Make it your moment-to-moment aim to recognize the difference between being aware of your thoughts, and being carried along by them.
Real freedom isn’t subject to how others estimate our value; it is in realizing that none are free who find their sense of worth wondering how others measure their lives.
Weak thoughts and feelings often feel strong but remember, real strength is never anxious, cruel, or punishing.
No one rises above who he or she has been without first having fallen down. The best time – in fact, the only time – to make a real change in your life is in the moment of seeing the need for it. He who hesitates always gets lost in the hundred reasons why tomorrow is a better day to get started.
Looking to any angry, anxious, or otherwise stressed emotional state to help you sort out the pain you’re in is like trying to organize your monthly bills by throwing them into a blender.
The only mistake that we can make as human beings is to be asleep, unaware of ourselves.
The only world in which “defeat” exists as a reality is the one darkened by the false idea that what may have happened to us a moment ago is the same as what’s possible for us to achieve now.
The limit of your present understanding is not the limit of your possibilities.
No condition outside ourselves can create a rut or trap us in it. It’s impossible.
Being anxious, or in a painful rush of any kind, kills the possibility of meeting anyone with compassion.
Being fully present is the best guarantee for a bright future.
Every one of us lives in a world that is no larger and no smaller than our understanding.
Any conclusion you reach about yourself has to be an unseen limitation because there’s always more to see.
To be more aware, we need only listen for and let go of the thoughts which steal our attention.
If I am identified with my relationship, with my house, or with my money, I am doomed to suffer.
The only way to cultivate a quiet mind is by planting seeds of silence.
The belief that you have no choice but to keep suffering through whatever frightens you is like believing you have to hold onto a scalding cup so that you won’t spill your coffee!
Self-pity is the campsite of self-defeat; it is a dark refuge for those parts of us that would rather wallow in what cannot be than dare to explore what is possible.
The vast majority of our troubles and heartaches would simply vanish from view if only we could remember – before we act – that we are made victims mostly by our own tendencies.
The right attitude toward any negative state begins with understanding that its only authority over you is a direct reflection of your attitude towards it.