Top 500 Robert Greene Quotes (2025 Update)
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301. “To some people the notion of consciously playing power games – no matter how indirect – seems evil, asocial, a relic of the past. They believe they can opt out of the game by behaving in ways that have nothing to do with power. You must beware of such people, for while they express such opinions outwardly, they are often among the most adept players at power.”

— Robert Greene

302. “We see people not as they are, but as they appear to us. And these appearances are usually misleading.”

— Robert Greene

303. “Understand: the greatest impediment to creativity is your impatience, the almost inevitable desire to hurry up the process, express something, and make a splash. What happens in such a case is that you do not master the basics; you have no real vocabulary at your disposal. What you mistake for being creative and distinctive is more likely an imitation of other people’s style, or personal rantings that do not really express anything.”

— Robert Greene

304. “Every day you face battles – that is the reality for all creatures in their struggle to survive. But the greatest battle of all is with yourself – your weaknesses, your emotions, your lack of resolution in seeing things through to the end.”

— Robert Greene

305. “In a world growing increasingly banal and familiar, what seems enigmatic instantly draws attention. Never make it too clear what you are doing or about to do. Do not show all your cards. An air of mystery heightens your presence; it also creates anticipation – everyone.”

— Robert Greene

306. “Never Be the Bearer of Bad News. The king kills the messenger who brings bad news: This is a cliche but there is truth to it. You must struggle and if necessary lie and cheat to be sure that the lot of the bearer of bad news falls on a colleague, never on you. Bring only good news and your approach will gladden your master.”

— Robert Greene

307. “Practical knowledge is the ultimate commodity, and is what will pay you dividends for decades to come – far more than the paltry increase in pay you might receive at some seemingly lucrative position that offers fewer learning opportunities.”

— Robert Greene

308. “You cannot hit two targets with one arrow. If your thoughts stray, you miss your enemies’ heart. Mind and arrow must become one.”

— Robert Greene

309. “This mental habit offers excellent ground for deception, using a strategy that Machiavelli calls “acclimatization” – deliberately creating some pattern to make your enemies believe that your next action will follow true to form. Having lulled them into complacency, you now have room to work against their expectations, break the pattern, and take them by surprise.”

— Robert Greene

310. “The root cause of all passive aggression is the human fear of direct confrontation – the emotions that a conflict can churn up and the loss of control that ensues.”

— Robert Greene

311. “If there is any instrument you must fall in love with and fetishize, it is the human brain – the most miraculous, awe-inspiring, information-processing tool devised in the known universe, with a complexity we can’t even begin to fathom, and with dimensional powers that far outstrip any piece of technology in sophistication and usefulness.”

— Robert Greene

312. “Your false self is the accumulation of all the voice you have internalized from other people-parents and friends who want you to conform to their ideas of what you should be like and what you should do, as well as societal pressures to adhere to certain values that can easily seduce you. It also includes the voice of your own ego, which constantly tries to protect you from from unflattering truths.”

— Robert Greene

313. “In the realm of power, you must ask yourself, what is the point of chasing here and there, trying to solve problems and defeat my enemies, if I never feel in control?”

— Robert Greene

314. “Self absorption is anti-seductive; it is a sign of insecurity.”

— Robert Greene

315. “We think we are judging the younger generation in an objective manner, but we are merely succumbing to an illusion of perspective. It is also true that we are probably experiencing some hidden envy of their youth and mourning the loss of our own.”

— Robert Greene

316. “The most important of these skills, and power’s crucial foundation, is the ability to master your emotions. An emotional response to a situation is the single greatest barrier to power, a mistake that will cost you a lot more than any temporary satisfaction you might gain by expressing your feelings. Emotions cloud reason, and if you cannot see the situation clearly, you cannot prepare for and respond to it with any degree of control.”

— Robert Greene

317. “Everything we’ve got, or so we think, comes from natural talent and hard work. But with other people, we are quick to ascribe to them all kinds of Machiavellian tactics. This allows us to justify whatever we do, no matter the results.”

— Robert Greene

318. “Conforming to social norms, you will listen more to others than to your own voice.”

— Robert Greene

319. “Making a show of one’s weakness is actually a very effective strategy, subtle and deceptive, in the game of power.”

— Robert Greene

320. “Once it is solid, do not let yourself get angry or defensive at the slanderous comments of your enemies – that reveals insecurity, not confidence in your reputation.”

— Robert Greene

321. “If you work on yourself first, as Faraday did, developing a solid work ethic and organizational skills, eventually the right teacher will appear in your life.”

— Robert Greene

322. “If the world is like a giant scheming court and we are trapped inside it, there is no use in trying to opt out of the game. That will only render you powerless, and powerlessness will make you miserable. Instead of struggling against the inevitable, instead of arguing and whining and feeling guilty, it is far better to excel at power. In fact, the better you are at dealing with power, the better friend, lover, husband, wife, and person you become.”

— Robert Greene

323. “You must never assume that what people say or do in a particular moment is a statement of their permanent desires.”

— Robert Greene

324. “Charmers. First, they don’t talk much about themselves, which heightens their mystery and disguises their limitations. Second, they seem to be interested in us, and their interest is so delightfully focused that we relax and open up to them. Finally Charmers are pleasant to be around. They have none of most people’s ugly qualities – nagging, complaining, self-assertion. They seem to know what pleases.”

— Robert Greene

325. “His moves intrigued her, each of them keeping her waiting for the next one – she even enjoyed her jealousy and confusion, for sometimes any emotion is better than the boredom of security.”

— Robert Greene

326. “Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt.”

— Robert Greene

327. “In life you must be a warrior, and war requires realism. While others may find beauty in endless dreams, warriors find it in reality, in awareness of limits, in making the most of what they have.”

— Robert Greene

328. “Being more careful is not what we need; that is just a screen for our fear of conflict and of making a mistake. What we need is double the resolve – an intensification of confidence. That will serve as a counterbalance.”

— Robert Greene

329. “The first step toward becoming rational is to understand our fundamental irrationality. There are two factors that should render this more palatable to our egos: nobody is exempt from the irresistible effect of emotions on the mind, not even the wisest among us; and to some extent irrationality is a function of the structure of our brains and is wired into our very nature by the way we process emotions. Being irrational is almost beyond our control.”

— Robert Greene

330. “One repays a teacher badly if one remains only a pupil. – FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.”

— Robert Greene

331. “Power is a game, and in games you do not judge your opponents by their intentions but by the effects of their actions.”

— Robert Greene

332. “Whistleblowers get fired and shot or crack up. You have to decide what you want to do. Do you want a career, or do you want to be an advocate? And where I’ve been an advocate, I do it not in my backyard. If I’m going to fight, I don’t do it in the backyard. In other words, I can get more done by not doing it in the backyard. I can train my students in the right way to do things.”

— Robert Greene

333. “What limits individuals as well as nations is the inability to confront reality, to see things for what they are. As we grow older, we become more rooted in the past. Habit takes over. Something that has worked for us before becomes a doctrine, a shell to protect us from reality. Repetition replaces creativity.”

— Robert Greene

334. “Sometimes, however, it is better to take risks and play the most capricious, unpredictable move.”

— Robert Greene

335. “Power rarely ends up in the hands of those who start a revolution, or even of those who further it; power sticks to those who bring it to a conclusion.”

— Robert Greene

336. “What draws attention draws power.”

— Robert Greene

337. “Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.”

— Robert Greene

338. “The voice in this case that is calling you is not necessarily coming from God, but from deep within. It emanates from your individuality. It tells you which activities suit your character. And at a certain point, it calls you to a particular form of work or career. Your work then is something connected deeply to who you are, not a separate compartment in your life. You develop then a sense of your vocation.”

— Robert Greene

339. “Goethe epitomizes what was known in the Renaissance as the Ideal of the Universal Man – a person so steeped in all forms of knowledge that his mind grows closer to the reality of nature itself and sees secrets that are invisible to most people.”

— Robert Greene

340. “Money must circulate to bring power.”

— Robert Greene

341. “If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.”

— Robert Greene

342. “The character you seem to have been born with is not necessarily who you are; beyond the characteristics you have inherited, your parents, your friends, and your peers have helped to shape your personality.”

— Robert Greene

343. “Read more books than those who have a formal education, developing this into a lifelong habit.”

— Robert Greene

344. “Persistence of little progress wins over brute force.”

— Robert Greene

345. “Most people believe that they are in fact aware of the future, that they are planning and thinking ahead. They are usually deluded: What they are really doing is succumbing to their desires, to what they want the future to be. Their plans are vague, based on their imaginations rather than their reality. They may believe they are thinking all the way to the end, but they are really only focusing on the happy ending, and deluding themselves by the strength of their desire.”

— Robert Greene

346. “According to Machiavelli, human beings naturally tend to think in terms of patterns. They like to see events conforming to their expectations by fitting into a pattern or scheme, for schemes, whatever their actual content, comfort us by suggesting that the chaos of life is predictable.”

— Robert Greene

347. “Understand: we can never really experience what other people are experiencing. We always remain on the outside looking in, and this is the cause of so many misunderstandings and conflicts.”

— Robert Greene

348. “Leaders have always found it useful to have an enemy at their gates in times of trouble, distracting the public from their difficulties. In using your enemies to rally your troops, polarize them as far as possible: they will fight the more fiercely when they feel a little hatred. So exaggerate the differences between you and the enemy – draw the lines clearly.”

— Robert Greene

349. “First, it is essential that you begin with one skill that you can master, and that serves as a foundation for acquiring others. You must avoid at all cost the idea that you can manage learning several skills at a time.”

— Robert Greene

350. “The key to staying unintimidated is to convince yourself that the person you’re facing is a mere mortal, no different from you – which is in fact the truth. See the person, not the myth. Imagine him or her as a child, as someone riddled with insecurities. Cutting the other person down to size will help your keep your mental balance.”

— Robert Greene