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Neil Strauss

ISBN-10 : 0-06-124016-8

ISBN-13 : 978-0-06-124016-4

In life, people tend to wait for good things to come to them. And by waiting, they miss out. Usually what you wish for dosen’t fall in your lap ; it falls somewhere nearby, and you have to reognize it, stand up, and put in the time and work it takes to get to it. This isn’t because the universe is cruel. It’s because the universe is smart. It has its own cat-string theory and knows we don’t qppreciate things that fall into our laps.

Talking too fast is usually a sign of a deep lack of confidence. People who feel that others aren’t interested in what they think talk fast far fear of losing the attention of their audience. Others are so in love with perfectim that they have a difficult time ending it all down and continuously speed up in hopes of getting it all in. Such people usually become writers.

….Every word had a hidden meaning, and every hidden meaning had weight, and every weight had its own special place on the scale of self, interest.

Joel Kramar : We have this idea that love is supposed to last forever. But love isn’t like that. It’s a free-flowing energy that comes and goes when it pleases. Sometimes it stays for life; other times it stays for a second, a day, a month, or a year. So don’t fear love when it comes simply because it makes you vulnerable. But don’t be surprised when it leaves, either. Just be glad you had the opportunity to experience it.

….He opened it to the Scientology Code of honor, and we discussed it point by point- set a good example, fulfill your obligations, never need praise or approval or sympathy, don’t compromise your own reality.

…. “A lot of that stuff is about trying to control people and manipulate situations. Can you imagine all the effort they’re putting into that? If they took that effort and put it toward something constructive, who knows what they could accomplish.”

The right lifestyle is something that is worn, not discussed. Money, fame and looks, though helpful, are not required. It is, rather, something that screams: Ladies, abandon your boring, mundane, unfulfilled lives and step into my exciting world, full of interesting people, new experiences, good times, easy living, and dreams fulfilled.

…Everyone else I know always said, “Later”; Mystery said, “Now”, and that was an intoxicating word to me – because later, every time I heard it, translated as never.

…there are only so many ways to get rejected or ignored. It doesn’t hurt at all anymore because why should someone who’s a complete stranger have any control over your sense of self-worth?

…Women in a relationship want rocks (or diamonds) while men seek gold. Rocks, for a woman, are wonderful nights out, romantic attention, and emotional connection. Gold for a man is sex. If you give a woman only gold or a man just rocks, neither will be satisfied. There must be an exchange.

<The Wizard of Oz> Wizard tells the Tin Man, “ A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.”

…Beneath that tough exterior, she was scared. All her push-pull wasn’t a pre-planned psychological tactic; it was her heart warring with her head. Perhaps the reason she’d been so reluctant to open up was that she was protecting something fragile inside. Like me, she was afraid to actually feel something for somebody else- to love, to be vulnerable, to give someone else control over her happiness and well-being.

…If there was anything I’d learned, it’s that the man never choose the woman. All he can do is give her an opportunity to choose him.

We were all searching outside ourselves for our missing pieces, and we were all looking in the wrong direction. Instead of finding ourselves, we’d lost our sense of self. Mystery didn’t have the answers. A blonde 10 in a two-seat at the standard didn’t have the answers. The answers to be found within. To win the game was to learn it.

Thanks to the community itself and to the hundreds of friends I’ve made over the last two years. May you all find what you’re looking for – in loved and in life.....

And whatever that way happens to be, all of you will find it.