A Quote by Idries Shah

But one may say something and yet not be able to do it. Try, for instance, lifting yourself up by the bootstraps. — © Idries Shah
But one may say something and yet not be able to do it. Try, for instance, lifting yourself up by the bootstraps.
They say, 'Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.' They don't realize that not everybody's bootstraps are the same length.
You are not obligated to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and find a way to conquer the odds, to be stronger or transform yourself into some better version of yourself. The pain you are feeling (whatever the degree) may be a reminder that things are not as they should be.
Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps.
I try to do something every day. I lift weights at least three to four days per week, and I'll intersperse that with cardio. For example, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'll run and do heavy lifting, and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I'll spend two hours lifting weights, as well as something like swimming.
Get yourself out. Be brave. Don't leave before you're ready, because you should know that you tried everything. So there's a conviction and a confidence when you step away from something that may or may not be conducive to your life. I think if you run away too quickly, you're going to have that "Oh God, did I try everything?" feeling. Try everything. Make it work. Do everything you can. If it's not working, then know when the signal is and move on. Change. Try something different.
If you have the ability to pick yourself up by the bootstraps and start over, you come out stronger because you learn from whatever mistakes you made.
If America had a motto, it would be pull yourself up by the bootstraps, work harder than the next guy, have a goal and achieve it.
I try to keep my routine as consistent as possible. I try to lift every single day. It's not powerlifting. It's not lifting to become the strongest man in the world. It's lifting just to stay in shape. Stay lean. Stay injury free.
Writing is something that you don't know how to do. You sit down and it's something that happens, or it may not happen. So, how can you teach anybody how to write? It's beyond me, because you yourself don't even know if you're going to be able to. I'm always worried, well, you know, every time I go upstairs with my wine bottle. Sometimes I'll sit at that typewriter for fifteen minutes, you know. I don't go up there to write. The typewriter's up there. If it doesn't start moving, I say, well this could be the night that I hit the dust.
You got to be able to reinvent yourself and come up with new ideas because everybody is going to try to copy, which is what you want. You want people to start saying what you say.
I sometimes don't try to invent something. I wait for some kind of a direction - and it happens. I get an angle, for instance, and it just appears, and I say, 'Oh my God - that's it!'
Many movies about people recovering, moving on, and redeeming themselves are really wonderful and inspiring. But I think the more sentimental ones that are less good make me feel isolated - like, if you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps like the guys in the movies, there is something wrong with you. That's a shame.
I try to look for tempo in my run-up to make sure my knees are lifting up instead of going long. That brings an energy to my run-up, try and make myself feel as tall as I can.
In such a therapeutic, pragmatic, pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps society as ours, the message of God having to do all the work in saving us comes as an offensive shot at our egos.
I believe in pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps. I believe it is possible — I saw this guy do it once in Cirque du Soleil. It was magical.
I don't think I have something that's pronounceable as a philosophy. ... When it was fashionable to say, "May the Force be with you," I always said, "Force yourself." ... I'll say again then, "The Force is within you. Force yourself."
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