c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
Redefining moments offer us the opportunity to perpetually re-invent ourselves, and as long as we occupy a human body, these opportunities will continue to present themselves. You were born to be you, to unfold the truth of who you are. The same is true for everyone else. Every moment has the potential to be a redefining moment when we utilize the opportunity to look more deeply into the mystery of the true Self and learn how to actualize Its qualities in our daily lives. The goal is to increase our awareness that, irrespective of where we are or what we are doing, there stands before us a door in every present moment that, when consciously opened, invites us to step into a deeper knowing of who we truly are. In other words, every encounter (chance or otherwise), event, or circumstance, be it good or bad, right or wrong, happy or sad, is a portal to a redefining moment and who we will choose to be in that situation. The question to consider is, will we be consciously present enough in the moment to recognize the opening when it occurs and step through the door, or will our mind be too full of distractions?
— Dennis Merritt Jones, Your Redefining Moments: Becoming Who You Were Born to Be
Why is it so easy to abandon ourselves, and why do we so easily fall into the illusion that this self-abandonment is the only way people will like us?
— Ariana Carruth
Pride is not looked at as a weakness, though it is the epitome of it. You might hear 'oh that poor alcoholic probably had an awful upbringing' but you never hear any sympathy for a prideful person, 'poor thing is probably horribly insecure, maybe we should validate him as a person to help him out.' That's what you should hear, but you won’t. What I will say though, is that the key to curing pride is not so much in loving others more, but actually in loving yourself more. Loving your neighbor as yourself does no good if you don’t love yourself.
— Michael Brent Jones, Dinner Party
I’d like to share with you a parable: the parable of Bob the Angel.A girl was walking down a darkly lit city street late at night. A man jumped out from the shadows and attacked her, suddenly she was suffocating and disoriented as hands clasped around her neck and the force of his attack started to push her down. She tried to yell as she struggled to pull his arms from her neck while she crumpled backwards to the ground, “God . . . help me!” The next thing she remembers—just as the fear consumed her, and right as she disappeared into the misery and despair of helplessness—was a loud crash and an explosion of glass which rained down upon her and her attacker. The assailant’s lifeless body was suspended above her, held from collapsing on her by an unknown force, and then pulled away from hovering over her and dropped onto the pavement beside her. She opened her eyes in the faint shadowy light, to see black matted hair and a long, black beard framing the eyes of a man. The smell of alcohol on his breath would have knocked her out if the adrenaline was not still trilling through her veins. There he stood, God’s angel, off-kilter and drunk, with a broken whiskey bottle in his hand. “You probably shouldn’t be walking through here this late at night,” was all he said as he turned away.“Wait! What’s your name?” she asked, still stunned half sitting up on the ground.All she heard as he walked away was his trailing voice calling, “Bob’s as good as any. . . .” An angel is a messenger, and sometimes we only want letters sent in white envelopes with beautiful gold print, when sometimes a simple “no” on the back of a gum wrapper is what we are offered. Every postcard from heaven does not come with a picture of the sunset there, nor should it. If it is an answer we want, an answer we will get. As far as pretty postcards, there are many others willing to send us that. If not harps and gold-tipped wings, what then is the mark of an angel? An answer which pierces your soul, and which inspires a question that invites you to look outside of yourself and up to God.
— Michael Brent Jones, Dinner Party: Part 2
Peace is just around the corner, the only problem is the world is round! (created this on 9-11-01 after the WTC crash.)
— David Calleo SELF
That is normal...To be afraid. Do not let anyone tell you any different. No one can ever say that what you feel is right or wrong, or pointless or unworthy of your time. That is a truth for you to decide. Ignorance is bliss, but there comes a time when you must open your eyes and face the truth—when you must be honest with yourself.
— Kelseyleigh Reber, If I Resist
There are only two kinds of people who can drain your energy: those you love, and those you fear. In both instances it is you who let them in. They did not force their way into your aura, or pry their way into your reality experience.
— Anthon St. Maarten
He felt he could not be honest without disappointing everybody he loved.
— Cassandra Clare, The Bane Chronicles
If you can’t remember when you last basked in your own glow, it means you’re overdue.
— Gina Greenlee, Postcards and Pearls: Life Lessons from Solo Moments on the Road
It is good to know one's enemy.It is better to know one's self.
— Max Hawthorne, Kronos Rising: After 65 Million Years, the World's Greatest Predator Is Back.
The question is not 'Am I a leader?' - the question is 'What kind of leader am I?
— Steve Knox
Sometimes what you've been looking for, is what you are.
— Damond Jiniya
In that hurry to achieve, I've left little time for self-reflection. And I'm not sure I'm ready for it.
— Cindy McCormick Martinusen, The Salt Garden
Conquering fear didn’t mean not being afraid, it meant being afraid of something and doing it anyway. It meant saying no to fear-no you can’t rule me, no you can’t hold me back, no you can’t keep me from the things I want the most.
— Laura Kaye, Hard to Be Good
Why do we want other people to like us, even if we don't really care about them all that much?
— Margaret Atwood, The Year of the Flood
You have to learn to recognize your own depths.
— Joseph Campbell
First of all I express sincerity. There's also that sense of humor, by which people sometimes learn to laugh about themselves. I mean, the situation is so serious that the people could go crazy because of it. They need to smile and realize how ridiculous everything is. A race without a sense of humor is in bad shape. A race needs clowns. In earlier days people knew that. Kings always had a court jester around. In that way he was always reminded how ridiculous things are. I believe that nations too should have jesters, in the congress, near the president, everywhere.....You could call me the jester of the Creator. The whole world, all the disease and misery, it's all ridiculous.
— Sun Ra
If you have a fight with yourself, who can win?
— Daniel J. Siegel, Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation
You have to first discover yourself before you could succeed in being your true self.
Driving in someone elses lane is easy, but remaining in your own seems to be the most challenging self discipline. No matter how big the highway, imagine yours is a singular road traveled in one direction - you're own.
— T.F. Hodge, From Within I Rise: Spiritual Triumph Over Death and Conscious Encounters with "The Divine Presence"
Culture is like a giant mirror which enables us to see who we are more clearly. The various facets of a culture also provide us with the means to change what we do not like in the mirror, and retain what we cherish most.
— Dr Robin Lincoln Wood, The Trouble with Paradise: A Humorous Enquiry Into the Puzzling Human Condition in the 21st Century
Our inner wisdom is persistent, but quiet. It will always whisper, but it will never stop knocking at your door.
— Vironika Tugaleva
I will laugh about this one day, I told myself. I will laugh about it with people so clever and sophisticated I can't imagine them properly now.
— Jo Walton, Among Others
It is easy for us to criticize the prejudices of our grandfathers, from which our fathers freed themselves. It is more difficult to distance ourselves from our own beliefs so that we can dispassionately search for prejudices among them.
— Peter Singer, Practical Ethics
You learn who you are only by making yourself accountable to the judgment of others.
— Stanley Hauerwas, Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir
Understanding who you are is critical for your career advancement. Self-awareness helps you get ahead.
— Bonnie Marcus, The Politics of Promotion: How High-Achieving Women Get Ahead and Stay Ahead
To persevere is one thing, but to push on ignoring your intuition is something quite different. Self-awareness is the practice of learning the difference.
— Vironika Tugaleva
I do not laugh
—  I do not cry
Be sure that whatever you are is you.
— Theodore Roethke
Bad friends are those who make you cry.Good friends are those who understand why you're crying.Best friends are those who do everything to stop you from crying.
— Asi Wudu
No human being can be so honest as to become completely false.
— Yukio Mishima
Self-contemplation is a curseThat makes an old confusion worse.
— Theodore Roethke
No one needs to hit rock bottom to change. And yet so many people do, only because most of us are unskilled in communicating with ourselves.Stress, depression, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, illness ... these are all symptoms of a bigger problem. You're trying to tell yourself something. Loudly.Listen now or listen later. There is no ignoring the call.
— Vironika Tugaleva
How could a man know the truth of his own soul?
— Alexandra Ripley, Scarlett
I've recovered my tenderness by long looking;I'm a Socrates of small fury.The waves bends with the fish. I'm taughtAs water teaches stone. Believe me, extremest oriole,I can hear light on a dry day.The world is where we fling it; I'm leaving where I am.
— Theodore Roethke
If you have to walk along a dark mountain path, don’t you prefer to have a flashlight to shine on the path ahead? I would suggest that it is possible to have that flashlight in life all the time. What does a flashlight give us? Light.That is, a flashlight sheds light. It is like the faculty of attention—if we turn our full attention to something, we learn more about that thing. We are seeing it with more light. Our attention is our ‘flashlight.’ So it’s all about how much and how fun an attention we consciously bring to life. This quality of attention doesn’t make us hesitant, or slow to decide, particularly—just as the flashlight doesn’t make us hang back on the trail. So, how do we get to the better quality of attention? With attention! That is, we turn our attention on our attention; we start by trying to see how we don’t pay attention. We sort of keep that light on ourselves. ‘Know thyself’ has been an honored ancient teaching, and it’s still a cornerstone of the world’s greatest philosophies. If you watch yourself honestly, in a detached way—not guilt-tripping yourself when you screw up—you gradually learn where it was that you were just blundering along, reacting sort of mechanically, and being asleep even as you were in your waking day. Another way to make this happen is by returning your whole attention to the present—to what’s happening now, in this moment, and this moment, and on—within yourself and around you.
— James L. Harmon
Only through becoming aware of yourself and your limitations can you be transparent with others.
— Joanie Connell, Flying Without a Helicopter: How to Prepare Young People for Work and Life
Would he ever come back? He wondered. The water filled his ears with its own rush, and he was comforted by the realization that, in fact, he never left.
— Diana Gabaldon, An Echo in the Bone
In a world filled with liars, some still seem surprised at the lengths to which some will go-yet we fear our own truth & so become numb to our own senses.
— Selva Millheiser
Honest self-understanding liberates us from our stuck emotions.
— C. Terry Warner
Knowing what environments are a good fit requires a person to know about themselves, in other words, to have self-awareness.
— Joanie Connell, Flying Without a Helicopter: How to Prepare Young People for Work and Life
Remember that your role in this experience that we call life is quite significant! Never equate your significance to temporary stuff, or in comparison to others – you’re more than that!~Steele Steele
— Stormie Steele
The degree to which a person can grow is directly proportional to the amount of truth he can accept about himself without running away.
— Leland Val Van De Wall
The values most important to us are always the most easily exploitable.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
I am more than less, but less than worthy. Worthy to be heard, but heard in silence
— Paul Morabito, Poetic Delusions
Once you start settling, and letting others control your life, it can quickly become a habit, so it’s best to avoid such things altogether.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
We are creatures of habit more than we are creatures of change.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Man is the question he asks about himself, before any question has been formulated. It is, therefore, not surprising that the basic questions were formulated very early in the history of mankind.
— Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, Vol 1
Sometimes the heart can hear what the ears do not.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Sometimes the boxes we’re put in fit. Other times, we find ourselves shoved into places too confining for our growing sense of self.
— Sarah Hackley
As a leader, 1st, work on yourself- increase your self-awareness. There shouldn't be any other urgent agenda than this. Get enlightened! Know very well who you're including your strengths, weaknesses, and blind spots!
— Assegid Habtewold
Her Brooklyn accent only comes out when she's angry. This is the best part....I pick at my pancakes while she tells me, simply, "It's ok to change your mind." About a feeling, a person, a promise of love. I can't stay just to avoid contradicting myself. I don't have to watch him cry.
— Lena Dunham
I had the strangest feeling -- like I had lost something without ever really having it in the first place -- that I wasn't what I once was, and wasn't at all what I was meant to be. The sensation made me feel hollow down to my bones.
— Alexandra Bracken, The Darkest Minds
Every book is a revolution. Books are our ticket out of boredom, despair, loneliness—but also ignorance.
— Heidi Cullinan, Sleigh Ride
What separates us into engineers and robots, puppeteers and puppets, kings and pawns, is not the status we hold at any given time among others - status is irrelevant; it is the level of ever-present awareness we have of a grey-matter tailor's tools [of flattery, persuasion, and cunning.]
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Our knees get dusty from time to time, but when they touch the ground, we must never allow the dust to convince us that our submission in that moment is the acceptance of our defeat for an entire lifetime.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Sometimes you just need to know when a fight is best saved for another day when the odds are more in your favour.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Greed robs you of more value than the price of what you've gained.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Let your fear drive you to evolve into greatness.
— A.J. Darkholme, Rise of the Morningstar
Peace is life. Love is life. No river holds a grudge against a rock in its path. No leaf refuses to blow in the breeze. No plant denies water or sunshine. We, as human beings, have the gift of self-awareness, but this gift quickly turns to self-destruction if we do not learn to use it. We must learn to turn our minds towards the peace and love that we are flowing within at any given moment. This is the key to serenity. This is The Love Mindset.
— Vironika Tugaleva
Some journeys, we must take alone. The caterpillar does not judge itself for craving the cocoon. Do not fear the isolated path. There, you will not be lonely. You will meet yourself.
— Vironika Tugaleva
Sometimes we must forge distance to gauge clarity in our vision and perception.
— Aisha Mirza
The greatest freedom in this world is a sense of self detached from appearances so that we may sacrifice today’s comforts for tomorrow’s opportunities.
— Vironika Tugaleva
At best, people are open to scrutinizing themselves and considering their blind spots; at worst, they become defensive and angry.
— Sheryl Sandberg
In knowing you I, discovered my self.
— Aisha Mirza
Negativity only breeds more negativity. I wish to not allow it to enter my heart and not for it to take harbour. It may make itself a home and never leave.
— Aisha Mirza
I am.I always was.I always am.I shall always be.The past and the futuremeet in the eternal now.I am the eternal now.I exist. I am.I am in the past.I am in the future.I am in the now.One is all, and all are one.We are one.Everything I see is a part of myself.Everything I can imagine is a part of myself.I could not imagine somethingthat is not. Everyone I interact withis a part of myself.Whatever I put out, I get it back.My state of being matters,it crystallises in my circumstances.The way I respond to my circumstancesreinforces my state of being.When I see an echo of an old beliefI respond with peace in my heart.My actions are matched with the highest version of myself I can imagine in that moment.Everything changes,and everything transformsfrom one form of life to yet another.It is a constant flow of life.It is the heart of all existence.Nothing can perish,nothing can cease being.I am always new.I am always history free.I am always consequence free.Yet I can create an illusion of consequence.Everything is possible,yet not everything is probable.It all depends on my synchronicity.What I choose to exploreshall present itself to me.What I believe to be true, is true.All illusions are made out of different beliefs.Yet there is only one knowledge.It is the wisdom of old, yet new.The thought gains the power,when it merges with the feeling.I feel what I desire.I always receive what I ask for.I always manifest instantly with no effort.My wisdom is to be aware of what I request.So it be.So it is.I ask for love,and I welcome bliss.
— Raphael Zernoff
Get acquainted with your shadow, or find yourself surprised when a crisis emerges.
— M.B. Dallocchio
And I have wondered often, was I master in my soul, or did I become the slave of my own blade?
— Diana Gabaldon, Voyager
I am openly prideful, secretly judgemental, and cowardly in conflict.
— Elizabeth Gilbert, Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage
The rough must always accompany the smooth. Without one or the other one learns nothing about oneself.
— Solange nicole
If you’re lying to everyone you know, including yourself, at every possible turn, is a little upheaval really the worst that could happen to your life right now?
— Agnostic Zetetic
Authenticity is a continual process of building self-awareness, a journey through which we acknowledge both our strengths and our limitations, and come to identify a noble purpose.
— Tom Hayes
When we acknowledge our greatness and start living it, when we open our hearts to the natural kindness and caring for all beings that resides within us, all these necessary transformations can begin.
— Ilchi Lee, Change: Realizing Your Greatest Potential
While there will always be someone who may dislike you, there are others who will like you for who you are.
— Shahla Khan, Friends With Benefits: Rethinking Friendship, Dating & Violence
Questioning How You Perceive LifeBrings You to the Truth.
— Cynthia Belmer, Meeting Freedom
The purpose of life is to live it being self-aware in the eternal now with its infinite versions of us. It is about living our dreams, and not just dreaming about living them one day.
— Raphael Zernoff
Doing something nice for myself is not selfish.
— Christine  Morgan
Listen to your heart in silence and peace, as through fear you only channel fear.
— Raphael Zernoff
When the heart sees injustice it turns to the perspective of oneness.It feels no need to produce a big speech to overcome its enemies.In silence it finds its peace.
— Raphael Zernoff
Do not freak out when you lose your friends, partners, lovers, family, job and experience physical challenges. It is a temporary time of recalibration. It will balance itself out, when you allow your fears to transform in a loving way, as they now push to the surface seeking your recognition, and validation.
— Raphael Zernoff
When you ask for assistance from your guides and the Masters of LightKnow that they already help you as much as they can.It is you who must come to meet them halfway. Do not ask them as if they had power to change your life.They only can guide you to be your own best guide.
— Raphael Zernoff
When we follow our joy and excitement, being focused on what we love and appreciate, the change always unfolds with a great ease. Whenever we experience any tension in our transformations, it only indicates our resistance to the change. In fact, it is not the change itself that we resist. We resist ourselves. We resist becoming a more holistic person who is aware of our multidimensional nature.
— Raphael Zernoff
The feeling itself is the language your Higher Self listens to.
— Raphael Zernoff
No victory without war. No prize without price. No winning without contest.
— Ikechukwu Joseph, Unlocking Closed Doors
Contacting and living from our True Self is the central task of personal growth.
— Charles L. Whitfield, Boundaries and Relationships: Knowing, Protecting and Enjoying the Self
Human life is designed as a self-study program.Existence is always one undivided. It is what we often call the Light. It is a pure consciousness of unconditional love. Out of the Light the idea of darkness is created. There is no existence of light and darkness, as separated energies. The separation is illusionary.Experiencing ourselves as humans is an exploration of the greater Self in a localised condition. A dense reality is created to facilitate the idea of forgetfulness. Now we collectively entered a new time of remembering. It is not necessary anymore to create the illusion of self-disconnection from the energy source.
— Raphael Zernoff
The whole idea of awakening is about regaining self-trust. Through self-trust we remember how to be our own best guides.
— Raphael Zernoff
We all have a central fiction about ourselves, a favored delusion about talent or untapped potential. Most of us hang on to it as if it were a lifesaver, even though the obsession with it is often the very thing that drags us down and prevents us from fulfilling some lesser but more obtainable goal.
— Stephen McCauley, Insignificant Others
Pushing away unwanted feelings and situations, equals inviting them to return back with a greater strength.
— Raphael Zernoff, I Am
When we become aware of feeling low it can be a reason to rejoice. Why would we be distressed knowing that some unconscious negative belief is trying to get our attention. Let it surface. When we see what it is, it can be transformed into understanding and love.oops... yet another fearful belief has been set free. Now we can enjoy ourselves eagerly anticipating yet another great self-rediscovery.
— Raphael Zernoff
Being able to appreciate who we are and what we have in the now is an easy way to journey through this life.
— Raphael Zernoff
Each conflict is self conflict.
— Raphael Zernoff
Increase your self-awareness up to the point where you shouldn't depend on the opinions of others about who you truly are...
— Assegid Habtewold
We truly help others working on ourselves. When it comes from the knowledge that the only power we have is over our own choices, we do not struggle taking responsibility for what is not ours to be responsible for. When we choose to be happy our joy works like a lighthouse. The lighthouse does never guide ships to its own light. It always leads them to the safe harbour. Yet it is their choice, whether they want to follow the light or something else.- Raphael Zernoff
— Raphael Zernoff
When we let the energy of our existence flow freely, without being obstructed by fear, happiness finds its way into our daily lives.
— Raphael Zernoff
We always stay on the optimal path, when we practice the power of allowance.Allow everything to happen the way it does.Respond to everything with love and understanding.
— Raphael Zernoff, I Am
We are trapped in a net of our our own self-doubt, on the programming force fed to us by parents, schools, society. In a certain light, on certain days, you can see that net. And once you can see it, you can learn to make it go away.
— Chloe Thurlow, Girl Trade
When our challenge persists, returning in different forms, it may be a sign for us to accepted it as a valuable lesson.
— Raphael Zernoff
We have been pretending for a long time to be limited beings.
— Raphael Zernoff
The new enlightened self-understanding reminds us that there is no final destination to our journey. The process itself is the destination. There is nowhere we need to arrive to.
— Raphael Zernoff
The now reality is our only home, where everything already is. There is no other home we came from, and we might think we shall return to.
— Raphael Zernoff
He went to India to "find himself" last year, but evidently he wasn't there, and he came back empty-handed.
— Craig McLay, Village Books
Humility is the only thing that can restore a relationship, when respect has been lost.
— Shannon L. Alder
A woman who has a sense of humor possesses no refuge from the merciless truth about herself. She cannot think herself misunderstood. She cannot revel in self-pity. She cannot comfortably damn any one who differs from her.
— L.M. Montgomery, Emily Climbs
It was in the work that she came closest to finding herself, by which we don’t mean gaining “self-knowledge” or understanding one’s “true nature” but rather how at some point you can see most plainly that this is what you do, this is how you fit in the wider ecology.
— Chang-rae Lee, On Such a Full Sea
Everything is true for the person who believes it to be true.
— Raphael Zernoff
Your actions may not directly define the kind of person you are but the words that come out your mouth surely will.
— Val Irvin Mabayo
There is more than enough for everyone. Any idea of lack and so its experience comes from fear. Fear powers greed, which encourages people to save for later just for themselves.
— Raphael Zernoff
It’s hard to see yourself changing until you’re so far from the person you used to be that it’s hard to remember ever being them at all.
— Kaitlyn Oruska, Wishing Well
He should have had more faith in himself rather than give in to his weaker qualities, in particular his overeagerness to please and aversion to conflict and a lifelong infatuation with hope, which had him dreaming more than doing
— Chang-rae Lee, On Such a Full Sea
But unlike Lachlan and Alison, my demons aren’t self-induced. My demons are fate’s way of telling me I won’t escape unscathed.
— Kaitlyn Oruska, Wishing Well
Life becomes much more easier when we do what we say and when we say what we do. Having courage to be ourselves is a gateway to freedom and happiness.
— Raphael Zernoff
It was in the work that she came closest to finding herself, by which we don’t mean gaining “self-knowledge” or understanding one’s “true nature” but rather how at some point you can see most plainly that this is what you do, this is how you fit in the wider ecology
— Chang-rae Lee
wealth is one of the keys to open paradise
— Faiz Triumph
Some days I tell myself that my mission is to say something about the art and sometimes the bliss of limitation. And the legibility of landscape. Other days are more dismal. As if I were queueing in the rain outside confessional literature’s nudist colony, mirrors everywhere, blue with cold.
— Fredrik Sjöberg, The Fly Trap: A Book about Summer, Islands and the Freedom of Limits
As much as love is the source of power for those who are centred in their hearts, as much fear is the source of illusionary power for those who insist on being led by their heads alone.
— Raphael Zernoff
I just have one of those faces. People come up to me and say, 'What's wrong?' Nothing. 'Well, it takes more energy to frown than it does to smile.' Yeah, you know it takes more energy to point that out than it does to leave me alone?
— Bill Hicks
The most important precept is to be aware of WHO WE ARE!“Who we are,” he said, underlining each word as he said it. “Who we are! Us! Right? What kind of people are we? What kind of person are you? Isn’t that the most important thing of all? Isn’t that the kind of question we should be asking ourselves all the time? “What kind of person am I?Learning who you are is what your are here to do.
— R.J. Palacio, Wonder
Every man is worth just so much as the things about which he busies himself.
— Marcus Aurelius, The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
Everything we encounter can have a positive influence in shaping our life when we adopt a lens of Gratitude.
— Rob Martin
It is imperative for our mental health that we surround ourselves with like minded people.
— Rob Martin
Respect the past, and prepare for the future by taking action in the present.
— Rob Martin
I am fortunate to be a resemblance, rather than a replication of who I was yesterday.
— Rob Martin
Happiness and achieving our dreams is a matter of believing it is possible and having a positive frame of mind.
— Rob Martin
Our state of mind, our state of being, and our outlook on life is contagious.
— Rob Martin
We have to change the world to fit us, not the other way around.
— Halt and Catch Fire
Peacefully and lovingly accepting who we are today requires honestly looking at our past.
— Rob Martin
The journey of growth, search for the secret has always been within, the simpler we make it, the better it gets.
— Rob Martin
Don't look shy if you wear rag and people gag, many are in the grave wearing skeleton, and you should even be happier for wearing a skin without clothes.
— Michael Bassey Johnson
We can't control on how each day will fall, but we can control how we fall into each day. Learn to make adjustments to match the circumstances.
— Anthony Liccione
....it struck her that that perhaps everyone had the ability to see themselves in others. Even in the rocks. Even in the roses.
— Holly Lynn Payne, DAMASCENA - The Tale of Roses and Rumi
Being impeccable is not going against yourself. When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions but you do not judge or blame yourself.
— Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Self-awareness happens when we become aware of other people, things and places around us and how we are all connected.
— Toni Sorenson
Perhaps they didn't know they were at sea. Was there a certain percentage of people at sea who lacked the knowledge that they were at sea?
— Ben Marcus, Leaving the Sea
Japhy was considered an eccentric around the campus, which is the usual thing for campuses and college people to think whenever a real man appears on the scene - colleges being nothing but grooming schools for the middleclass non-identity which usually finds its perfect expression on the outskirts of the campus in rows of well-to-do houses with lawns and television sets in each living room with everybody looking at the same thing at the same time while the Japhies of the world go prowling in the wilderness to hear the voice crying in the wilderness, to find the ecstasy of the stars, to find the dark mysterious secret of the origin of faceless wonderless crapulous civilization.
— Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
Fear is an excellent motivator.
— Jeekeshen Chinnappen, Psychic Gang
What was the payoff? It obviously kept me in my cozy zone of being in control, being a good mother, with a good daughter. Most of all, I realize, is that it allowed me to maintain the lie that she was healed, that Nick hadn't permanently damaged her, that I'd truly saved her. Because if I did, if there was no lasting residue of him, it meant that the denial that kept me in the marriage long enough for him to hurt her didn't help create the situation she's in now. The person who I worked hardest to keep safe seems to have been me.
— Claire Fontaine, Comeback: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back
It is not until you learn to look at yourself, through the truth of who you are, that you can look at someone else.
— Vironika Tugaleva, The Love Mindset: An Unconventional Guide to Healing and Happiness
Toadstool mandarins are a form of toxic jellyfish whose tentacles are loaded with entheogenic venom. The effects of a mandarin sting are threefold. The first is a sharp stinging sensation; the second a nasty red welt, which may fester if not treated with a salve of toadstool mandarin doodoo. And the third is a bold of self-awareness, thanks to the entheogens in the venom. Having been stung, a victim's typical reaction will be something like:Owww. Zark, that hurts.Then:Oh no. Look at this nasty red welt. I'm in the swimsuit competition later.And finally:What? I'm a latent misogynist with father issues!If a person is allergic to mandarin venom, one sting will prompt total self-awareness, leading to either immediate catatonia or a career as a talk show pundit.
— Eoin Colfer, And Another Thing...
Then, learn from me not to judge by appearances: I am, as Miss Scatcherd said, slatternly; I seldom put, and never keep, things in order; I am careless; I forget rules; I read when I should learn my lessons; I have no method: and sometimes I say, like you cannot bear to be subjected to systematic arrangements. This is all very provoking to Miss Scatcherd, who is naturally neat, puncutal, and particular.
— Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
I fail enough and I beat myself up enough. I don't need anybody else to do it for me.
— Jared Leto
I’ve never been bothered with my conduct. I’ve only been bothered by people that don’t get it correct when they gossip about me.
— Shannon L. Alder
Anyone can plot a course with a map or compass; but without a sense of who you are, you will never know if you're already home.
— Shannon L. Alder
I'm going to stay a little uptight and anxious.
— Katie Heaney, Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date
I don't like and even resist, being broken wide-open. But, when the contents of my unconscious self spill out of me and i sift through all the disowned parts of who i am... it's an uncomfortably enlightening and eye-opening experience. It feels a bit like emotional bloodletting. I guess every now and then, i need that release valve to open all the way...
— Jaeda DeWalt
As we have likely recognized by now, no two snowflakes, trees, or animals are alike. No two people are the same, either. Everything has its own Inner Nature. Unlike other forms of life, though, people are easily led away from what's right for them, because people have Brain, and Brain can be fooled. Inner Nature, when relied on, cannot be fooled. But many people do not look at it or listen to it, and consequently do not understand themselves very much. Having little understanding of themselves, they have little respect for themselves, and are therefore easily influenced by others.  But rather than be carried along by circumstances and manipulated by those who can see the weaknesses and behavior tendencies that we ignore, we can work with our own characteristics and be in control of our own lives. The Way of Self-Reliance starts with recognizing who we are, what we've got to work with, and what works best for us.
— Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh
I am obviously not a patient person.
— Katie Heaney, Never Have I Ever: My Life (So Far) Without a Date
Modern Education may make one intelligent but not wise. Wisdom comes from character, social consciousness, self awareness, human values, conscience that helps us know what is right and wrong and independent will that helps us to choose right over wrong.
— Jeroninio Almeida, Karma Kurry for the Mind, Body, Heart & Soul
Humans: such a brilliant model of emotional self-awareness.
— Charles Stross, Accelerando
Be your own self. Love what YOU love.
— Ray Bradbury
You can live a lifetime and, at the end of it, know more about other people than you know about yourself.
— Beryl Markham
Don't Have The Power To Stare At The Sun. I Can Only Try Even I Know I'll Fail. At Least I Have The Courage To Do That. I Know My Power And I Know My Shortcomings Which Most of The People Cannot Even Realize About Their Own. I'm Powerful In My Own Little Innocent World....
— Muhammad Imran Hasan
...some men are born out of their due place. Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not.
— W. Somerset Maugham
Conviction is having the mindset to never doubt your self-understanding
— Gino Norris, Stress Diary Journal
Consider for a moment that when you see someone as being ‘gifted’, it is out of a belief that whatever it is that they do, would be impossible for you to do. You should also consider that maybe their ‘gift’, is nothing more than an undeveloped skill in you.
— Gary   Hopkins
Sometimes I wonder if other people think about death - frequently, or just in general. I wonder if they think about it casually, like they’re thinking of the weather, or if they think of it lying awake at night, haunted by their own thoughts. I wonder… if they do think about it, do they ever think about their own death - the when, the how?
— Courtney Carola, Where We Belong
A GOOD man values his INTEGRITY and CHARACTER. NEVER deal with one that has no SELF RESPECT!
— L. Michelle
He wanted to break me, the me I'd made, the me I'd needed to make, my need, mine, my whole life since I could remember. I didn't want to hear him that night. When I was ready to change I'd change. When life opens up before you, when you don't really know death ... it's easy to promise yourself change. Keeping the lines hard, the parts of me separate, was what I knew, how I lived.
— Adam Berlin, The Number of Missing
For the first time, I´m not just nervous about what´s to come; I´m scared.
— Pittacus Lore, The Rise of Nine
When do you manipulate others for your own advantage? When I notice myself doing it, usually it is when I am feeling insecure.
— Charles Eisenstein, The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible
The fraud part of me was always there, just as a puzzle piece, objectively speaking, is a true piece of the puzzle even before you see how it fits.
— David Foster Wallace, Oblivion
Seek within, for the answer cannot be found without.
— Sara  Stark, An Untold Want
I realized that with everything I did from that point onward, I would have to ask myself this question: "How would I feel if what I'm doing right now is written up on the front page of the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times or if it is on television? Would I still do it?" That is a very useful exercise for leaders to engage in, because we shouldn't do anything we might be embarrassed by or ashamed of.
— John E. Mackey, Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business
Self awareness is only powerful when knowledge is understood and applied, only then can it manifest into true wisdom!
— Martin R. Lemieux
The pursuit of historical relevance is an under appreciated endeavor.
— Michael Dwinnell
To really know who you are, your core self, you need to know who you are pretending to be and who you are not, and the way to heal is the same way to grow in awareness.
— Aleta Edwards, Fear of the Abyss: Healing the Wounds of Shame & Perfectionism
Going to see plays isn't what you people should do. Try looking at yourselves a little more often and see what gray lives you all lead. How much of what you say is unnecessary.
— Anton Chekhov, The Cherry Orchard
If you asked me whether I was the type of person who liked trying new things or preferred sticking with what was familiar, I would have told you I was the second girl. The if –it-aint-broke-don’t-fix-it girl. I also would have told you plays were lame. It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t seem to know very much about…me. It’s a weird feeling, like maybe a stranger is inhabiting my body. Or maybe a stranger was, and I kicked her out.
— Paula Stokes, The Art of Lainey
My own sense is that the acquisition of self knowledge has been made difficult by the modern world. More and more human beings live in vast urban environments, surrounded by other human beings and the creations of human beings. The natural world, the traditional source of self-awareness, is increasingly absent.
— Michael Crichton, Travels
The only people we want to blame are ourselves, because it will be ourselves that we rely upon.
— Markus Zusak, Fighting Ruben Wolfe
It's like there was a fellow in every man that's done a-past the sanity or the insanity, that watches the sane and the insane doings of that man with the same horror and the same astonishment.
— William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying
It would always be my burden, not that I lacked genius, but that I was fully aware of it.
— Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides
If we observe ourselves truthfully and non-judgmentally, seeing the mechanisms of our personality in action, we can wake up, and our lives can be a miraculous unfolding of beauty and joy.
— Don Richard Riso, The Wisdom of the Enneagram: The Complete Guide to Psychological and Spiritual Growth for the Nine Personality Types
The evolution of the universe is both mirrored by and incumbent upon your own.
— Eric Micha'el Leventhal
Balance is the key to a long and happy life.
— Janet Gallagher Nestor, Nurturing Wellness Through Radical Self-Care: A Living in Balance Guide and Workbook
... tried praying for him ...but I couldn't. I just couldn't. Don't ask me why. I hoped that he was okay, but I couldn't summon the strength to pray for it.
— Markus Zusak, Underdog
To know yourself is to know where you're from
— Harriet Evans, Happily Ever After
Take pride in what you do & let the quality of your work be your signature
— Kloby
When you have a command over your thoughts and how they are creating, you are the center of your creation. When you put your responsibility outside of yourself and subject yourself as a victim of the universe, you are disempowered and are going to struggle. Live life free and responsibly. Then you will align with your soul’s love. It is a matter of acknowledging your power and truly living it.
— Jason Nelson, Age of the Soul: A New Way of Living from Your Soul
Have good sense, smell the scents, and you will have more cents
— Sonya Withrow
Trusting yourself means living out what you already know to be true.
— Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Social media has infected the world with a sickening virus called vanity.
— Kellie Elmore
Within you, you will find everything you need to be complete.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
One of the few blessings of living in an age of anxiety is that we are forced to become aware of ourselves.
— Rollo May, Man's Search for Himself
Maturity: knowing where you're crazy, trying to warn others of the fact and striving to keep yourself under control.
— Alain de Botton
No matter how much we ask after the truth, self-awareness is often unpleasant. We do not feel kindly toward the Truthsayer.
— Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune
Sooner or later our souls find their centre of gravity in a hot, salt-tasting kiss and a trembling touch. Trembling is a good sign: it means you're open to a world that knows you're coming.
— Louise Carey, The Steel Seraglio
When we do not know our true identity as powerful creators, we are susceptible to being used and manipulated.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
What is freedom? It consists in two things: to know each his own limitations and accept them – that is the same thing as to know oneself, and accept oneself as one is, without fear, or envy, or distaste; and to recognise and accept the conditions under which one lives, also without fear or envy, or distaste. When you do this, you shall be free.
— Ann Bridge, Illyrian Spring
Just as Jesus predicted, what originates in the secret place won't always remain a secret. ... How do we guard -- or maybe it would be more appropriate to say, guard against -- our hearts? How do we monitor what's going on in that secret place that has the potential to go public at any moment?
— Andy Stanley, Enemies of the Heart: Breaking Free from the Four Emotions That Control You
When we commit daily to offering our love, living in integrity, truth and values, we are more easily in tune to live our purpose …. We live our ethical life in all aspects; family, friends and business. Our spirit and body are always with us. In IHood, we choose to honor spiritual behavior over that of our body.
— Jill Little, IHood: Our GPS for Living
Actually, the Sniper's sense of humor frightened Amy more than anything else. The parody of Carla's poem had been witty, the rudeness of Marvy's critique outlandish, and she was still, for some reason, focused on that "youse" in the Sniper's counterfeit email. "Youse" was like a spectral elbow to Amy's ribs. Dangerous, malevolent people should not be amusing. In order to be humorous, you had to have perspective, to be able to stand outside yourself and your own needs and grudges and fears and see yourself for the puny ludicrous creature you really are. How could somebody do that and still imagine himself entitled to harry, to wound, to kill?
— Jincy Willett, The Writing Class
The worst is, I remain so stone cold. Does this war make you an 'alive-dead person'? Is it not possible to remain yourself in this chaos? How long still?
— Diet Eman, Things We Couldn't Say
What if you already are the person you wish you were but you just don't know it yet?
— Debra Formo
You don’t know anyone at the party, so you don’t want to go. You don’t like cottage cheese, so you haven’t eaten it in years. This is your choice, of course, but don’t kid yourself: it’s also the flinch. Your personality is not set in stone. You may think a morning coffee is the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it’s really just a habit. Thirty days without it, and you would be fine. You think you have a soul mate, but in fact you could have had any number of spouses. You would have evolved differently, but been just as happy.You can change what you want about yourself at any time. You see yourself as someone who can’t write or play an instrument, who gives in to temptation or makes bad decisions, but that’s really not you. It’s not ingrained. It’s not your personality. Your personality is something else, something deeper than just preferences, and these details on the surface, you can change anytime you like.If it is useful to do so, you must abandon your identity and start again. Sometimes, it’s the only way.Set fire to your old self. It’s not needed here. It’s too busy shopping, gossiping about others, and watching days go by and asking why you haven’t gotten as far as you’d like. This old self will die and be forgotten by all but family, and replaced by someone who makes a difference.Your new self is not like that. Your new self is the Great Chicago Fire—overwhelming, overpowering, and destroying everything that isn’t necessary.
— Julien Smith, The Flinch
To stand by yourself -- that was also part of dignity. That way, a person could get through a public flaying with dignity. Galileo. Luther. Even somebody who admitted his guilt and resisted the temptation to deny it. Something politicians couldn't do. Honesty, the courage for honesty. With others and yourself.
— Pascal Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon
When you can truly understand how others experience your behavior, without defending or judging, you then have the ability to produce a breakthrough in your leadership and team. Everything starts with your self-awareness. You cannot take charge without taking accountability, and you cannot take accountability without understanding how you avoid it.
— Loretta Malandro, Fearless Leadership: How To Overcome Behavioral Blind Spots And Transform Your Organization
What people say and feel about you when you've left a room is precisely your job while you are in it.
— Rasheed Ogunlaru
Concentration is a cornerstone of mindfulness practice. Your mindfulness will only be as robust as the capacity of your mind to be calm and stable. Without calmness, the mirror of mindfulness will have an agitated and choppy surface and will not be able to reflect things with any accuracy.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life