"In the new book, The Art of Self Improvement, author Anna Katharina Schaffner explains that in contrast to most modern self-help, improving ourselves is not achieved by exertion and determination but by yielding, accepting, and giving up resistance."

"It is unsurprising that suppleness is one of the most celebrated qualities in the Tao: “A man is supple and weak when alive, but hard and stiff when dead,” according to Lao-tzu."

"Similarly, the psychologist Viktor Frankl (author of Man’s Search for Meaning) advocated “self-transcendence” in the sense of letting go of our preoccupation with ourselves"

"“being human always points, and is directed, to something, or someone, other than oneself—be it a meaning to fulfill or another human being to encounter.”"

"Paradoxically, the more we forget ourselves by dedicating ourselves to an external cause or to people we love, the more we actualize ourselves."

"“Self-actualization,” Frankl sums up, “is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence.”"

"Instead, observes Schaffner, we must identify meaning that is located outside our own psyche."

"To remember how little you matter, on a cosmic timescale, can feel like putting down a heavy burden that most of us didn’t realize we were carrying in the first place."

"This sense of relief is worth examining a little more closely, though, because it draws attention to the fact that the rest of the time, most of us do go around thinking of ourselves as fairly central to the unfolding of the universe…"

"“Whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it is essential that you do it.”"