Neil Strauss Quotes

In life, people tend to wait for good things to come to them. And by waiting, they miss out. Usually, what you wish for doesn't fall in your lap; it falls somewhere nearby, and you have to recognize 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 appreciate things that fall into our laps.

A couple of kind words can not only make a person's day, but earn you a friend and supporter for life. For the rest of the week, whenever you see someone you want to judge negatively, pay them a compliment instead. See what happens.

You have to build systems to protect against your lesser self.

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.

Without commitment, you cannot have depth in anything, whether it's a relationship, a business or a hobby.

In life, people tend to wait for good things to come to them. And by waiting, they miss out.

A lot of guys are very intimidated by an attractive woman, and they dehumanise her because our culture perceives beautiful women as commodities. But I think if you're able walk up to a person and get to know them, and you see their flaws and their impurities, and realise that they're like you, then you can humanise them again.

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

It's not enough to just be yourself. You must be your best self

Rapport equals trust plus comfort.

To get a woman, you have to be willing to risk losing her.

The good thing is that women have such high expectations of men that it inspires us to live up to them. That's what I learned about male-female relationships.

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 selfworth?

One of the things I'd learned ... was how to take a compliment. Just say, "Thank you." It's the only response a confident person can make.

In fact, every woman I met seemed disposable and replaceable. I was experiencing seducer's paradox: The better a seducer I became, the less I loved women. Success was no longer defined by getting laid or finding a girlfriend, but by how well I performed.

We're just fragile machines programmed with a false sense of our own importance. And every now and then the universe sends a reminder that we don't really matter to it.

Anyone who hates something feels threatened by it. A guy who says he hates feminism (a) doesn't understand or know feminism, and (b) is scared of powerful women. Most attacks come from fear.

Life is more fun when you open your mouth.

Fear makes you docile.

Men are a hundred times worse than you can imagine. We are thinking the worst, shallowest thoughts, all the time.

I think my love is storytelling. No matter what it is, it's storytelling. And so whatever the medium is, what's right for the story, I enjoy doing it.

After all, everyone's favorite subject is themselves.

That's how hatred is created: two different groups, each insisting they're on the moral high ground

When the Internet first came into public use, it was hailed as a liberation from conformity, a floating world ruled by passion, creativity, innovation and freedom of information. When it was hijacked first by advertising and then by commerce, it seemed like it had been fully co-opted and brought into line with human greed and ambition.

Never underestimate your own capacity to care.

Almost everyone who reaches a plateau where he or she is happy and comfortable says its because of finding balance between work, relaxation, exercise, socialising and family - plus some alone time to do something contemplative, creative, or educational.

The strong live off the weak and the clever live off the strong.

Fame won't make you feel any better about yourself.

But who are we, really? Just a bundle of good genes and bad genes mixed with good habits and bad habits. And since there's no gene for coolness or confidence, then being uncool and unconfident are just bad habits, which can be changed with enough guidance and will power.

True endurance, I think, comes from the inside. It comes from motivation and belief in what you're doing.

Attraction is not an option.

I've begun to look at the world through apocalypse eyes. Our society, which seems so sturdily built out of concrete and custom, is just a temporary resting place, a hotel our civilization checked into a couple hundred years ago and must one day check out of.

You need to be careful with a Bluetooth headset. Because some guys look crazy with them.

Never ask a woman if you may kiss her. Instead, learn to read body language.

I've noticed a pattern in stars that start acting out in public. Every one of them felt like they grew up without love.

Most robots don't program themselves.

One of the reasons I became a writer is that, unlike starting a band, directing movies, or acting in a theatrical production, you can do it alone. Your success and failure depend entirely on yourself.

STRAUSS:Have you ever thought about putting those experiences into a book? RICHIE:I did decide to write about what i experienced in climbing to the top. And finally when I got there, I discovered what was at the top.You know what was there? STRAUSS: No, I don't. RICHIE: Nothing. Not one thing. What was at the top was all the experiences that you had to get there.

A pick-up artist gave me a good piece of advice: the three most important things in a relationship are honesty, trust and respect, and if you don't have those, you don't have love.

A lot of women - not all of them, a lot of them - feel insecure about men being men.

I know that I need honesty from the people I interview. I also know that the truth is more interesting than made up stuff, and also, people don't connect with you if you're not honest.

We get stuck in old thought and behavior patterns that may have been effective when we were twelve months or twelve years old, but now only serve to hold us back. And, while those around us may have no problem correcting our minor flaws, they let the big ones slide, because it would mean attacking who we are.

He was telling the students about the hypnotic technique of using quotes in a conversation. An idea is more palatable ... if it comes from someone else. The unconscious thinks in terms of content and structure. If you introduce a pattern with the words, 'My friend was telling me,' the critical part of her mind shuts off.

I feel like rock stars feel a sense of entitlement, whereas I just feel a sense of good fortune.

Instead of putting others down, try improving yourself instead. The only person you have a right to compete with is you. In the meantime, treat others how you'd like to be treated. One trait that some of the best (communicators) share is empathy. A couple of kind words can not only make a person's day, but earn you a friend and supporter for life. For the rest of the week, whenever you see someone you want to judge negatively, pay them a compliment instead. See what happens.

While I am impulsive in many areas of my life, marriage is not one of them.

Accepting others' life choices is something most people only learn with age.

It’s not lying, it’s flirting.

I think there are just a million interviews in anthologies with famous musicians that are about the music, and they're really boring to read.

A good organizer is key to anyone with a busy social life.