The key is in complementing traditional strength and conditioning training with muscle pliability. Pliable muscles are softer, longer, and more resilient: they help insulate the body against injury and accelerate post-injury recovery.

He had, however, a happy mixture of pliability and perseverance in his nature; he was in form and spirit like a supple-jack — yielding, but tough; though he bent, he never broke; and though he bowed beneath the slightest pressure, yet, the moment it was away — jerk! he was as erect, and carried his head as high as ever.

time. Then you can relax. Philosophically, patience is like a muscle that must regularly be used, it must be exercised and trusted. If we don’t practice using the muscle in little, everyday situations — such as letting the tea take a minute or two to heat in the microwave — we won’t have a strong muscle to support us through life’s bigger challenges.

The function of muscle is to pull and not to push, except in the case of the genitals and the tongue.

As Pliable and Christian find themselves walking together toward the narrow gate, we see the stark contrast between the two pilgrims. One is burdened; the other is not. One is clutching a book that is a light to his path. The other is guideless. One is on the journey in pursuit of deliverance from besetting sins and rest for his soul. The other is on the journey in order to obtain future delights that temporarily dazzle his mind. One is slow and plodding because of his great weight and a sense of his own unrighteousness; the other is light-footed and impatient to obtain all the benefits of Heaven. One is in motion because his soul has been stirred up to both fear and hope; the other is dead to any spiritual fears,
longings, or aspirations. One is seeking God; the other is seeking self-satisfaction. One is a true pilgrim; the other is false and fading.
15.

Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence.

A confidence in being able to please is often an infallible means of being displeasing.

The heart is a very, very resilient little muscle. It really is.

Pilate was merciful till it became risky.

Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.

The groups of muscles that have become virtually unnecessary in modern life, though still a vital element of a man’s body, are obviously pointless from a practical point of view, and bulging muscles are as unnecessary as a classical education is to the majority of practical men. Muscles have gradually become something akin to classical Greek. To revive the dead language, the discipline of the steel was required; to change the silence of death into the eloquence of life, the aid of steel was essential.

La passion fait souvent un fou du plus habile homme, et rend souvent les plus sots habiles.

Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use.

Semper Gumby, he thinks. Always flexible.