Quotes

More Quotes

• "Integration is a powerful, scientifically grounded conceptual framework enabling us to understand a number of human experiences, from spirituality to health."

  — Daniel J. Siegel, MD

  Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence

• "Love of the self, self-compassion, a feeling of fullness, of wholeness, may emerge from the experience of being integrated."

  — Daniel J. Siegel

  Mindful Awareness, Mindsight, and Neural Integration

• "The breath is an interface between the internal and the external."

  — Daniel J. Siegel

  Mindful Awareness, Mindsight, and Neural Integration

• "We suffer because we cannot spontaneously master the ingredients of fulfillment."

  — Alain De Botton

  Status Anxiety

• "We attract difficult situations because there is something of value for us to learn; they give us the opportunity to be of service to others. Such situations create anxiety because they mirror unresolved issues we carry inside of us… Experiences come into our lives to serve as a reflection of who we are; they allow us to integrate the challenges that remain unresolved."

  — Mira Kelley

  Beyond Past Lives

• "As we heal, we learn who we are and who our loved one was in life. In a strange way, as we move through grief, healing brings us closer to the person we loved."

  — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler

  On Grief & Grieving

• "… we should make it a habit to think about death and dying occasionally, I hope before we encounter it in our own life…. It may be a blessing, therefore, to use the time of illness to think about death and dying in terms of ourselves."

  — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

  On Death & Dying

• "With self-compassion, we are motivated toward achievement for a different reason—because we care. If we truly want to be kind to ourselves and don’t want to suffer, we’ll do things to help us reach our full potential, such as taking on challenging new projects or learning new skills. Because self-compassion gives us the safety needed to acknowledge our weaknesses, we’re in a better position to change them for the better."

  — Kristin Neff and Dennis Tirch

  Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology

• "By wrapping one’s pain in the warm embrace of self-compassion, positive states are generated that help balance the negative ones. The positive affect generated by the kind, connected, and accepting mindset of self-compassion may help us break free of fear and greatly improve the quality of our lives."

  — Kristin Neff and Dennis Tirch

  Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology

• "To truly encounter the human condition means to experience great happiness, but it also means to touch immeasurable pain, the power of fear, the sorrow of loneliness, the angst of death, and all else that comes from the depths of experience related to the tenderness of the “heart.”"

  — Robyn D. Walser

  Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology

• "This is what all art strives for: the creation of a living permanence."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "May your compassion reach out to the ones we never hear from."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "I have never seen anyone take a risk for growth that was not rewarded a thousand times over."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "Many an artist has failed his calling because he refused a limited, less-than-perfect expression of his original vision."

  — Robert A. Johnson

  Transformation

• "To honor and accept one’s own shadow is a profound spiritual discipline. It is whole-making and thus holy and the most important experience of a lifetime."

  — Robert A. Johnson

  Owning Your Own Shadow

• "…a mind stretched to a new idea does not return to its original shape."

  — Daniel J. Siegel, MD

  Aware

• "It is virtually impossible for one or two parents to raise a child alone. We require propping up, and time to ourselves."

  — Susan Stiffelman

  Parenting with Presence

• "Parenting invites us to stretch beyond ourselves, move through resistance, and tap into inner resources we didn’t know we possessed."

  — Susan Stiffelman

  Parenting with Presence

• "We don’t necessarily see things as they are. We see them as we are."

  — Ram Dass

  Polishing the Mirror

• "We were dreamed for a long time before we were born."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "When we truly see the human condition, we come to know that we are not really alone…. we understand, in a place that is beyond words, that pain and fear are shared."

  — Robyn D. Walser

  Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Positive Psychology

• "The various branches of science and the arts elucidate, each from their own perspective, the fact of being human."

  — Carmen Vazquez Bandin

  Gestalt Therapy: Advances in Theory and Practice

• "The wholeness of a home depends much on its ability to prepare its young to leave the nest and risk trusting their own wings to take them to unknown elsewheres, where they will have to build their individual nests."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "There is great beauty in the notion of desire. Each of us is a child of the desire of our parents for each other."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "There can be no growth if we do not remain open and vulnerable to what is new and different."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "To live a truly creative life, we always need to cast a critical look at where we presently are, attempting always to discern where we have become stagnant and where new beginning might be ripening."

  — John O’Donohue

  To Bless the Space Between Us

• "…summarize this fundamental principle of mind integration in this way: Where attention goes, neural firing flows, and neural connection grows."

  — Daniel J. Siegel, MD

  Aware

• "The true work of man in the latter part of his life is the cultural process of bringing up some of the contents of the unconscious and integrating them into consciousness."

  — Robert A. Johnson

  Transformation

• "The spiritual journey is not about acquiring something outside yourself. Rather, you are penetrating the layers and veils to return to the deepest truth of your own being."

  — Ram Dass

  Polishing the Mirror

• "Love is the doorway to oneness with all things, to being in harmony with the entire universe."

  — Ram Dass

  Polishing the Mirror

• "… we are a unique expression of a greater loving whole."

  — John J. Prendergast

  The Deep Heart

• "When we do a basic breath-awareness practice, we are strengthening the monitoring capacity of the mind so that we stabilize attention."

  — Daniel J. Siegel, MD

  Aware

• "Threat and fear are the primary reasons why people avoid coming back to their embodied self-awareness and its restorative potential."

  — Alan Fogel

  Body Sense

• "People have walked this path for thousands of years. They’ve earned wisdom, and it’s waiting for you."

  — Eric Greitens

  Resilience

• "Resilience is a well of inner resources that allows you to weather the difficulties and challenges you encounter without unnecessary mental, emotional, or physical distress."

  — Gail Gazelle, MD

  Everyday Resilience

• "Each of us has our own path to follow, our own karma. You have to honor your own unique path. You can’t imitate someone else’s trip. Listen to your heart to hear what you yourself need…"

  — Ram Dass

  Polishing the Mirror

• "Awareness in the heart flowers into love, compassion, and wisdom."

  — Rameshwar Das

  Polishing the Mirror

• "The mind is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master."

  — Ram Dass

  Polishing the Mirror

• "Once you identify with your spiritual being, you can’t help but be love."

  — Ram Dass

  Be Love Now

• "Discovering the heart of who we really are is the essential human quest."

  — John J. Prendergast

  The Deep Heart

• "The artist’s problem is to avoid changing the rules so radically that no bridge remains over which the public can follow him."

  — Alan Watts

  Psychotherapy East & West

• "Our culture supports self-criticism as a way to motivate ourselves. We can learn to motivate ourselves with compassion."

  — Kristen Neff

  The Self-Acceptance Project

• "Healthy shame triggers and is triggered by our conscience, but unhealthy shame — toxic shame — triggers and is triggered by our inner critic."

  — Robert Augustus Masters

  The Self-Acceptance Project

• "Transformation is a study of the evolution of consciousness through its three main levels of development… Tradition indicates that three levels of consciousness are available to us: simple consciousness, not often seen in our modern technological world; complex consciousness, the usual state of educated Western man; and an enlightened state of consciousness, known only to a very few individuals, which is the culmination of human evolution and can be attained only by highly motivated people after much work and training."

  — Robert A. Johnson

  Transformation

• "Psychological and spiritual adulthood does not come automatically with age. It requires ongoing and ardent work on ourselves. It involves articulating our own truth and acting in accord with its challenges."

  — David Richo

  How to Be an Adult

• "Every mental activity has a physical effect as well."

  — Lisa Feldman Barrett

  How Emotions Are Made