How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"In fact, you have no knowledge of where anything is or of what anything is or how it came to be. Life is a mystery.
"My ignorance is based on this understanding. Your understanding is based on ignorance. That is why I am a humorous fool, and you are a serious jackass." (P.153-154)
Wow, quite an insult there, Socrates. He thinks Dan's desire to figure life out is a pointless cause of dissatisfaction that makes him look like, well, a jackass. Socrates just laughs at life and chills. He's convinced you'll never figure out cosmic riddles—so why bother with them?
Quote #2
Softly, he said, "It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament. As your eyes open, you'll see that your state of health, happiness, and every circumstance of your life has been, in large part, arranged by you—consciously or unconsciously." (P.257)
Quit making excuses, in other words. Your dissatisfaction is caused by you. Take responsibility and don't see yourself as a victim of forces beyond your control. This is just one of the many lectures Socrates will continue to hit Dan with throughout the book.
Quote #3
The world was peopled with minds, whirling faster than any wind, in search of distraction and escape from the predicament of change, the dilemma of life and death—seeking purpose, security, enjoyment, trying to make sense of the mystery. Everyone everywhere lived a confused, bitter search. Reality never matched their dreams, happiness was just around the corner—a corner they never turned.
And the source of it all was the human mind. (1.107-108)
This key passage pins the blame on the mind. People are always trying to figure out the mystery of life and death—and Socrates essentially says, "That's a total waste. It only makes you dissatisfied. Don't worry, be happy." But it takes discipline to implement that philosophy consistently, so that's why he makes Dan train for pretty much the whole novel.
Quote #4
One day I looked in the mirror and realized that forty years had passed; I was old. Where had my life gone? With the help of my psychiatrist I had overcome my drinking problem; and I'd had money, houses, and women. But I had no one now. I was lonely. [...]
I now passed the days in my favorite rocking chair, sipping wine, watching TV, and thinking about old times. I watched children play in front of the house. It had been a good life, I supposed. I'd gotten everything I'd gone after, so why wasn't I happy? (1.131-133)
Dan's vision shows him a future where he's done all the right things, according to the conventional view of life, but still finds himself vaguely dissatisfied, left unhappy without knowing why. Socrates basically gives him this vision to scare him into taking up the difficult training.
Quote #5
"Dan, you are suffering; you do not fundamentally enjoy your life. Your entertainments, your physical affairs, and your gymnastics are temporary ways to distract you from your underlying sense of fear [...] for you they're addictions, not entertainments. You use them to distract you from your chaotic inner life—the parade of regrets, anxieties, and fantasies you call your mind." (2.13-15)
Whoa, this is a pretty intense dismissal of Dan's way of life. Deep down, Socrates says, the youth is unhappy. His despairing mind drives him to distraction. Everything looks good officially—he's got girlfriends and movies and so on—but really, he's dissatisfied with all that and suffering. What could be the answer? Tune in to Socrates to find out, of course.
Quote #6
"If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality [...] Life is not suffering; it's just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind's attachments and just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens." (2.25-27)
All this suffering makes us want tissue paper to wipe our eyes. But really, the point is that pinning your hopes on anything, Socrates says, isn't the way to go. Whether you get what you want or not, you're going to be dissatisfied, at best just kind of "meh" about it all, wondering why you're not happy. Instead—you've got the point by now, right?—you need to just enjoy life no matter if things are supposedly turning out well or poorly for you.
Quote #7
“Your "upset" at the ruined picnic and your "happiness" when the sun reappeared were the product of your thoughts. They had nothing to do with the actual events. Haven't you been "unhappy" at celebrations for example? It is obvious then that your mind, not other people or your surroundings, is the source of your moods.” (2.71)
Don't let a little rain get you down. If you do, Socrates tells Dan, it's you letting your mind decide the rain is bad news. Instead, just be happy no matter what. Sounds like a tough discipline to develop. It's a lot easier just to blame what's happening around you.
Quote #8
"Stressful thoughts reflect a conflict with reality. Stress happens when the mind resists what is." (3.8)
Or as the common saying goes: It is what it is. And if you can't accept that, Socrates says, you're going to get stress out and dissatisfied with life.
Quote #9
A year went by almost without my noticing it. Everything was going so well; I couldn't understand my persistent feeling that I had lost something, a long time ago. The sharp images of my training with Socrates—running into the hills, the strange exercises late at night, the hours of talking and listening and watching my enigmatic teacher—were fading memories. (7.107)
Dan, dude, you let your training go. We are disappointed. Letting his discipline fade away sinks Dan back down into dissatisfaction with life.
Quote #10
As my travels neared their conclusion, I became even more desperate—compelled toward a final confrontation with the questions that rang out in my mind: "What is enlightenment? When will I find peace?" Socrates had spoken of these things, but at the time, I didn't have the ears to hear him. (7.114)
It appears you gotta make it all the way to the moment of enlightenment to get past your mind and its unhappiness. It seems like it might be easy to just shrug your shoulders and decide to stop worrying, but Socrates says again and again that it takes discipline to cultivate the attitude of happiness. It isn't until Dan gets through the gate (see the Symbols, Imagery, Allegory section for more) that he truly gets over his dissatisfaction.