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5 Quotes by Elizabeth Gilbert

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am burdened with what the Buddhists call the 'monkey mind' -- the thoughts that swing from limb to limb, stopping only to scratch themselves, spit and howl.

 

 

But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilling yearnings.

 

Prayer is a relationship; half the job is mine. If I want transformation, but can't even be bothered to articulate what, exactly, I'm aiming for, how will it ever occur? Half the benefit of prayer is in the asking itself, in the offering of a clearly posed and well-considered intention. If you don't have this, all your pleas and desires are boneless, floppy, inert; they swirl at your feet in a cold fog and never lift.

 

God never slams a door in your face without opening a box of Girl Scout cookies.

 

Om Namah Shivaya, meaning,
I honor the divinity that resides within me.

 

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Harold S. Kushner

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The purpose in life is not to win. The purpose in life is to grow and to share. When you come to look back on all that you have done in life, you will get more satisfaction from the pleasure you have brought into other people's lives than you will from the times that you outdid and defeated them.

 

Good people will do good things, lots of them, because they are good people. They will do bad things because they are human.

 

God’s job is not to make sick people healthy. That’s the doctor’s job. God’s job is to make sick people brave.

 

You don’t become happy by pursuing happiness. You become happy by living a life that means something. 

 

Forgiveness is not a matter of exonerating people who have hurt you. They may not deserve exoneration. Forgiveness means cleansing your soul of the bitterness of ‘what might have been,’ ‘what should have been,’ and ‘what didn’t have to happen.’ Someone has defined forgiveness as ‘giving up all hope of having had a better past.’ What’s past is past and there is little to be gained by dwelling on it. There are perhaps no sadder people then the men and women who have a grievance against the world because of something that happened years ago and have let that memory sour their view of life ever since. 

 

 

5 Quotes by Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

 

 

 

 

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.

 

 

From the perspective of meditation, every state is a special state, every moment a special moment.

 

 

We must be willing to encounter darkness and despair when they come up and face them, over and over again if need be, without running away or numbing ourselves in the thousands of ways we conjure up to avoid the unavoidable.

 

 

Perhaps ultimately, "spiritual" simply means experiencing wholeness and interconnectedness directly, a seeing that individuality and the totality are interwoven, that nothing is separate or extraneous. If you see in this way, then everything becomes spiritual in its deepest sense. 

 

 

Look at other people and ask yourself if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them.

 

 

Special Bonus Quote:

TRY: During the day, see if you can detect the bloom of the present moment in every moment, the ordinary ones, the “in-between” ones, even the hard ones. Work at allowing more things to unfold in your life without forcing them to happen and without rejecting the ones that don’t fit your idea of what “should” be happening. See if you can sense the “spaces” through which you might move with no effort in the spirit of Chuang Tzu’s cook. Notice how if you can make some time early in the day for being, with no agenda, it can change the quality of the rest of your day. By affirming first what is primary in your own being, see if you don’t get a mindful jump on the whole day and wind up more capable of sensing, appreciating, and responding to the bloom of each moment.

 

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Shunryu Suzuki

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your own two feet.

 

Emotionally we have many problems, but these problems are not actual problems; they are something created; they are problems pointed out by our own self-centered ideas or views.

 

A mind full of preconceived ideas, subjective intentions, or habits is not open to things as they are.

 

Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.

 

Everything is perfect and there is always room for improvement.

 

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Douglas Adams

 

 

 

 

 

A learning experience is one of those things that says, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that."

 

 

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

 

 

"Sir," I said to The Universe, "I exist."  "That," said The Universe, "creates no sense of obligation in me whatsoever."

 

 

I only know as much about myself as my mind can work out under its current conditions. And its current conditions are not good.

 

 

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

 

 

 

 

5 Quotes from Alcoholics Anonymous

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some are from the Big Book, some from the 12&12, and some from those wise long-timers who helped me so much when I first got sober...

 

 

"As we go through the day we pause, when agitated or doubtful, and ask for the right thought or action. We constantly remind ourselves we are no longer running the show, humbly saying to ourselves many times each day, 'Thy will be done.' We are then in much less danger of excitement, fear, anger, worry, self-pity or foolish decisions. We become much more efficient. We do not tire so easily for we are not burning up energy foolishly as we did when we were trying to arrange life to suit ourselves."

 

 

"...one of the primary differences between alcoholics and nonalcoholics is that nonalcoholics change their behaviors to meet their goals and alcoholics change their goals to meet their behaviors."

 

 

"To be vital, faith must be accompanied by self sacrifice and unselfish, constructive action."

 

 

"From experience, I've realized that I can't go back and make a brand new start. But through AA I can start from now and make a brand new end."

 

 

"Selfishness! Self-centeredness! That, we think, is the root of our troubles. Driven by a hundred forms of fear, self-delusion, self-seeking and self-pity, we step on the toes of our fellows and they retaliate. Sometimes they hurt us, seemingly without provocation, but we invariably find that at some time in the past we have made decisions based on self which later placed us in a position to be hurt. So our troubles, we think, are basically of our own making."

 

 

Special Bonus Quote:

"It is easy to let up on the spiritual program of action and rest on our laurels. We are headed for trouble if we do, for alcohol is a subtle foe. We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our spiritual condition. Every day is a day when we must carry the vision of God’s will into all of our activities. “How can I best serve Thee—Thy will (not mine) be done.” These are thoughts which must go with us constantly. We can exercise our will power along this line all we wish. It is the proper use of the will."

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Kathleen Norris

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.

 

 

Not money, or success, or position or travel or love makes happiness -- service is the secret.

 

 

But in order to have an adult faith, most of us have to outgrow and unlearn much of what we were taught about religion.

 

 

... in fleeing from a relationship with a loving God, we are also running from being our most authentic selves.

 

 

If grace is so wonderful, why do we have such difficulty recognizing and accepting it? Maybe it's because grace is not gentle or made-to-order. It often comes disguised as loss, or failure, or unwelcome change.

 

 

5 Quotes by Sharon Saltzberg

 

 

 

 

 

The mind thinks thoughts that we don't plan. It's not as if we say, "At 9:10 I'm going to be filled with self hatred."

 

 

Restore your attention or bring it to a new level by dramatically slowing down whatever you're doing.

 

 

The embodiment of kindness is often made difficult by our long ingrained patterns of fear and jealousy.

 

 

To offer our hearts in faith means recognizing that our hearts are worth something, that we ourselves, in our deepest and truest nature, are worth something.

 

 

You may have heard the old story, usually attributed to a Native American elder, meant to illuminate the power of attention. A grandfather (occasionally it's a grandmother) imparting a life lesson to his grandson tells him, "I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is vengeful, fearful, envious, resentful, deceitful. The other wolf is loving, compassionate, generous, truthful and serene." The grandson asks which wolf will win the fight. The grandfather answers, "The one I feed."

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Wayne W. Dyer

 

 

 

 

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.

 

 

 

When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.

 

 

 

Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world.

 

 

 

You leave old habits behind by starting out with the thought, 'I release the need for this in my life.'

 

 

 

I am realistic - I expect miracles.

 

 

 

 

5 Quotes by Garrison Keillor

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you, God, for this good life, and forgive us if we don't love it enough.

 

 

 

Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car.

 

 

 

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.

 

 

 

Life is unjust and this is what makes it so beautiful. Every day is a gift. Be brave and take hold of it.

 

 

 

It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars.