The world’s most tragic loss is not a spouse, or a child, or a friend, or a piece of property, but what we might have been.


This is the law of life: Each act of goodness increases us; each act of badness diminishes us.


We must not only walk in the light, but be a light for others to walk in.


Is that thing that glitters and glistens so majestically in your hands real gold or fool’s gold?


The seed must be planted and nurtured before it will bear fruit. Therefore, do not expect to harvest the fruit before the seed is planted.


Do what you want, and pay the price. But, guess what? You can choose what you want to do, but you don’t get to choose the price.


Often, what we do is very expensive. And you not only pay the price, you pay compound interest.

We cannot belittle someone without reducing our own stature.


If you are going to set obstacles in the path of others be careful you don’t stumble over them yourself.


The potential for greatness is born in every child. It is only when they become adults is it worn away.

The greatest accomplishment in life is to learn to love, and to be loved.


One of the greatest illusions of life is to assume that having sex is making love.


We seldom see things as they really are, but as we are.

Happiness is found where we least expect it and where we fail to look. A good spouse, loyal friends, a peaceful mind, a clear conscience – these are worth far more than all the properties we amass, all the fine houses we obtain, all the prosperous careers and popularity we attain, and all the fancy, expensive cars we drive.


Have you ever wondered why we so relentlessly pursue all those things which cannot give us satisfaction?


We exhaust our best energies by longing for those things we already have.


He masters life who is most aware.


Why should we try to hide all the time? There is really no place to hide because we are always in the open, always exposed. Even if it is only to our selves! We need therefore to realize that the world we live in and the universe at large is controlled by a moral order not within our personal control. We may not like it that way, but that’s the way it is, and the sooner we accept that and learn the laws of the moral order, the happier we will be.


Let us learn the moral laws of our own being, and the laws of the world, and we will be blessed beyond measure, for the moral laws of the universe are geared to our personal well-being. Thus any violation of the laws of existence is a violation of our selves.


If it is true that love makes the world go around, why do so
many try to get off?


Do not be deceived by good looks. They may hide a bad character.


Jesus understood it two thousand years ago, but apparently man has still not learned that “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.”

Our weaknesses are malleable. If we so desire it they can be molded into strengths.


Every evil that we resist becomes our benefactor. Every temptation we permit to overcome us makes us weaker. Therefore, to be weak or strong is not a given, but a becoming.


Determine now what you will be. Why would you want to cheat your legacy and procrastinate your becoming?


There are deeper facts in our lives than we are aware of.


In the soul there are no limits. But in this life there are. Just because, therefore, one feels it in his soul does not mean it is
permitted in this life.


Too many of us try to fulfill ourselves before we have prepared ourselves.


Remember in all your actions the definition of love. It is the care and concern for the welfare of another. Therefore we cannot always do what we want, but do what will protect another. Then we shall discover that what we do to protect another results in the protection of ourselves.


One of the reasons there are so many divorces nowadays is because one has not learned that when they engage a relationship they have forfeited their selfishness.


There is more to life than just having fun!


The saying is often put, “Must I give up me to be loved by you?” That is an inappropriate question for we all must give up ourselves in order to gain ourselves. The question is really “What do I want?” Do you want to aggrandize yourself or do you want to enhance a relationship?


Do you walk by the rule of your intelligence, or the rule of your fancies?


There are thieves of things, and then there are thieves of the heart.


There are offenders of the mind, and then there are offenders of the soul.


So, you think you are not being watched because you are alone.
Oh, foolish one! Do you think that eyes of humans are the only things that see?


Secrecy has the power of lulling us into a false sense of security, but it lasts only for a time, and then comes the full revealing.


Oh, so it makes you feel uncomfortable to hear all this stuff. If that is so then it is exactly what you need to hear. You need to ask yourself, “Do I want peace, or this?”


Do you do what you do conscientiously, or indifferently?


A very wise and good man, whom I had the good fortune to know personally, said, “We seldom find life worth living; we make it worth living.”


It takes experience that comes with age to enable us to realize that what once we thought was so important really isn’t.


The things that really matter in life are a loyal family and true friends.

When you look do you look to see the depths or just the
surface?


Do you always look for appearances or do
you look for meanings?


Do we really listen in order to understand what is being said, perhaps even to change our minds, or do we merely pause for our next rebuttal?


Isn’t it interesting how some people accuse our genuine change of mind as “flip-flopping?”


Passion is no substitute for sentiment.


We are destined for greatness, yet are satisfied with mediocrity.


Why is it every eye is fastened on the behavior and slights the circumstance?


What is our greatest task but to waken ourselves, and to awaken others?


We sensitive ones often remember the offense while forgetting the blessings.


Sometimes we gain a deeper apprehension by our painful acquisitions.


A sure way not to get promoted is to be too good at your job.


The truly good person is not one who is good in his lonely silence, but who is good in the roar of the crowd.


Our weaknesses and defects can be good for us, if we determine to use them rather than let them use us.

Have you ever noticed that your greatest strengths sometimes turn into your greatest weakness


Opinionated people often deride the opinion of others. We need to understand that such people generally do not have
opinions; opinions have them


Athiests are peculiar people. They attach an omniscience to themselves they do not deserve


The difference between one who succumbs to temptation and one who does not is not that the latter has
more will-power than the former, but that he has more wisdom. He knows his weaknesses and does not allow himself to be caught in a compromising situation. The other
foolishly thinks he can overcome anything and thus allows
himself to enter into the threatening situation.


Well, even the wary and the wise sometimes succumb even
though they know better. But the difference is they are quick
to recognize their folly and repent. The other merely seeks to
justify himself by rationalizing his actions


Don’t you find it rather curious that so many people who
respect wisdom, do not seek to become wise and are quick
to accuse the wise man as “holier than thou.”


The reason so many are sick of mind and soul is that they
live by impulse and tendency rather than by principles of morality and loyalty


When are we going to realize that man’s intrinsic nature is moral, and when he represses his moral nature he goes against himself and gets mentally ill


After all is said and done, and read and pondered, and observed and experienced, and pondered some more, I still believe that most mental disturbances are caused by unresolved moral conflicts. Unless, of course, one is
simply amoral. And that is the greatest sickness of all


Perhaps before you consider another to be overly judgmental you ought to wonder why you have no judgment at all


The moral person does not act just to please God, but to please himself. It is curious that when man acts against God he acts against himself


The purpose of psychotherapy is not to free you from your
inhibitions so you can do what you want, but to enhance your conscience so you can do what you ought


It is not as easy to be a man is it is to be an animal. An
animal does not have to struggle to be itself, but man
is a higher order of being and must make a supreme
effort to become his true self


Hesitate to be impressed by a man or woman who is simply nice. Are they true is the better question

Curiosity can be good. But it can also be bad. Those
who are curious about evil are often sucked in by it’s
subtle attractions and discover, much to their consternation, that it is more powerful than they thought


To toy with things that we know may be bad for us
is foolishness. In an environment of evil we discover,
often too late that we are not as strong as we thought
we were


It is sad but true; many church oriented people follow
the non-essentials of their religion, namely, the rituals,
the activities, the creeds, and neglect the essential parts
of it, namely, love and forgiveness


The agonies of man are often used to blame God; yet
if one would pause and ponder it, many of the agonies
of man are the result of ignoring or violating the teachings of godly men, and are thus of their own making


It is often cried in self-defense, “That is your way; it is
not mine.” Why? Could it be that your way is no way?


Instead of being offended and your great arsenal of
defenses trotted out, why don’t you think about it and
determine if what offended you is the truth


Our minds are not exclusive. It is not simply conjoined
to the body with an independent life of its own. It is
regulated by the quality of one’s consciousness, which
is paradoxically under his control


Properly understood the mind encompasses that which
is seen but treats it as a sign of that which is not seen


Oh, yes! Often we get caught in doing things we know
we shouldn’t. But, the fact that we do so is no excuse
for doing it. Nor is it an excuse for trotting out our arsenal of self-defenses. It is, rather, a wake-up call to elevate our consciousness

Have you opened your eyes sufficiently now that you
can see yourself as Heaven sees you


When we are vigilant on God’s behalf we are
vigilant on our own behalf. But the opposite is
also true: When we are not vigilant on God’s
behalf we are not vigilant on our own


One of our greatest tasks in life is to remember who
we are. One of our greatest sins is to disremember
who we are


The truth is not dependent on whether you
believe it or not


So what if you’re not worthy? Then make yourself so


If you see yourself as unholy perhaps it is because you threw
the holy away


Do you want to get back that which you lost? Then
search for it. Remember the scripture: Search and ye
will find


Once your mind is healed you’d be amazed
at how sick you were


People generally don’t make up their mind what
to believe. That’s why they behave so foolishly


Isn’t is amazing that we spend so much effort
in preserving and protecting what is not true


It is a never-ending source of curiosity to notice the
appeal to some folks of frivolity, silliness and utter
stupidity

So you’ve been hurt! Are you going to remember it
all your life? Don’t you think it’s about time to open
the lines of communication again and learn the joy
of healing


The Course in Miracles declared that God says to
Himself, “My children are asleep and must be
awakened. The night is over and the light has come.” Are you just going to lay there and let the alarm ring

The reason God refers to us as His children is because
we, like children, lack wisdom and need training


Do not make the mistake of thinking that what is
idealistic is unrealistic


What is current is not what is possible. What
is possible turns into the probable if we act
upon it.


You don’t have to do it all alone. But you do have to
do some of it alone. Therefore, don’t be so afraid to be
alone sometimes


It’s not that a person can’t do something; it’s that they
don’t want to do it


The true measure of a man or woman is what they do, or don’t do, when no one is looking


To have or to be: That is your decision


How quickly we recognize that in the world
there is the superior and the inferior, except
in man. Whenever we encounter a person
superior to us we are easily offended by him
rather than making an effort to become like him


All of us are in great need of wise counsel. But why is
it that most of us refuse to accept it


Have you ever noticed that those who know least talk
the most, and those who know most listen the most
carefully


Before you conclude that the other has over-analyzed
the situation, perhaps you should pause and determine
if you have under-analyzed it

Instead of going where it is loud and noisy,
why don’t you try going into the silence and
learn what you hear there


We spend so much time talking that we don’t listen

Why do we spend so much time thinking about
the way we were instead of the way we will be


History, it is said, is prologue. But it is the
epilogue that is true history


It is the discomfiting axiom of life that we are to
live it by faith, and not by proofs


Just because its logical, or “scientific,” doesn’t mean its true.
And just because most people believe it doesn’t
make it true either


You are taught, not merely to change you, but to
teach you to change yourself


He who refuses to be taught is full of pride,
lacks humility, and has condemned himself
to ignorance


He who insists he is right all the time, and
loves to win arguments, has made the greater
mistake, and is actually the loser


You’re not being lectured to, just reminded of
what you forgot


Shouldn’t we be thankful and grateful that somebody
knows more than we do instead of being offended by it


The purpose of a great teacher is not to intimidate you
or to make you feel inferior to him or less than you are,
but to help you be his equal and even his superior


Instead of saying to yourself, “Well, I’m just a human
being just like everybody else” why don’t you believe
in your own ultimate perfection


Being a human being is not the pitiful thing you have
been conditioned to believe it is

The fact that you don’t like hearing this is an
indication that you need to hear it


We run around looking to make a connection, yet
when we finally make the connection, we quickly
seek to disconnect. And run around seeking to connect
again. We seem to be ever finding but never staying


Sexuality is an important component of the love
between a man and a woman. Yet their making love
is often nothing but having sex, and just having sex is not making love


Our sexuality is frequently used to express our neurotic
needs and is practiced to ease our tension, or evade the
silence, or to escape our selves. Instead of celebrating
our love, we settle for mere orgasm and think we have
experienced a great event. Sex as practiced in our society is mostly an indulgence in shallowness


Let us learn to act from centers instead of
peripherals


May we go into that good night with high expectations
and great contributions, instead of that ornate building
where congregate superfluous people engaged in a
multitude of superficialities


Idol worship is not a thing of the past experienced only
by primitive societies. It is rampant in our so-called
modern, highly sophisticated culture in the form of
yelling and screaming and waving of hands over
talented celebrities


We are so enamored of talent. Yet it is the person, not his talent that is important


Have you ever paused to ask yourself this
question: What is this problem I am facing
with such seriousness compared with the
grandeur of eternity? Maybe, just maybe,
there is something you haven’t noticed before


Eternity is not just the extension of time, but the involvement of time


I sometimes ask myself when I am caught
laughing: Am I laughing because of humor
or because of hysteria?


Be careful lest you squander your best efforts
on insignificant matters

When you march off to school to study and get
that degree, just remember that whatever you
learn in books and words is no substitute for
what you learn in the school of life


Now, really think about this for a moment! Don’t
you yearn to recapture the greatest loss in the
world; our sense of the sublime?


When are we going to stop feeling uncomfortable
and scared whenever we are challenged to rise to
the highest and best in us? We seem to be so clever
and adept at neutralizing the energy which would
make us better than we are


Repression, projection, and compensation are the
clever techniques we use to stifle the energies
within us to rise up. And when we are left alone
we are content. But it is a false content because we
have unknowingly just sabotaged ourselves


Other attitudes that keep us self-satisfied, which is
just another term for not growing, is busyness,
self-blame, and desacralization


Most living things in nature live the measure of their creation automatically. The bird sings. The chick pecks itself out of the egg. The caterpillar emerges from its chrysalis. The flower blossoms. But, man has a choice. He is the only living thing that can determine who he will be. And yet, he will find every excuse he can think of to delay his becoming


Mark well the differences between imagination,
which is based on reality, and day-dreaming,
which is based on illusion


Love is the most needful principle of man. Yet he knows not how to retain it once it is won. And the
reason for that is he is surprised by its many and severe demands upon him


There is a great dearth covering the land. It is
lack of consciousness


It is not opinion; it is enlightenment. And sadly
most people are unenlightened

He who is unable to put up with uncertainty
is unable to put up with life


If we find our vision of things distorted,
perhaps life is trying to teach us to change
our glasses


Have you ever noticed that most people
perpetuate and multiply their short-comings?
And by so doing render themselves unaware that they have fallen into the kind of narcissism that renders
them incapable of appreciating higher
consciousness

The immense variability of human beings in the human predicament is often used as an excuse to justify themselves rather than as a reason to elevate themselves


We must take into consideration all the
dimensions of human life which truly
matters. If we don’t we live only a half-
life and all life becomes absurd


Well, what is it then that we should strive for?
What does it mean to have an elevated consciousness?
What does it mean to wake up?
To develop a will that will enable us to make up
our own minds based on eternal predicates and not just
on worldly ones
To develop a mind that is more sharp
To develop the enjoyment and appreciation of
beauty
To develop the enrichment of our imagination
To develop our powers of intuition
To develop our capacity to love
To develop any other ability that would enrich
your life


Have you ever watched a caterpillar struggle to
get out of its cocoon? We, too, are in a cocoon
struggling to get out. What we don’t realize,
however, is that when the caterpillar gets out he
is transformed into a butterfly. Is there a lesson
there for us?


Acceptance is not the same as resignation

Let us evoke a new definition of
man where there is a broader meaning and wider frame of reference


Any social change brought about by legislation is
doomed to eventual failure. (Politicians take note) Society will not change until people in it change


Do not allow your enthusiasm for self-realization
develop into a euphoria which leads to the false
notion that stimulating experiences will lead to
happiness


The idea that we can live happily ever after
is a fairy-tale notion


We have all heard the aphorism that practice
makes perfect. And so we practice, practice,
practice – our music, our dancing, our sports
and thus become good at it. But we seldom
practice becoming a better person. Don’t you
think there is a lesson in there someplace


He who loses his focus often is not paying
attention

If we would remove our obstacles we would
unknowingly likewise remove the steps to our
growth


It is not a sin to doubt. But it may be to insist
on guarantees


We are at our most creative when we are confused
if we keep trying and don’t give up


Ready-made answers may deceive
us. If we want clarity we usually have
to disentangle it from our aberrations

What do we mean by human growth? It is to
become whole – to bring forth our highest qualities
rather than manifest our weakest ones


Often it takes a lifetime to understand our lives.
But that’s no excuse to procrastinate


Do you merely hear the echo of your own shouts?
Or do you hear the softer music of inspiration


Pause for a moment before you advance and
determine what it is that draws you to it. And
then put it into an eternal context rather than
just an immediate one. You may decide that it
isn’t worth the cost


When are we going to learn that everything has
a price? You have the freedom to take what you want,
but you don’t have the freedom to not pay the price It will come sooner or later, but it will come


Oh, it is permitted! But is it appropriate?

We do not foresee results because we generally
see only the fragments and not the whole


We will never enter the house of Peace until we
leave the barn of dishonesty


Isn’t our search really a search for a home where
there is love and not just a house where there is
lots of furniture


We need to go beyond mere self-improvement to
self-transformation

Not solely in prayers, or scripture readings, or
churchly genuflexions, will God come to dwell
with us, but in simply being honest with ourselves
and with each other


It is what you are, not what you believe, however
positive and enlightening it may be, or however vocal or articulate you may be in expressing it


Learn to count your blessings, which are many,
not your curses, which are few


Most of us hobble through life on mental crutches.
Don’t you think it’s about time to throw them
away and learn to walk on our own two feet


We need to learn the difference between gregariousness
and affinity
Count the cost before you embark on the spiritual
journey, for it is neither easy or cheap


Do you sometimes hear that silent refrain of
Shakespeare reverberating through the centuries
for our time: “Lord, we know what we are, but
know not what we may be.”


One does not merely bask in the light; he tastes
it. And desires more


Take time! How much time? All the time you need!
The goal is not to get there first, but to get there. Be wary
of this, though, for procrastination may creep in unawares
and make us delay our beginning


Learn to work on yourself alone and in silence.
And hesitate before you share what you know
with others. They may not be ready, and you may
not have actualized what you know

Look for satisfactions that are eternal, not satisfactions that last only for a time. They have a way of turning into regret


In the days of my sleepiness verily did I think that the
solution to my longing to fill this void within me lay in
philosophy, theology, churches, degrees, and relationships, but when I at last awakened I discerned that what I was seeking was within me, not without me


And yet, I fully realize that I am not totally self-
sufficient. I need others to share what I am, and to share the journey I am taking. I need others not only to love, but to love me


There is nothing in this world more misunderstood by churches than the teachings of Jesus. He did not teach
creeds, but principles. And the major principle he
taught was love unfeigned

Our long and difficult journey through the vicissitudes of life is not to have an ideological experience, but to have a change of heart


What is it we are looking for? What is it we are so hungry for? It is not money! It is not houses! It is not cars! It is not anything material. It is not something astonishing or profound. Would you like to know? O.K. I will tell you
what it is. It is Love


Oh! So you think love is some grandiose feeling
we will develop later in some afterlife. No! This
life, this Now, this imperfect earth, right here in the midst of our trials, is where we are to learn it


Love is not something you earn, it is something
you learn


God does not find a place in our hearts unless
we make a place for Him


God so honors our freedom to be who we are
and who we desire to become that he will have
no place in us if we have no place for Him

We don’t want to know that the grass is
green or the sky is blue – that is so obvious –
No! What we really want to know is: Is this
person trustworthy and am I in a safe place


It is not knowledge that gives us peace, but peace
that gives us knowledge


It is not our philosophies or theologies which unite us
but our yearning to know that truth exists, that God
is really there, that we are not alone, and that we can trust each other


When we finally awaken and liberate ourselves from
the limitations of our beliefs and philosophies, it is then, and only then, that we will recognize ourselves as divine beings on a journey through a material world


The yearning and longing we feel deep within us,
and which causes us so much pain and loneliness,
is but the longing to feel the actual presence of
God in our lives


Do we determine our worth by what lies
outside ourselves, or by what lies inside
ourselves


We are so attached to our things because we
have invested so much money in them, but
don’t you know, these things we own, really own
us


Isn’t it interesting? The truth is usually exactly
the opposite of what we think it is. For example,
peace of soul is not found in knowledge, but
knowledge is found in peace of soul


We need to distinguish the difference between
filling and fulfillment


There seems to be great confusion in the minds of some between being simple and being simplistic

What are you waiting for? The time is now! The more you put it
off, the more you put yourself off


Isn’t it interesting how some people will lie and cheat and scheme
and deceive to get what they want, only to discover that they got
exactly what they didn’t want


You do not have to work out a plan of salvation. That has already been done. All you are required to do is to learn
your lessons and implement the plan


When you compete with another you are following another’s program.
Why don’t you compete with yourself, and follow your own


Isn’t it amazing? Most people do not want to be deceived, yet they
follow a policy of deceit. And one of the greatest deceits is that the
purpose of life is just to have fun


If you want to get people angry and defensive, just challenge them to
be better than they are


The most important question you will ever face in life
is this one: What kind of person am I going to become


I think it was Heraclitus who said, “Man’s
character is his fate.”


Oh, I realize the sayings in these volumes are
not for everyone. I write, wistfully, for those
rare specimens of humanity who are sensitive
to beauty, whose sense of the sublime is active,
and who, like me, have grown so weary of self-
indulgence, mechanical attention to the superfluous,
and who long for, and try to make, a world that
ought to be rather than accepting and conforming to
the world that is.

All that is wise and wonderful, all that is attractive and
appealing, all that is good and desirable, may, in the long
run, not be good for us


Whenever you perform an unloving act you are
unconsciously bearing false witness against yourself


Many are the ones in the world who eat nasty food and
drink polluted water who think they are satisfied but who
in fact, are starving


Many there are who shout with laughter and glee when
they have found a rock they mistakenly think is a pearl
of great price


Why do you anxiously sit and wait for a drink at a cistern
that is empty


Be careful what you search for, and where you search for it,
for you may find only a stone instead of a gem


When you make requisition for the highest and best, make
sure you know what the highest and best is


To be a human being means you are gifted with the opportunity
to learn to be wise. What are you learning


Many excited people are jumping up and down, and
screaming to get through the door, but only the solitary
will be invited to enter


Perhaps you cannot see the truth now, not because you dwell
in darkness, but because you are blinded by the light


We are so involved in the moment. But we do not see it very clearly