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We've put together some of our favorite and inspiring sayings and pearls of wisdom that we've come across in our own processes of recovery and growth. We've found these helpful as we've each grappled with life's challenges and opportunities for ongoing healing - both psychologically and spiritually. We share these with you now in the hope that you'll enjoy them, and leave this Web page feeling good about yourself and about life! ContentsA Collection of Wise Sayings A Collection of Wise Sayings"We shall not cease from exploration "Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out." -- Vaclav Havel "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now -- when?" -- Hillel "Come my friends, 'tis not too late to seek a newer world." -- Tennyson "If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are." -- Zen proverb "If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, 'thank you,' that would suffice." -- Meister Eckhart "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -- Albert Einstein "We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." -- Victor Frankl "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." -- Unknown "The shell must break before the bird can fly." -- Tennyson "Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes." -- Carl Jung "The years teach much that the days never know." -- Emerson "If you bring forth what is within you, it will heal you. And if you do not bring forth what is within you, it will destroy you." (from the Gospel of St. Thomas) "Go to your bosom: Knock there, and ask your heart what it doth know." -- William Shakespeare "The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don't know how or why." -- Albert Einstein "The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve." -- Albert Schweitzer "The difference between a smart person and a wise person is that a smart person knows what to say and a wise person knows whether or not to say it." -- Quote found on the wall of a recreation center office in Berkeley, California. "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." -- Dave Gardner "We do not see things as they are; we see things as we are." -- Talmud "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. " -- Helen Keller "This is the true joy in life: the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations." -- George Bernard Shaw "Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: -- W.H. Murray, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition On Being in Touch with Our Inner Child"There is an innocence within me that already knows how to trust my Higher Power, to cherish life while holding it lightly, to live fully and simply in the present moment. I will allow that part of myself to come forward and nourish me as I continue on this journey." On Being in Touch with Our Higher Power"There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word. Certainly there is a right for you that needs no choice on your part. Place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into your life. Then, without effort, you are impelled to truth and to perfect contentment." --Ralph Waldo Emerson On Contentment"Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have." --Unknown Content: A Poem I should be content On WorryA thousand reasons for worry, "Do your best. Then, don't worry, be happy." Our Deepest Fear"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." -- Marianne Williamson
On Patience"I remembered one morning when I discovered a cocoon in a bark of a tree, just as a butterfly was making a hole in its case and preparing to come out. I waited awhile, but it was too long appearing and I was impatient. I bent over it and breathed on it to warm it. I warmed it as quickly as I could and the miracle began to happen before my eyes, faster than life. The case opened, the butterfly started slowly crawling out and I shall never forget my horror when I saw how its wings were folded back and crumpled; the wretched butterfly tried with its whole trembling body to unfold them. Bending over it I tried to help it with my breath. In vain. It needed to be hatched out patiently and the unfolding of its wings should be a gradual process in the sun. Now it was too late. My breath had forced the butterfly to appear, all crumpled, before its time. It struggled desperately and, a few seconds later, died in the palm of my hand. The little body is, I do believe, the greatest weight I have on my conscience, for I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm." "Improving our own attitudes and our own state of mind takes time. Haste and impatience can only defeat our purposes." On Commitment"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectivness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. The whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets: 'Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.'" On Being Responsible"I came to Al-Anon confused about what was and was not my responsibility. Today, after lots of Step work, I believe I am responsible for the following: • to be loyal to my values I also have certain responsibilities to others: • to extend a welcome to newcomers "I have a primary responsibility to myself: to make myself into the best person I can possibly be. Then, and only then, will I have something worthwhile to share." On Learning to Do BetterI walk down the street. I walk down the same street. I walk down the same street. I walk down the same street. I walk down a different street. -- Portia Nelson On Right Action"Codes of ethics are most often associated with prohibitions: Don't do this, don't do that. All the spiritual traditions I know have more or less the same lists of don'ts. This makes sense, since all the don'ts elaborate on the awareness that if we are not alert, our naturally arising impulses of greed and anger might lead us to do something exploitive or abusive. The fundamental rule is, 'Don't cause pain.' Traditional Buddhist texts, when they talk about Right Action, use the terms hiri and ottappa, usually translated as 'moral shame' and 'moral dread.' Shame and dread have ominous overtones in English, but I rather like these terms. I appreciate the sense of awesome responsibility they are meant to convey. Collectively, what they mean is that every single act we do has the potential of causing pain, and every single thing we do has consequences that echo way beyond what we can imagine. It doesn't mean we shouldn't act. It means we should act carefully. Everything matters." (from It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness, by Sylvia Boorstein, page 41. Published by Harper San Francisco) On Pain"They say that pain is inevitable but suffering is optional. If I learn to accept that pain is part of life, I will be better able to endure the difficult times and then move on, leaving the pain behind me." "...When we long for life without...difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." -- Peter Marshall On Living With A Full HeartWhen one is too hurt one cannot see others' pain, is too blind with one's own. (written by 12-year old Olivia, Berkeley, California, 2/12/02) No Problem Lasts ForeverNo problem lasts forever. No matter how permanently fixed in the center of our lives it may seem, whatever we experience in this ever-changing life is sure to pass. Even pain. Difficult situations often bring out qualities in us that otherwise might not have risen to the surface, such as courage, faith, and our need for one another. All of our experiences can help us to grow. But we may need patience. Some wounds cannot be healed quickly. They must be given time. In the meantime, we can appreciate the new capabilities we are developing, such as the capacity to mourn and the willingness to accept. Let us share our losses and triumphs with each other, for that is how we gather courage. On Fear"We have two kinds of fears. One is a fear that whatever is going on is going to go on forever. It’s just not true -- nothing goes on forever. The other is the fear that, even if it doesn’t go on forever, the pain of whatever is happening will be so terrible we won’t be able to stand it. There is a gut level of truth about this fear. It would be ridiculous to pretend that in our lives, in these physical bodies, which can hurt very much, and in relationships that can hurt very much, there aren’t some very, very painful times. Even so, I think we underestimate ourselves. Terrible as times may be, I believe we can stand them. "Because we become frightened as soon as a difficult mind state blows into the mind, we start to fight with it. We try to change it, or we try to get rid of it. The frenzy of the struggle makes the mind state even more unpleasant. "The familiar image is a children’s cartoon character, like Daffy Duck, walking along freely and suddenly stepping into taffy. In a hasty, awkward attempt to extricate himself, he might fall forward and backward and eventually be totally stuck in the taffy. Even children see a better solution. "The best solution would be the nonalarmed recognition, ‘This is taffy. I didn’t see it as I stepped into it, but I felt it after I got stuck. It’s just taffy. The whole world is not made out of taffy. What would be a wise thing for me to do now?'" God's JobsAn eight year old wrote this for his third-grade Sunday school teacher, who asked her students to explain God: One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes these to put in the place of the ones who die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on earth. He doesn't make grownups, he just makes babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way he doesn't have to take up his valuable time teaching them to walk and talk. He can just leave that up to the mothers and fathers. I think it works out pretty good. God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, 'cause some people, like preachers and things, pray other times besides bedtimes, and Grandpa and Grandma pray every time they eat, except for snacks. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio and watch TV on account of this. 'Cause God hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in his ears unless he has thought of a way to turn it down. God sees and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting his time asking for things that aren't important, or go over parents' heads and ask for something they said you couldn't have. It doesn't work anyway. (From A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Published by Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, Florida. To order, call 1-800-441-5569) The Secrets of Heaven and HellThe old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation he sat. Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!" At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second. "You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?" The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high over his head. His face turned to crimson, and the veins of his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders. "That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent. In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears. "And that," said the monk, "is heaven." (From A Third Serving of Chicken Soup for the Soul, by Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen. Published by Health Communications, Deerfield Beach, Florida. To order, call 1-800-441-5569) Symptoms of Inner PeaceBe on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been exposed to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world. Some signs and symptoms of inner peace: • A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences. The Rules for Being Human 1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around. The Illusion of Perfect Parents"It is a universal part of the human condition that we must heal wounds from our past. The illusion of perfect parents must eventually give way to the realities of who our parents are as concrete individuals. Their limitations invariably become our own, in one way or another, and their struggles with identity and self-esteem become the stumbling blocks that we find in our own lives. This is the human condition. "Children of alcoholics teach us about the very nature of being human. Their experience reminds us that self-esteem is not innate but rather comes from being valued by people who value themselves." (Timmen Cermak, M.D., quoted in New Realities magazine, November/December 1988, page 46). What is Maturity?• Knowing myself. (from Courage to Change: One Day At a Time in Al-Anon, page 63. Reprinted with permission of Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA) Comes the Dawn Pearls of Wisdom from Helen Keller"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content." -- Helen Keller "Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." -- Helen Keller Some Native American WisdomA Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: "Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most." How A Child Learns If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. Insights and Wisdom from Dick OlneyWho was Dick Olney? Dick was both a master psychotherapist and, for many, a profound spiritual teacher. He called his work Self-Acceptance Training and he trained therapists and others from coast to coast for more than two decades. Dick said the truth can never be spoken. Even so, his words point the way. Here are some samples of what Dick has said (excerpted from Walking in Beauty: A Collection of the Psychological Insights and Spiritual Wisdom of Dick Olney, edited by Roslyn Moore. To order, contact DO Publishing, P.O. Box 103, Mendocino, California 95460): "There is only one wound of the mental body, and that is the wound of self-criticism or self-judgment" "Self-criticism or self-judgment is self-hatred. It will always hurt you. There is no exception to that." "One definition of insanity is to do something for twenty years that has not worked, and then do it again as if it will work." "To see what you are not is most important. Then what you are will naturally emerge." "The goal of a good therapist is to help someone wake up from the bad dream that they are their self-image." "Your thoughts come automatically. It is to the extent you identify with them that they make you their slave. You become the mistress of your thoughts, not when you can control the machine, but when you do not identify with it." "Emotion will not drive you crazy. What will drive you crazy is the fear of emotion." Living According to False Beliefs "Because my father abandoned me when I was a child, I must go through life abandoning the people close to me." "If I make a mistake, I will die." "I don't have time to feel what I am feeling, because I have to figure it all out." "I have to get where I go by suffering." "When I start to feel good, I must remember to feel bad, because I didn't feel good before." "Because my mother withheld intimacy from me when I was small, I cannot offer intimacy for the rest of my life." "If I leave him, I'll die." "I can't be happy, because if I allow myself to be happy, I might be humiliated." "I must earn and deserve every good thing I get." Other People's Expectations"The only man who behaved sensibly was my tailor; he took my measurement anew every time he saw me, while all the rest went on with their old measurements and expected them to fit me." -- George Bernard Shaw Turning It Over to Higher Power"God loves you and He knows all the secrets of your heart...you've allowed the past to come between you and God. Turn the past over to God. He's strong enough to take it. And give Him your future, too....He'll make you strong enough to live it." The angel Claire, speaking to Jake, a jaded Vietnam vet, in the TV show Touched By An Angel. On Being Happy and Serving Others"Happiness is not an individual matter. When you are able to bring relief, or bring back the smile to one person, not only that person profits, but you also profit. The deepest happiness you can have comes from that capacity to help relieve the suffering of others. So if we have the habit of being peace, then there is a natural tendency for us to go in the direction of service. Nothing compels us, except the joy of sharing peace, the joy of sharing freedom from afflictions, freedom from worries, freedom from craving, which are the true foundations for happiness. "And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in any situation. Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our peace and serenity. The most important thing is for each of us to have some freedom in our heart, some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart. Only then will we be able to relieve the suffering around us." Today, like every other day, The Essence of All BeingMeher Baba, offers a comprehensive spiritual sweep to life: "From the spiritual point of view, the only important thing is to realize Divine Life and to help others realize it by manifesting it in everyday happenings. To penetrate into the essence of all being and significance and to release the fragrance of that inner attainment for the guidance and benefit of others -- by expressing, in the world of forms, truth, love, purity, and beauty -- this is the sole game that has intrinsic and absolute worth. All other happenings, incidents, and attainments in themselves can have no lasting importance." (Meher Baba, Discourses, page 200.) A Prayer for Peace, Growth, and RecoveryLord, make me an instrument of your peace. (St. Francis of Assissi) |
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