"Quit your sh*tty job when you can, not when you have to. Discover your real passions in life when you can, not when you have to. Confess and hold onto those you love when you can, not when you have to."
I love this very much. Every "should" and "have to" drains our zest for life and action, because both are externally driven. So this external forceful factor consumes our entire spectrum of decision-making. In a sense, we are feeling deep down that we are not willing to not take responsibility for our life experience.
To the "Everything that happens is intrinsically like the man it happens to.", and your statement that we are "much more in control of our lives than we can understand", I agree 100%. In the absence of thought lies Peace, and here we begin to truly understand. Thoughts give meaning to an inherently meaningless world. When we stick too much this stringent frame of meaning we get lost and lose sight of the original source of agony: our thoughts.
I love these quotes and your personal stories with them. Very refreshing!