"Unless someone truly has the power to say no, they never truly have the power to say yes." -- Dan Millman
Dan Millman (born February 22, 1946) is a former Trampolining world champion athlete, university coach, martial arts instructor and college professor, and an author of fourteen self-help books, currently published in 29 languages, the most famous of which is the semi-autobiographical novel, Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1980), which was adapted into a feature film, Peaceful Warrior (2006) directed by Victor Salva and starring Nick Nolte.
In 1964, he became the first World Men's Trampoline Champion at the 1964 Trampoline World Championships in London.
"Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.""Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body.""Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.""I have an almost religious zeal... not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.""I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.""Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it's greedy or loving.""There are no ordinary moments.""Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear."
At the age of 17, he won the United States Gymnastics Federation (USGF)'s Trampoline Championship and competed in gymnastics at John Marshall High School in Los Angeles. While a freshman at U.C. Berkeley, he won the 1964 Trampoline World Championships in London. The same year he won three All-American titles, including national titles in FX and V. Later in 1968, he recovered from a motorcycle injury, and co-captained the 1968 NCAA University of California gymnastics team; also in 1968 he was appointed as Director of gymnastics at Stanford University, where he coached U.S. Olympian Steve Hug and brought the Stanford team to national prominence. In 1972 he became an assistant professor of physical education at Oberlin College at Oberlin, Ohio.
His early background includes training in modern dance, gymnastics, and martial arts. He earned a black belt in aikido. Later he studied various yogas and other martial arts, and traveled around the world researching integrative disciplines, which resulted in his calling since 1980 ... writing about and teaching an approach to living he calls the "way of the peaceful warrior" in his career as a motivational speaker. Due to the varied topics of his books, his work is difficult to label, but is generally connected to the human potential movement .