73 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Quotes, Summary (Book By Mark Manson) – Wisdom Quotes (2024)

Quotes – Summary – Is this book worth it?

Here are 73 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck quotes (+BONUS summary at the end).

I HAD to read this book by Mark Manson:

• Almost 2 million copies sold (in its first year alone)
• 307,000+ 5 stars reviews on GoodReads
• 61,000+ 5 stars reviews on Amazon
• An intriguing and powerful title

And I always wanted to live “a good life”, as the title says.

In this book, you’ll learn:

• Why avoiding pain leads to misery
• Why does giving too many f*cks kill your happiness
• How to stop wasting time and energy on things you don’t control

I hope you’ll enjoy these quotes as much as I did.

Let’s begin!

Buy the book here: Audio – Hardcover – Paperback

Not giving a f*ck does not mean being indifferent; it means being comfortable with being different. Mark Manson

Whether you realize it or not, you are always choosing what to give a f*ck about. Mark Manson

This book will not teach you how to gain or achieve, but rather how to lose and let go. Mark Manson

[This book] will teach you to take inventory of your life and scrub out all but the most important items. Mark Manson

[This book] will teach you to give fewer f*cks. Mark Manson

Everyone and their TV commercial wants you to believe that the key to a good life is a nicer job, or a more rugged car, or a prettier girlfriend, or a hot tub with an inflatable pool for the kids. Mark Manson

The world is constantly telling you that the path to a better life is more, more, more — buy more, own more, make more, f*ck more, be more. Mark Manson

Give a f*ck about a new TV. Give a f*ck about having a better vacation than your coworkers. Give a f*ck about buying that new lawn ornament. Give a f*ck about having the right kind of selfie stick. Why? My guess: because giving a f*ck about more stuff is good for business. Mark Manson

Life is about not knowing and then doing something anyway. All of life is like this. It never changes. Mark Manson

To not give a f*ck about adversity, you must first give a f*ck about something more important than adversity. Mark Manson

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You are constantly bombarded with messages to give a f*ck about everything, all the time. Mark Manson

Giving too many f*cks is bad for your mental health. It causes you to become overly attached to the superficial and fake, to dedicate your life to chasing a mirage of happiness and satisfaction. Mark Manson

Our crisis is no longer material; it’s existential, it’s spiritual. We have so much f*cking stuff and so many opportunities that we don’t even know what to give a f*ck about anymore. Mark Manson

Because there’s an infinite amount of things we can now see or know, there are also an infinite number of ways we can discover that we don’t measure up, that we’re not good enough, that things aren’t as great as they could be. Mark Manson

Ever notice that sometimes when you care less about something, you do better at it? Mark Manson

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If you find yourself consistently giving too many f*cks about trivial sh*t that bothers you, chances are you don’t have much going on in your real life to give a legitimate f*ck about. And that’s your real problem. Mark Manson

The desire for more positive experience is itself a negative experience. And, paradoxically, the acceptance of one’s negative experience is itself a positive experience. Mark Manson

The more you pursue feeling better all the time, the less satisfied you become, as pursuing something only reinforces the fact that you lack it in the first place. Mark Manson

Finding something important and meaningful in your life is perhaps the most productive use of your time and energy. Because if you don’t find that meaningful something, your f*cks will be given to meaningless and frivolous causes. Mark Manson

The pampering of the modern mind has resulted in a population that feels deserving of something without earning that something. Mark Manson

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The key to a good life is not giving a f*ck about more; it’s giving a f*ck about less, giving a f*ck about only what is true and immediate and important. Mark Manson

Essentially, we become more selective about the f*cks we’re willing to give. This is something called maturity. Mark Manson

Most of us struggle throughout our lives by giving too many f*cks in situations where f*cks do not deserve to be given. Mark Manson

The Internet has not just open-sourced information; it has also open-sourced insecurity, self-doubt, and shame. Mark Manson

No matter where you go, there’s a five-hundred-pound load of sh*t waiting for you. And that’s perfectly fine. The point isn’t to get away from the sh*t. The point is to find the sh*t you enjoy dealing with. Mark Manson

Happiness is not a solvable equation. Dissatisfaction and unease are inherent parts of human nature and, as we’ll see, necessary components to creating consistent happiness. Mark Manson

We suffer for the simple reason that suffering is biologically useful. It is nature’s preferred agent for inspiring change. Mark Manson

To be happy we need something to solve. Happiness is therefore a form of action; it’s an activity, not something that is passively bestowed upon you. Mark Manson

It turns out that adversity and failure are actually useful and even necessary for developing strong-minded and successful adults. Mark Manson

Our culture today is obsessively focused on unrealistically positive expectations: Be happier. Be healthier. Mark Manson

Be the best, better than the rest. Be smarter, faster, richer, sexier, more popular, more productive, more envied, and more admired. Mark Manson

Be perfect and amazing and crap out twelve-karat-gold nuggets before breakfast each morning while kissing your selfie-ready spouse and two and a half kids goodbye. Mark Manson

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• 12 Rules For Life Quotes And Summary (Book by Jordan Peterson)
• 77 The Obstacle Is The Way Quotes (+Summary) By Ryan Holiday

Maturity is what happens when one learns to only give a f*ck about what’s truly f*ck-worthy. Mark Manson

Fly your helicopter to your wonderfully fulfilling job, where you spend your days doing incredibly meaningful work that’s likely to save the planet one day. Mark Manson

Everything worthwhile in life is won through surmounting the associated negative experience. Any attempt to escape the negative, to avoid it or quash it or silence it, only backfires. The avoidance of suffering is a form of suffering. The avoidance of struggle is a struggle. The denial of failure is a failure. Hiding what is shameful is itself a form of shame. Mark Manson

You’re so worried about doing the right thing all the time that you become worried about how much you’re worrying. Mark Manson

You feel so guilty for every mistake you make that you begin to feel guilty about how guilty you’re feeling. Mark Manson

You get sad and alone so often that it makes you feel even more sad and alone just thinking about it. Welcome to the Feedback Loop from Hell. Mark Manson

We feel bad about feeling bad. We feel guilty for feeling guilty. We get angry about getting angry. We get anxious about feeling anxious. Mark Manson

The more you desperately want to be rich, the more poor and unworthy you feel, regardless of how much money you actually make. Mark Manson

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Who you are is defined by what you’re willing to struggle for. Mark Manson

The more we choose to accept responsibility in our lives, the more power we will exercise over our lives. Mark Manson

The more you desperately want to be sexy and desired, the uglier you come to see yourself, regardless of your actual physical appearance. Mark Manson

The more you desperately want to be happy and loved, the lonelier and more afraid you become, regardless of those who surround you. Mark Manson

Then we have all the mass media that constantly expose us to stellar success after success, while not showing us the thousands of hours of dull practice and tedium that were required to achieve that success. Mark Manson

The biggest enemy of growth is a certainty. Mark Manson

Notice how sometimes when you stop giving a f*ck, everything seems to fall into place. Mark Manson

Improvement at anything is based on thousands of tiny failures, and the magnitude of your success is based on how many times you’ve failed at something. If someone is better than you at something, then it’s likely because she has failed at it more than you have. If someone is worse than you, it’s likely because he hasn’t been through all of the painful learning experiences you have. Mark Manson

By not giving a f*ck that you feel bad, you short-circuit the Feedback Loop from Hell; you say to yourself, “I feel like sh*t, but who gives a f*ck?” And then, as if sprinkled by magic f*ck-giving fairy dust, you stop hating yourself for feeling so bad. Mark Manson

Just as one must suffer physical pain to build stronger bones and muscle, one must suffer emotional pain to develop greater emotional resilience, a stronger sense of self, increased compassion, and a generally happier life. Mark Manson

Pursuing the negative generates the positive. The pain you pursue in the gym results in better all-around health and energy. The failures in business are what lead to a better understanding of what’s necessary to be successful. Being open with your insecurities paradoxically makes you more confident and charismatic around others. Mark Manson

The secret sauce is in the solving of the problems, not in not having problems in the first place. Mark Manson

You’re going to die one day. I know that’s kind of obvious, but I just wanted to remind you in case you’d forgotten. You and everyone you know are going to be dead soon. Mark Manson

I once heard an artist say that when a person has no problems, the mind automatically finds a way to invent some. Mark Manson

The emotional pain of rejection or failure teaches us how to avoid making the same mistakes in the future. And this is what is so dangerous about a society that coddles itself (…) we lose the benefits of experiencing healthy doses of pain, a loss that disconnects us from the reality of the world around us. Mark Manson

Our pain often makes us stronger, more resilient, more grounded. Mark Manson

Our most radical changes in perspective often happen at the tail end of our worst moments. Mark Manson

And in the short amount of time between here and there, you have a limited amount of f*cks to give. Very few, in fact. And if you go around giving a f*ck about everything and everyone without conscious thought or choice — well, then you’re going to get f*cked. Mark Manson

There is a simple realization from which all personal improvement and growth emerge. This is the realization that we, individually, are responsible for everything in our lives, no matter the external circ*mstances. Mark Manson

We don’t always control what happens to us. But we always control how we interpret what happens to us, as well as how we respond. Mark Manson

Being wrong opens us up to the possibility of change. Being wrong brings the opportunity for growth. Mark Manson

Nobody is ever responsible for your unhappiness, but you. Mark Manson

We can be truly successful only at something we’re willing to fail at. Mark Manson

A question that most people never consider, is, “What pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for?” Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out. Mark Manson

Often the only difference between a problem being painful or being powerful is a sense that we chose it, and that we are responsible for it. Mark Manson

If you’re miserable in your current situation, chances are it’s because you feel like some part of it is outside your control—that there’s a problem you have no ability to solve, a problem that was somehow thrust upon you without your choosing. Mark Manson

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Self-improvement is really about prioritizing better values, choosing better things to give a f*ck about. Mark Manson

This is the most simple and basic component of life: our struggles determine our successes. Mark Manson

When we feel that we’re choosing our problems, we feel empowered. When we feel that our problems are being forced upon us against our will, we feel victimized and miserable. Mark Manson

In reality, there is no such thing as not giving a single f*ck. It’s impossible. We must all give a f*ck about something. To not give a f*ck about anything is still to give a f*ck about something. Mark Manson

The real question is, What are we choosing to give a f*ck about? What values are we choosing to base our actions on? What metrics are we choosing to use to measure our life? And are those good choices — good values and good metrics. Mark Manson

You are already choosing, in every moment of every day, what to give a f*ck about, so change is as simple as choosing to give a f*ck about something else. It really is that simple. It’s just not easy. Mark Manson

We all have values for ourselves. We protect these values. We try to live up to them and we justify them and maintain them. Even if we don’t mean to, that’s how our brain is wired. Mark Manson

The point is this: we all must give a f*ck about something, in order to value something. And to value something, we must reject what is not that something. To value X, we must reject non-X. Mark Manson

We’re apes. We think we’re all sophisticated with our toaster ovens and designer footwear, but we’re just a bunch of finely ornamented apes. Mark Manson

Conclusion

To try to avoid pain is to give too many f*cks about pain. Mark Manson

Summary of The Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck

• You should only care about a handful of things.
• You feel overwhelmed because you give too many f*cks.
• Why do you give so many f*cks?
  • Because society tells you to become more and have more to become happy.
  • This message has been repeated for dozens of years.
  • Because it’s “favorable” for businesses.
• With the Internet, you only see people’s highlights which makes you feel miserable.
• The good life is not through comfort, it’s through pain and struggle.
• Don’t avoid problems. Find the ones you love solving.

IsThe Subtle Art Of Not Giving A F*ck Worth it?

Absolutely.

If you read it and apply the lessons, you’ll free yourself from dead weight.

You’ll be indifferent, whether you’re happy or sad, because you’ll know it’s part of life.

And this feeling, this letting go, is liberating.

Buy the book here: Audio – Hardcover – Paperback

Further Readings

• Topic: Education and Learning
• More self-help books about life and happiness:
  • 73 Man’s Search For Meaning Quotes, Summary (Viktor Frankl)
  • 81 The Alchemist Quotes And Summary (Book by Paulo Coelho)
  • 93+ Essentialism Quotes And Summary (Book by Greg McKeown)
  • 97+ Beyond Order Quotes + Summary (Book By Jordan Peterson)
  • 95+ Stillness Is The Key Quotes (+Summary) by Ryan Holiday
  • 75+ The Power Of Now Quotes by Eckhart Tolle (+Summary)
• 100 Education Quotes That Will Inspire You To Keep Growing
• 65 Growth Mindset Quotes (To Improve Your Life)
• Mark Manson’s website, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube

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I hope you liked these quotes from Mark Manson, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. If you did, please share them with a friend today who could benefit from caring about the right things!

Do you care about too many things? What’s your favorite quote? And remember: words can transform your life, if you find the right ones.