25 Carlos Castaneda Quotes to Wake Up Your Inner Warrior

These quotes from Carlos Castaneda will inspire you to wake up your inner warrior and take action on your goals. 

Carlos Castaneda was an author, philosopher, anthropologist, and shaman.

Castaneda published a series of books that shared his experiences training in ancient shaman traditions passed down from the Toltec people of what is now Mexico.

These Carlos Castaneda quotes share his philosophy of what life meant from the perspective of a warrior. 

Do you have what it takes to be a warrior?

The quotes below will show you the importance of taking action on your goals and living the life you dream of.

As long as you believe in yourself and take logical action, there is nothing you cannot do. 

Be sure to also check out these warrior quotes on having an unbeatable mind.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Look through our complete collection of inspirational quotes here.

Carlos Castaneda quotes on changing your perspective

1. “Things don’t change, only the way you look at them.” – Carlos Castaneda

You will also enjoy our article on ride or die quotes.

2. “We hardly ever realize that we can cut anything out of our lives, anytime, in the blink of an eye.” – Carlos Castenada

3. “The aim is to balance the terror of being alive with the wonder of being alive.” – Carlos Castaneda

4. “There are lots of things a warrior can do at a certain time which he couldn’t do years before. Those things themselves did not change; what changed was his idea of himself.” – Carlos Castaneda

5. “A warrior chooses a path with heart, any path with heart, and follows it; and then he rejoices and laughs. He knows because he sees that his life will be over altogether too soon. He sees that nothing is more important than anything else.” – Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda quotes on happiness

6. “The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same.” – Carlos Cataneda

7. “All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. However, a path without a heart is never enjoyable. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy-it does not make a warrior work at liking it; it makes for a joyful journey; as long as a man follows it, he is one with it.” – Carlos Castaneda

8. “It doesn’t matter what one reveals or what one keeps to oneself. Everything we do, everything we are, rests on our personal power.” – Carlos Castaneda

9. “You say you need help. Help for what? You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life.” – Carlos Castaneda

10. “To seek freedom is the only driving force I know. Freedom to fly off into that infinity out there. Freedom to dissolve; to lift off; to be like the flame of a candle, which, in spite of being up against the light of a billion stars, remains intact, because it never pretended to be more than what it is: a mere candle.” – Carlos Castaneda

11. “If a warrior is to succeed at anything, the success must come gently, with a great deal of effort but with no stress or obsession.” – Carlos Castaneda

12. “Feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy and vain. To be a warrior one needs to be light and fluid.” – Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda quotes about life, death, and the universe

13. “Death is the only wise advisor that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you’re about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you’re wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, ‘I haven’t touched you yet.” – Carlos Castaneda

14. “For me the world is weird because it is stupendous, awesome, mysterious, unfathomable; my interest has been to convince you that you must assume responsibility for being here.” – Carlos Castaneda

15. “Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’” – Carlos Castaneda

16. “In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.” – Carlos Castaneda

17. “Intent is a force that exists in the universe. When sorcerers (those who live of the source) beckon to intent, it comes to them and sets up the path for attainment, which means that sorcerers always accomplish what they set out to do.” – Carlos Castaneda

18. “Do you know at this very moment you are surrounded by eternity? And do you know that you can use that eternity if you so desire?” – Carlos Castaneda

19. “We are men and our lot in life is to learn and to be hurled into inconceivable new worlds.” – Carlos Castaneda

20. “Only the idea of death makes a warrior sufficiently detached so that he is capable of abandoning himself to anything. He knows his death is stalking him and won’t give him time to cling to anything so he tries, without craving, all of everything.” – Carlos Castaneda

21. “A warrior thinks of death when things become unclear. The idea of death is the only thing that tempers our spirit.” – Carlos Castaneda

22. “Man lives only to learn. And if he learns it is because it is the nature of his lot, for good or bad.” – Carlos Castaneda

23. “For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length–and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.” – Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda quotes about taking action

24. “A warrior must learn to make every act count, since he is going to be here in this world for only a short while, in fact, too short for witnessing all the marvels of it.” – Carlos Castaneda

25. “Nothing in this world is a gift. Whatever must be learned must be learned the hard way.” – Carlos Castaneda

Were you inspired by these Carlos Castaneda quotes?

While we can’t all be warriors trained in the ancient shamanic teachings of the Toltec people, we can be warriors in our own way.

We can be warriors by standing up for what we believe in.

We can be warriors by taking action toward our dreams and achieving success in our goals.

And we can be warriors by finding the balance in life and by practicing looking at things from new perspectives. 

Everyone can be a warrior in some way.

These powerful quotes will hopefully motivate you to stop waiting for someday and take action to succeed in your goals. 

What are your favorite Carlos Castaneda quotes and sayings?

Let us know in the comment section below.