There is an increasing awareness of the interrelatedness of things. We are becoming less prone to accept an immediate solution without questioning its larger implications.
—Arthur Erickson (1924–2009) Canadian Architect
It is the habit of the mind to destroy the state of awareness as quickly as possible. It does this by judging, for judging is thinking.
—Barry Long (1926–2003) Australian Spiritual Teacher, Writer
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body and mind that prevents evil from arising in either.
—Buddhist Teaching
Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it.
—Martial (40–104) Ancient Roman Latin Poet
I am somebody. I am me. I like being me. And I need nobody to make me somebody.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-story Writer
It’s important to realize that inquiry is about noticing, not about dropping the thought… Inquiry is not about getting rid of thoughts; it’s about realizing what’s true for you, through awareness and unconditional self-love. Once you see the truth, the thought lets go of you, not the other way around.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
Of all afflictions, the worst is self-contempt.
—Berthold Auerbach (1812–82) German Novelist
Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Luck is always waiting for something to turn up. Labor, with keen eyes and strong will, always turns up something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman will bring news of a legacy. Labor turns out at six o’clock and with busy pen or ringing hammer, lays the foundation of a competence. Luck whines. Labor whistles. Luck relies on chance, labor on character.
—Richard Cobden
Awakening begins when a man realizes that he is going nowhere and does not know where to go.
—Georges Gurdjieff (1877–1949) Armenian Spiritual Leader, Occultist
Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
Of all the idiots I have met in my life, and the Lord knows they have not been few or little, I think that I have been the biggest.
—Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen) (1885–1962) Danish Novelist, Short-story Writer
I exist as I am, that is enough, If no other in the world be aware I sit content, And if each and all be aware I sit content.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist, American, Poet, Essayist, Journalist
Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness.
—Jean Vanier (1928–2019) French-Canadian Philosopher, Theologian, Humanitarian
The moment one gives a close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world unto itself.
—Henry Miller (1891–1980) American Novelist
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one.
—M. Scott Peck (1936–2005) American Psychiatrist, Author
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American First Lady, Diplomat, Humanitarian
The greatest religious problem today is how to be both a mystic and a militant; in other words how to combine the search for an expansion of inner awareness with effective social action, and how to feel one’s true identity in both
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b.1929) American Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer
No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness—or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
No one is expected to achieve the impossible.
—French Proverb
Those with the greatest awareness have the greatest nightmares.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Mind is really a tape recorder. But it is not continuously on, not twenty-four hours on. When needed, the witness, the man of meditation, the man of awareness, is capable of putting the mind on or off. He puts it on when there is some need….
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Interest in the lives of others, the high evaluation of these lives, what are they but the overflow of the interest a man finds in himself, the value he attributes to his own being?
—Sherwood Anderson (1876–1941) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion – what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
A human action becomes genuinely important when it springs from the soil of a clear-sighted awareness of the temporality and the ephemerally of everything human. It is only this awareness that can breathe any greatness into an action.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
There’s a period of life when we swallow a knowledge of ourselves and it becomes either good or sour inside.
—Pearl Bailey (1918–1990) American Jazz Singer, Actress, Writer
Whatever task you undertake, do it with all your heart and soul. Always be courteous, never be discouraged. Beware of him who promises something for nothing. Do not blame anybody for your mistakes and failures. Do not look for approval except the consciousness of doing your best.
—Bernard M. Baruch (1870–1965) American Financier, Economic Consultant
For those who wish to climb the mountain of spiritual awareness, the path is selfless work. For those who have attained the summit of union with the Lord, the path is stillness and peace.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
Of all the infirmities we have, the most savage is to despise our being.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are.
—Eric Hoffer (1902–83) American Philosopher, Author
To wish to act like angels while we are still in this world is nothing but folly.
—Teresa of Avila (1515–82) Spanish Carmelite Nun, Mystic
Humor is perhaps a sense of intellectual perspective: an awareness that some things are really important, others not; and that the two kinds are most oddly jumbled in everyday affairs.
—Christopher Morley (1890–1957) American Novelist, Essayist
When the robot mind is mastered, undisciplined thinking ceases and is replaced by awareness. Awareness can know love.
—Barry Long (1926–2003) Australian Spiritual Teacher, Writer
The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
If there is pain, use it as an awareness, as meditation, as a sharpening of the soul. And when pleasure is there, use it as a droning, as a forgetfulness. Both are ways to reach God. One is to remember yourself totally, and one is to forget yourself totally.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
Open-mindedness should not be fostered because, as Scripture teaches, Truth is great and will prevail, nor because, as Milton suggests, Truth will always win in a free and open encounter. It should be fostered for its own sake.
—Richard Rorty (1931–2007) American Philosopher
An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely.
—Paulo Coelho (b.1947) Brazilian Songwriter, Novelist
Service broadens your vision widens your awareness. Deepens your compassion.
—Sathya Sai Baba (1926–2011) Indian Hindu Religious Leader
She lacks confidence, she craves admiration insatiably. She lives on the reflections of herself in the eyes of others. She does not dare to be herself.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Each of us has a day … when he has to accept, finally, the fact that he is a man.
—Jean Anouilh (1910–87) French Dramatist
The world is not a problem; the problem is your unawareness
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965) American Lutheran Theologian, Philosopher
From now on, do whatsoever you want, but do it with awareness. Easy and natural are the keys. Don’t repress anything, be your own self.
—Sri Rajneesh (Osho) (1931–90) Indian Spiritual Teacher
We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in his heart this capacity for damnation.
—Graham Greene (1904–91) British Novelist, Playwright, Short Story Writer
It’s not our disadvantages or shortcomings that are ridiculous, but rather the studious way we try to hide them and our desire to act as if they did not exist.
—Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837) Italian Poet, Essayist, Philosopher
Courage is an everyday thing. When we look reality squarely in the eye and refuse to back away from our awareness, we are living courage.
—Unknown
What you think about yourself is much more important than what others think of you.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
What thou art, that thou art.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer