Win through your actions, never through argument.
Interpretation
Actions speak louder than words, and true success comes from demonstrating rather than debating.
In this quote, Robert Greene emphasizes the importance of action over mere discussion or argument. He suggests that rather than trying to win through verbal disputes, individuals should focus on proving their points through tangible results and actions that showcase their beliefs or capabilities. This perspective encourages a more constructive approach to conflict and competition, where achieving goals becomes paramount.
In practice
During a team meeting, you can say this quote to emphasize the importance of delivering results over just discussing ideas.
In a society where the roles everyone plays are obvious, the refusal to conform to any standard will excite interest. Be both masculine and feminine, impudent and charming, subtle and outrageous. Let other people worry about being socially acceptable; those types are a dime a dozen, and you are after a power greater than they can imagine.
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike.
The moment people feel they know what to expect from you, your spell on them is broken. More: You have ceded them power.
The future belongs to those who learn more skills and combine them in creative ways.
The Nihilistic Troll might pretend to be acting in the service of some cause or leader, but don't be fooled. The cause and their supposedly strong convictions are simply a way to justify and provide cover for their abusive behavior.
Only create associations with positive affinities. Make this a rule of life and you will benefit more than from all the therapy in the world.
All that time is lost which might be better employed.
People don't really believe in words. Or rather, people believe in words only for a stretch of time. Then they start to look for action.
All of us, whether or not we are warriors, have a cubic centimeter of chance that pops out in front of our eyes from time to time. The difference between an average man and a warrior is that the warrior is aware of this, and one of his tasks is to be alert, deliberately waiting, so that when his cubic centimeter pops out he has the necessary speed, the prowess, to pick it up.
The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the older man who will not laugh is a fool.
Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood? Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh. To be great is to be misunderstood.
The power of generalizing ideas, of drawing comprehensive conclusions from individual observations, is the only acquirement, for an immortal being, that really deserves the name of knowledge.
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