that will let them keep getting their fix while somehow getting you into a right-sized body. If you ever find it please let me know.

As long as you don't forgive, who and whatever it is will occupy rent-free space in your mind.

Perseverance is not a long race, it is many short races one after the other.

There was a time, not that long ago in our history, that humans were prey, and in tremendous danger if they were rummaging around at night.

You can be hard on people as long as you’re just as hard on yourself.

You are what you think about all day long.

As long as you think that the cause of your problem is “out there”—as long as you think that anyone or anything is responsible for your suffering—the situation is hopeless. It means that you are forever in the role of victim, that you’re suffering in paradise.

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.

As it is with a play, so it is with life—what matters is not how long the acting lasts, but how good it is.

Long-term planning is often undervalued by our indefinite short-term world.

The philosophy of avoiding peaks and valleys is also an outgrowth of Coach’s extremely long-range view of life... Winning a championship was a worthy accomplishment, but it did not signal an end of something, but rather a part of a much longer continuum.

I’m not a big believer in long-term planning and far-off goals. In fact, I generally set 3-month and 6-month dreamlines. The variables change too much and in-the-future distance becomes an excuse for postponing action.

All the happiness you are seeking by such long, roundabout ways: you can have it all right now ... I mean, if you leave all of the past behind you, if you abandon the future to providence, and if you arrange the present in accordance with piety and justice.

I believe that the true secret of these long-lived peoples lies not in what they do eat but in what they don’t eat. And what they don’t eat is large amounts of animal protein. With apologies to my friends in the paleo and ketogenic communities, the facts don’t lie. Not a single one of the Blue Zone populations consumes significant amounts of animal protein, and I believe that is their secret to a longer, healthier life.

To perform at a champion’s level, you must understand the importance of a long-term memory for success and a short-term memory (or selective amnesia) for failure.

Enjoyment is not meant to be the final end state of a long and arduous process of attainment. It is meant to be woven through the tapestry of our lives *now.* In the present. And throughout the process along the way.

A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.

One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.

And what’s ten years? Well, it’s roughly how long it takes to put in ten thousand hours of hard practice. Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness.

Setting goals is easy. As with New Year’s resolutions, any of us can jot down long lists of things we hope to accomplish in the future . . . but then we continue to live exactly as we have in the past.

There was an emotional brain long before there was a rational one.

Self-control is crucial for the successful pursuit of long-term goals. It is equally essential for developing the self-restraint and empathy needed to build caring and mutually supportive relationships. It can help people avoid becoming impervious to consequences, or getting stuck in jobs they hate. It is the ‘master aptitude’ underlying emotional intelligence, essential for constructing a fulfilling life.

Food choices have controlled humanity’s DNA expression for as long as our species has walked the planet.

No single act can prevent cancer or guarantee that you will live a long life. Anyone who promises you that absolute is a fraud. What I will share in this book are some of the most practical ideas to improve your odds of a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life.

I learned that as long as I had anything in my heart or head I still felt necessary to hide, it would not work. I had to come to peace with everything.

Longevity has two components. The first is how long you live, your chronological lifespan, but the second and equally important part is how well you live—the quality of your years. This is called healthspan.

Rich people think long-term. They balance their spending on enjoyment today with investing for freedom tomorrow.

As long as you are going to think anyway—you might as well think BIG!

Never make your appeal to a man's better nature; he may not have one. Always make your appeal to his self-interest.

Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it.

The work is so great that it seems no one can sustain it for very long. A finding that is remarkably consistent across disciplines is that four or five hours a day seems to be the upper limit of deliberate practice, and this is frequently accomplished in sessions lasting no more than an hour to ninety minutes.

People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge wavesof the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering.

A long, healthy, and happy life is the result of making contributions, of having meaningful projects that are personally exciting and contribute to and bless the lives of others.

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.

Finding the center of strength within ourselves is in the long run the best contribution we can make to our fellow men.

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important.

You can close the cover of this book and put it away right now as long as you can incorporate this crucial dietary change into your life: consume high levels of fruits, green vegetables, and beans.

Brave men are made bolder by ordeals, but cowards achieve nothing. We have not come this long way by oar only to turn back now from our goal.

It is not the number of hours sat that are the problem, but rather the long hours of sitting without a break that cause poor modern health. Equally, standing for many hours without a break can be just as harmful to one’s health as sitting.

‘Busy’ isn’t what gets rewarded long-term in the marketplace. ‘Productive’ is. ... The most successful people don’t get everything done. They get the most important things done.

In the long run, avoiding activity that might hurt causes more agony than acting, failing, and dealing with the pain.

There is no shortcut: if you exercise often and eat healhtfully, lasting long-term results will follow

In The Lure of Long Distances, Robin Harvie notes that the word athlete derives from a Greek word for ‘I struggle, I suffer.’

So long as I am acting from duty and conviction, I am indifferent to taunts and jeers. I think they will probably do me more good than harm.

There are risks and costs to a program of action, but they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

As long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles of success; if I persist long enough I will win. I will persist. I will win.

More important than how long you study is how you distribute study time you have. Breaking up study or practice time—dividing it into two or three sessions, instead of one—is far more effective than concentrating it.

Something that has made me so successful in penalty kicks for so long is the realization and the acceptance that I will miss them.

You have been preoccupied by bullshit for way too long. It’s time to switch your focus to the things that will slingshot you forward.

Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.

When running up a hill, it is all right to give up as many times as you wish--as long as your feet keep on moving.

There can be no freedom as long as you are merely trying to become somebody, or imitate a noble example.

In a nutshell, your body fat is your biggest long-term risk for infirmity. Nothing correlates with diabetes, heart disease, and cancer better than your fat.

So long as a person is capable of self-renewal, he is a living being.

I would say to my fellows, once for all, as long as possible live free and uncommitted. It makes but little difference whether you are committed to a farm or the county jail.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community…and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for a moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

I always had the confidence that given the opportunity to work at something long enough, I would eventually master it. I expected to be as good as the best and better than the rest. Attitude is a key part of it. As Henry Ford said, ‘Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.

As terrible as it sounds, every SEAL longs for a worthy fight, a battle of convictions, and an honorable war. War challenges your manhood. It reaffirms your courage. It sets you apart from the timid souls and bench sitters. It builds unbreakable bonds among your fellow warriors. It gives your life meaning.

Superstars think like superstars long before the fans or the press anoint them.

There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction.

Rapid long-lasting and meaningful improvements in psychological functioning call for at least two specific areas of intervention: (1) we need to correct irrational thinking; and (2) we need to overcome negative behaviors.

Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait a very, very long time.

An idealist believes that the short run doesn't count. A cynic believes the long run doesn't matter. A realist believes that what is done or left undone in the short run determines the long run.

As long as you’ve worked as hard as you can, you should be at peace with the result, whether it goes in your favor or not. Luck also plays a bigger part than we’d all care to admit, so don’t be too hard on yourself when you lose and don’t go overboard with patting yourself on the back when you win. That’s been my approach from the start and it will continue to be until the end.

Dare to be different. Change your life and seek long-term happiness from within by adopting a lifestyle that I guarantee will pay dividends throughout your entire life.