The higher our self-esteem, the stronger the drive to express ourselves, reflecting the sense of richness within. The lower our self-esteem, the more urgent the need to “prove” ourselves or to forget ourselves by living mechanically and unconsciously.
A commitment to lifelong learning is a natural expression of the practice of living consciously.
Force, governmental coercion, is the instrument by which the ethics of altruism – the belief that the individual exists to serve others – is translated into political reality.
Whether in the workplace or in personal relationships, success belongs to those who are willing to take responsibility for attaining their desires-those who respond to life actively rather than passively.
The real basic power of an individual isn’t what he or she knows; it’s the ability to think and learn and face new challenges.
What is guilt? It is moral self-reproach-I did wrong when it was possible to have done otherwise.
Our motive is not to prove our self-worth, but to live up to our possibilities.
Be careful what you say to your children. They may agree with you.
When we bury our feelings, we also bury ourselves. It means we exist in a state of alienation. We rarely know it, but we are lonely for ourselves.
When you are frightened, you typically pull energy in to your center, seeing less, hearing less-shrinking consciousness precisely when you need to expand it.
We are anxious when there is a dissonance between our “knowledge” and the perceivable facts. Since our “knowledge” is not to be doubted or questioned, it is the facts that have to be altered...
If you have high self-esteem, you might still know times of emotional suffering, but less often and with faster recovery-your resilience is greater.
In a world in which the total of human knowledge is doubling about every ten years, our security can rest only on our ability to learn.
For the rational, psychologically healthy man, the desire for pleasure is the desire to celebrate his control over reality. For the neurotic, the desire for pleasure is the desire to escape from reality.
Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations.
The highest compliment one can be paid by another human being is to be told: ‘Because of what you are, you are essential to my happiness.’
Integrity is congruence between what you know, what you profess, and what you do.
Self-esteem is not a luxury; it is a profound spiritual need.
In any culture, subculture, or family in which belief is valued above thought, and self-surrender is valued above self-expression, and conformity is valued above integrity, those who preserve their self-esteem are likely to be heroic exceptions.
It’s not that achievements prove our worth but rather that the process of achieving is the means by which we develop our effectiveness, our competence at living.