05 May 2024

🅿Week 2024-18: On Problems

"The difficult problems in life always start off being simple. Great affairs always start off being small." (Lao Tzu, cca 400 BC)

"Man was not born to solve the problems of the universe, but rather to seek to lay bare the heart of the problem and then confine himself within the limits of what is amenable to understanding." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1825)

"The greatest art, both in teaching and in life itself, consists in transforming the problem into a postulate." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1928)

"The meaning and design of a problem seem not to lie in its solution, but in our working at it incessantly." (Carl G Jung, "Modern Man in Search of a Soul", 1933)

"The field of consciousness is tiny. It accepts only one problem at a time. Get into a fist fight, put your mind on the strategy of the fight, and you will not feel the other fellow's punches." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "Flight to Arras", 1942)

"Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." (Viktor E Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning", 1946)

"We are built to conquer environment, solve problems, achieve goals, and we find no real satisfaction or happiness in life without obstacles to conquer and goals to achieve." (Maxwell Maltz, "Psycho-Cybernetics", 1960)

"The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)

"There are problems in this universe for which there are no answers." (Frank Herbert, "Dune Messiah", 1969)

"The easiest way to solve a problem is to deny it exists." (Isaac Asimov, "The Gods Themselves", 1972)

"No amount of meditation, yoga, diet, and reflection will make all of our problems go away, but we can transform our difficulties into our practice until little by little they guide us on our way." (Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation", 1987)

"If you go through the world looking for excellence, you will find excellence. If you go through the world looking for problems you will find problems." (Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour, "Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People", 1990)

"In NLP terms, then, a master is not someone who already knows the answers and has the solutions but someone who is able to ask worthwhile questions and direct the process of learning, problem solving and creativity to form new maps of the world that lead to useful new answers and possibilities." (Robert B Dilts, "Modeling with NLP", 1998)

"Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds." (Dan Millman, "Everyday Enlightenment: The Twelve Gateways to Personal Growth", 1998)

"[...] all problems can be reperceived as challenges, or 'opportunities' to change, grow or learn." (Robert B Dilts, "Sleight of Mouth: The Magic of Conversational Belief Change", 1999)

"We humans have two great problems: the first is knowing when to begin; the second is knowing when to stop." (Paulo Coelho, "The Zahir: A Novel of Obsession", 2005)

"Most problems we face in life, as I have said already, happen in our minds. Furthermore, problems generally exist in our concept of the past and the future. The past and the future don’t exist except in our minds." (Richard Bandler, "Get the Life You Want: The Secrets to Quick and Lasting Life Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming", 2008)

"One of the most important aspects of what human beings do is build beliefs. Beliefs are what trap most people in their problems. Unless you believe you can get over something, get through something, or get to something, there is little likelihood you will be able to do it. Your beliefs refer to your sense of certainty on some of your thoughts." (Richard Bandler, "Get the Life You Want: The Secrets to Quick and Lasting Life Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming", 2008)

"When you can take on board new, positive suggestions and disbelieve the old, limiting suggestions, you will be ready to tackle the rest of your problems, especially your fears." (Richard Bandler, "Get the Life You Want: The Secrets to Quick and Lasting Life Change with Neuro-Linguistic Programming", 2008)

"Our most important problems cannot be solved; they must be outgrown." (Wayne Dyer, "Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits", 2009)

"The really important thing in dealing with problems is to know that the question is never answered, but that it doesn't matter, as long as you keep asking. It's only when you fool yourself into thinking you have the final problem definition - the final, true answer - that you can be fooled into thinking you have the final solution. And if you think that, you're always wrong, because there is no such thing as a 'final solution'." (Donald C Gause & Gerald M Weinberg, "Are Your Lights On?", 2011)

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