c2p-cmd/Good-Quotes-Authors huggingface dataset:
No matter where you once were, no matter how dark your storm, God doesn't want you to remain there. Overcoming may not be easy, but it's possible when you ask your Father to battle for you.
— Dana Arcuri, Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity
In life, there are dreary, empty days and there are exciting, full days. You will experience both, for you cannot choose one above the other. May your full days be many.
— King Samuel Benson, Blood Tournament
You are a miracle, you are a light. You are not made of our weaknesses but of your strengths. You are a masterpiece made by The Master. Don't see yourself less!
— Kemi Sogunle
Dear God, help us to be a living example of being Christ-centered. Purify the areas in our lives where we allowed the world and enemy to gain access. Please direct us into authentic truth so that all may see You in us.
— Dana Arcuri, Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity, A 50-Day Devotional
With God, there is no such thing as a lost cause.
— Jessica Landmon
Plan to make good choices.
— Leslie Monroe, Forgive Yourself
Encourage anyone who is trying to improve mentally, physically, or spiritually.
— H. Jackson Brown Jr.
Let go of a need for personal recognition. Heap kudos on others and they’ll perform even better next time. Leaders are only as good as those who follow them and followers are at their best when leaders are quick to give credit for successes.
— Steve Goodier
It is through that brokenness that we find courage and strength. It is what empowers us to do great things.
— K.S. Ruff, In a Broken Dream
I'm trying to tell MiSSSisss WaSShington about our ceremony for Father.But it takes time tomatch every noun and verb,sort all the tenses,remember all the articles,set the tone for every s.MiSSSisss WaSShington saysif every learner waitsto speak perfectly,no one would learna new language.Being stubbornwon't make you fluent.Practicing will!The more mistakes you make,the more you'll learn not to.They laugh.
— Thanhha Lai
A word of encouragement goes a long way.
— Ashley Ormon
Blessed is the man who has the gift of making friends; for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of oneself, and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and living in another man.
— Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford
Encourage means to put courage into, and discourage is to take courage away. Don't be a courage thief.
— Benjamin Lotter
There is no person on earth so bad that he does not have something about him that is praiseworthy. Why is it, then, that we leave the good out of sight and feast our eyes on the unclean things? It is as though we enjoyed only looking at – if you will pardon the expression – a man's behind.
— Martin Luther
We live on a world where if you run straight away, without turning, you return to your point of origin. So much energy can be saved and time, by dealing with the point, at its origin, that would make us run.
— Tom Althouse, The Frowny Face Cow
Don't stare at the past or you'll walk right by today's opportunity. Today is God's gift to you.
— Benjamin Lotter
While he was conscious of improving at every stroke, he did not feel that the other was asserting any superiority over him; and so, though more humble than at the most disastrous period of his downward voyage, he was getting into a better temper every minute.
— Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford
There is no such thing as luck. Only chance. The chance that something good might happen. The chance that something bad might happen. It is our decision to choose how we will react, respond & resurrect from each life encounter! Every situation is but the Universe offering opportunities that have the power to push each to his/her fullest potential. All things happen for a reason.
— Katandra Jackson Nunnally Katandra Shanel Jackson
Just smile, breath, and give thanks (and there is always a reason to), because it beats the hell out of the alternative.
— Crystal Woods, Write like no one is reading
Don’t destroy yourself over somebody else’s foolishness. I know they betrayed you. I know they lied on you. I know they talked behind your back and told all of your business. I know they hurt you to the core. I know they turned their back on you. I know they cheated on you. I know they mislead you. I know, I KNOW. In spite of it all, you have to know that you are worth more than what they dished out to you. You will survive! You will make it through! Remember who YOU are and know YOUR self-worth!
— Stephanie Lahart
Find the good, and praise it.
— Alex Haley
You don't need to be a scientist to know how powerful your imagination is.
— Chris Prentiss, Be Who You Want, Have What You Want: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
You're going to act like a happy man. I know, I know. It's the hardest role in the world.
— Pat Conroy, South of Broad
We are what we allow ourselves to become. Never settle for less than what you deserve. Keep fighting the good fight! Keep giving your all to achieve, receive and succeed
— Cecibel Contreras
Best wishes to all the fonts in all the texts in all the books that make for a world of unfolding stories.
— Michael Ray Smith
You will never be able to do anything of true value without Christ. Apart from Him all things are meaningless.
— Pauline Seaport
Almost everything I've done is technically wrong, but Paul never mentioned the mistakes, only the corrective measures.
— Stefan Fatsis, A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL
When all has been said and done,When all the wealth has been amassed,When all the battles have been fought and won,When all the monuments have been built,All that remains is love - love for the fellow man....
— Phumi Ngwane
Shanahan (the head coach) doesn't allow failure to take root.
— Stefan Fatsis, A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-Foot-8, 170-Pound, 43-Year-Old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL
The Truth is, we all get lost as we try to find our way. Perhaps the key is to stop, take a look around and enjoy the scenery as we go.
— JaTawny Muckelvene Chatmon, Getting Lost
I Rather Quit from a Bad Environment regardless if it's a job or an situation that puts you on a vicious circle than blindly pressing on, ignoring the inner feeling that is inside you.Don't just say "I'll never quit", take the time to think about what you want to do in your life. And decide if you should quit or not, Do not force yourself to keep going or let people pressure to stay in a bad environment where you are not growing and developing as an person.Be your person, You will end up quitting at some point but don't quit if you decide to try another way in life
— Leland Lewis
When nobody else celebrates you, learn to celebrate yourself. When nobody else compliments you, then compliment yourself. It’s not up to other people to keep you encouraged. It’s up to you. Encouragement should come from the inside.
— Joel Osteen
I was made to feel I could do things. If you get this feeling early and can hold it until you're 15, you tend to never lose it.
— John Updike
No one can make you dwell on the past. Control your thoughts and actions! Make your own decisions! Just because someone keeps bringing up your past doesn’t mean you have to accept it --- you are not obligated to accommodate their recollections of you.
— Michelle Word Hollis, A Book of Pearlables: Affirmations for Promises and Provisions
The world is what you make of it
— E.L. Mendell
I know you . . .That you hold insideVast possibilities and dreamsAnd limitless love.
— Ilchi Lee, Songs of Enlightenment
Don't let the bonds of fear and doubt keep you from attempting the impossible. Each attempt will loosen the chains and you'll eventually break free, thus finding the 'impossible' was actually possible all along.
— J.E.B. Spredemann
In the reflected gaze of his (her husband's) steady admiration, she saw the face of the girl he had fallen in love with.
— Doris Kearns Goodwin, Wait Till Next Year
When you are discouraged, do not look down. Hold your head up high and you will see the face of God shining a light into your dark place.
— Janet Autherine
If you are so worried of things that can be fixed that you can't fix them. Just remember we came to this world without refactions.
— Pedro A. Pérez Raymond
The Appreciation Meditation is the first step towards allowing and encouraging your inner nature to come to the surface of your mind.
— Gyalwa Dokhampa, The Restful Mind
The world is what you make of it.
— E.L. Mendell
Love is a strange creature that no man can understand
— Lisa C.  Miller, Inspirations from Heaven's Gate
It was typical of the American to identify the one unfinished strand.
— Davis Bunn, Lion of Babylon
Frankie's chief virtue in my book is the way he talks about his kids.
— Andre Agassi, Open
Encouragement is a divine awaken of the soul.
— Lailah Gifty Akita
Today i am feeling proud that i have a greatest teacher. My encouragement my motivation and my leader is only one that is my teacher. From silent to talkative from dread to cheer all credit goes to teacher for their such a encouragement.
— Avinash Advani
All over the world there were families deciding to care about each other and encourage one another along the paths God had given them.
— Regina Jennings, Caught in the Middle
A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled. A child cannot be taught by anyone whose demand, essentially, is that the child repudiate his experience, and all that gives him sustenance.
— James     Baldwin
Don’t quit. It’s very easy to quit during the first 10 years. Nobody cares whether you write or not, and it’s very hard to write when nobody cares one way or the other. You can’t get fired if you don’t write, and most of the time you don’t get rewarded if you do. But don’t quit.
— Andre Dubus
Notice the difference: A child’s disability is the focus in traditional classroom settings, but his abilities are the focus in the homeschool environment.
— Sandra K. Cook, Overcome Your Fear of Homeschooling with Insider Information
Sometimes we forego things not because we do not want them but because we can't afford to raise them at the moment
— Ludiah Mong'are
A great idea always begins with unbounded inspiration.
— Roshan Kolar
Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it.
— Amy Poehler
The Gospel isn’t a life management program. It shouldn’t merely be the crutch we fall on when life gets ugly. It should be the legs we walk on, the air we breathe.
— Mary E. DeMuth, Everything: What You Give and What You Gain to Become Like Jesus
We live by encouragement and die without it -- slowly, sadly, and angrily.
— Celeste Holm
God's heart…is not that we escape our lot, but that we learn to thrive in the midst of it.
— Mary E. DeMuth, Everything: What You Give and What You Gain to Become Like Jesus
Encouragement is the most effective way to change someone’s behavior. When you see the best in them you encourage them to become that and they will want to live up to your high opinion of them.
— Kimberly Giles
Bright light. You've always found your way.
— Nora Roberts, The Last Boyfriend
Life is not about being complacent, its all about being competent.
— Chandan Sharma
Great men must go through great painThe strongest stormsThe hardest rainThe toughest climbsThe roughest terrainGreat men must go through great pain
— Calvin W. Allison, Shadows Over February
People work harder, longer, and more creatively if they are motivated by the intrinsic pleasure of their work. Managers must do everything they can to make the value of jobs obvious and the joy in them accessible.
— Robert Watson, Leadership Secrets of the Salvation Army
I suppose it's unfair, tricks of argument that leave wounds, but with this sort of thing that (C.S.) Lewis does, what I feel is a craftsman's joy at the sight of a superior performance.
— Joy Davidman
I believe Innovation is more likely to emerge from a culture of encouragement.
— Ziad K. Abdelnour, Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics
God, who knows me by name, [is] right next to me.
— Shirley Corder, Strength Renewed: Meditations for Your Journey through Breast Cancer
Encouragement and praISE SHOULD BE ENDLESS. fAUTH BRINGS THEM TOGETHER.
— Terry Alex
There are some certain things in life we know it for sure but we need to hear it from others .. !
— Anonymous Young Girl
Teach them the quiet words of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly.
— Pat Conroy, The Prince of Tides
Till we recognize what’s sick and messed up about ourselves this world is gonna stay sick and messed up.
— Lacey Sturm
She encouraged herself to see her very small presence in the world as a good thing, a power, something that a hero might possess.
— Helen Oyeyemi, Mr. Fox
To encourage me is to believe in me, which gives me the power to defeat dragons.
— Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway
Instead of waiting for the right moment, BE the right moment. You won't be ready for anything if you aren't ready to be you.
— Kaiden Blake, Before Ever After
What would you think if I told you that, yes, your bad choices and decisions have had a part in your ending up under this pier, but beyond that, under this pier is exactly where you should be in order for a future to occur that you can’t even imagine at this point?
— Andy Andrews, The Noticer: Sometimes, All a Person Needs Is a Little Perspective
If you can still write in spite of the fact that you're not getting paid, that nobody cares about what you're writing, that nobody wants to publish it, that everybody is telling you to do something else, and you still want to and you still enjoy it and you can't stop doing it...then you're a writer.
— Joanne Harris
You won't ever know, unless you try!
— Jonathan Anthony Burkett
I will find a way -- or make one.
— Hannibal
Ever day is a chance given to better your yesterday and brighten your tomorrow
— Beverley Malcolm
My dad encouraged me to quit my job and pursue the life that I am about to have. He got excited with me. He was the first one to tell me that I could do it. I am 30 years old, and I still find great power in my own dad telling me it’s possible.I still find great power in my own dad telling me I can do it.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
Your words and deeds are seeds, scattered in the wind... the seeds are light or darkness... they'll break apart or mend... Sow light instead of gloom. Sow faith instead of doubt. Sow truth and love, and hope, and peace. Sow light and darkness rout.
— Colleen Luntzel, The World Is a Potluck... Bring Bread
A tiny spark ignites a flame, just as a helping hand can do the same
— Nonnie Jules
Throughout their lifetime, most women learn to be uncomfortable with their physical appearance. They create amask of makeup that is intended to “fix” their “imperfections.” They identify so much with this mask they reject their true beauty.Feminine Transitions encourages women to remove their masks and love their true selves, completely.
— Alyscia Cunningham, Feminine Transitions: A Photographic Celebration of Natural Beauty
My entire life, I’ve never been able to understand the concept of not being happy or excited when others were successful or had something good happen to them. It quite honestly is a concept that I cannot grasp.
— Dan Pearce, Single Dad Laughing
Ever day is a chance given to better your yesterday
— Beverley Malcolm
There are times when we find ourselves pitching downwards, out of control. Yet God is always nearby...
— Shirley Corder, Strength Renewed: Meditations for Your Journey through Breast Cancer
There can be moments, when the rope we hold to, becomes a strand of thread, where we feel that we are barely hanging on but when the thread feels as though it's about to break; just know that God will never let us fall but rather, He will be there to catch us and when He does, He will carry us away, on wings of love, to a higher plateau, where evil cannot touch us.
— Diane K. Chamberlain
Are you hurting? Reach beyond yourself for comfort. Beyond the scope of your visual perimeter. Are you sad? Reach beyond yourself for joy. Beyond the limitations of the temporal. Beyond the boundaries of your five physical senses.Reach out to Jesus. Reach out by faith and be made whole.
— Calvin W. Allison, A Peace in the Spirit
Anticipating God's blessings is a great way to begin a new week! When we look for the things that could go wrong, we just may find what we had been looking for.
— Diane K. Chamberlain
Why rush through things when life should be cherished? Take a step back and see the big picture.
— Atlanta Hunter
You are not a burden, an accident, or a mistake. You are meant for amazing things that you can't even imagine for yourself.
— Lacey Sturm
Cry if you must. Scream. Get it all out of your system, and then we'll have fun. It won't last forever, but it will keep you busy for tonight.
— Jamie McGuire, Walking Disaster
Walk away from gossip and verbal defamation. Speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.
— Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.
— George MacDonald
Sometimes life is hard. Things go wrong—in life and in love and in business and in friendship and in health and in all the other ways that life can go wrong. And when things get tough, this is what you should do: make good art. . . . Someone on the internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before: make good art. Probably things will work out somehow, eventually time will take the sting away, and it doesn’t even matter. Do what only you can do best: make good art.
— Neil Gaiman
It's a good thing to see that people can heal after they've been broken, that they can change and become something different from what they were before.
— Wiley Cash, A Land More Kind Than Home
God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to make us comforters.
— John Henry Jowett
It's lonely to say goodbye. Very lonely. Partings are the beginnings of new meetings. Beginnings happen because there are endings…Meetings. Beginnings. It's not too late…to believe in them after the fact.
— Natsuki Takaya, Fruits Basket, Vol. 22
We can change the world one thought at a time, one child at a time, one family at a time, one community at a time, one city, one state and one country at a time.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
We give up our power to the very people who took it away from us in the first place.
— Patti Digh, Life Is a Verb: 37 Days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally
I wrote in my journal about how good I felt when I was not living under Ed’s control. Then, when I really felt like giving up, I read these pages and realized that I was striving for in recovery was a real possibility. I thought about these experiences and used them as encouragement to keep moving forward. Even one minute of freedom was proof that I was getting better. At first, these times were few and far between. Now, these moments are connected; they are my life
— Jenni Schaefer, Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too
Let us revolt against the nightmare, and work together for a kinder world.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
Let the change begin with your choices this very moment.
— Bryant McGill, Voice of Reason
There is one type of gambling which should always be encouraged. It is betting on goodness. When a person has wronged you, be good to him. If he adds insult to injury, double the bet. And keep on doubling it. You will surely win!
— J.P. Vaswani
Soil, blood, seed- Let me draw strength from you. let it be enough.
— Emily Whitman, Radiant Darkness
We will see every human beings as Christ and we will help Hindus to be better Hindus, Muslims to be better Muslims, and Christians to be better Christians"(Mother Teresa).
— Maryanne Raphael, What Mother Teresa Taught Me
The pursuit of joy in God is not optional. It is not an “extra” that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. It is not simply a way to “enhance” your walk with the Lord. Until your heart has hit upon this pursuit, your “faith” cannot please God. It is not saving faith. Saving faith is the confidence that if you sell all you have and forsake all sinful pleasures, the hidden treasure of holy joy will satisfy your deepest desires. Saving faith is the heartfelt conviction not only that Christ is reliable, but also that He is desirable. It is the confidence that He will come through with His promises and that what He promises is more to be desired than all the world.
— John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist
I don't need encouraging. I do well enough on my own.
— R.L. Mathewson, Tall, Dark & Lonely
It's faith that will take you through and determination that will drive you.
— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, Neglected But Undefeated
God uses people to help others. I only pray my faith is strong enough to get me through what I have to face.
— Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Highland Sanctuary
Never judge yourself so harshly that you never arise from the ashes of life.
— Shawntel Jefferson, Refreshing Winds 31 Day Devotional
This obsession is a curious thing. Sometimes wonder about the merits of devoting so much of myself to a singular climbing objective. Much of the time it beats me down, leaves me hanging my head in despair. But then there are the moments that bring me to life. When excitement wells up inside my chest in a way that doesn’t happen in every day life. Today my fingertips were cracked and bleeding. I made no progress despite great conditions. Now I am on the ground and can hardly contain my excitement to get back on the wall. It’s a crazy rollercoaster and I owe my family and partners a great deal for encouraging me through it all.
— Tommy Caldwell
Sometimes we have to inspire and encourage ourselves, through our personal narrative. And we start with what we know.
— Deborah L. Parker, For People of Strength, Soul, and Spirit: Seven Guidelines for Life & Career Success
On Lee as commander: "He had a cheerful dignity and could praise them (his men) without seeming to court their favor.
— Shelby Foote, The Civil War, Vol. 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville
There is no lifeguard on duty. We each swim at our own risk during this short journey." ~ Lisa Fantino/Amalfi Blue
— Lisa Fantino, Amalfi Blue, lost & found in the south of Italy
I was angry at God until I came to understand that it isn't God's fault when people mistreat me. I still have my doubts at times, but I try to remember that God has given them the same free will that He's given me.
— Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Highland Sanctuary
ALL EXCUSES must be FOUGHT by taking ACTION against the THOUGHT. ~ Author Mammy Oaklee
— Mammy Oaklee
A little knee time first thing in the day keeps u standing all day!
— Evinda Lepins
Josiah became King of Judah at the age of eight. Joan of Arc led the French Army at nineteen. King Tut led all of Egypt at age nine. Age isn't everything you think it is. Your heart and your spirit speak more than a simple candle count on your birthday cake. ~Tony (Exposing ELE)
— Rebecca Gober, Exposing ELE
There's no heaven on earth. God would have to guide her through the problems.
— Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Highland Sanctuary
I think you'll be a great teacher," said Gary. That's his role in my life: blind encourager and ambassador of false senses of security.
— Matthew Norman, Domestic Violets
We listened, as all boys in their better moods will listen (ay, and men too for the matter of that), to a man whom we felt to be, with all his heart and soul and strength, striving against whatever was mean and unmanly and unrighteous in our little world. It was not the cold, clear voice of one giving advice and warning from serene heights to those who were struggling and sinning below, but the warm, living voice of one who was fighting for us and by our sides, and calling on us to help him and ourselves and one another.
— Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's Schooldays
Nothing was being done to help the non-dopers, to encourage or support them. Even the clean riders like myself and Moncout knew how easy it was to cheat the tests.
— David Millar, Racing Through the Dark
Do you consider yourself a blessing or just another person?
— Jonathan Anthony Burkett, Neglected But Undefeated
If it doesn't challenge you, it will not change you.
— Tamika L. Sims
Always be true to yourself and follow your dreams!
— LaDonna M. Cook
The seeds of greatness are sown in ordinary soil.
— Leah Griffith
Indeed, God is always with us even when things look hopeless.
— Jennifer Hudson Taylor, Highland Sanctuary
I knew how far a little boy or girl could run with 50 words of reassurance.
— Jim Abbott, Imperfect: An Improbable Life
People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child—our own two eyes. All is a miracle.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...
— Pema Chödrön, Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living
Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a bath. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation
What I must do, is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know it. It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am grateful for all those dark years, even though in retrospect they seem like a long, bitter prayer that was answered finally.
— Marilynne Robinson
We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved, and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed and beneath every sadness is the fear that there will not be enough time. When we hesitate in being direct, we unknowingly slip something on, some added layer of protection that keeps us from feeling the world, and often that thin covering is the beginning of a loneliness which, if not put down, diminishes our chances of joy. It’s like wearing gloves every time we touch something, and then, forgetting we chose to put them on, we complain that nothing feels quite real. Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold and the car handle feels wet and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable.
— Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening: Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life You Have
Let go of your mind and then be mindful.Close your ears and listen!
— Jalaluddin Rumi, Love's Ripening: Rumi on the Heart's Journey
Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.
— Louis L'Amour
Mindfulness is simply being aware of what is happening right now without wishing it were different
—  enjoying the pleasant without holding on when it changes (which it will)
Without giving up hope—that there’s somewhere better to be, that there’s someone better to be—we will never relax with where we are or who we are.
— Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
As we encounter new experiences with a mindful and wise attention, we discover that one of three things will happen to our new experience: it will go away, it will stay the same, or it will get more intense. whatever happens does not really matter.
— Jack Kornfield, A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life
True compassion is undirected & holds no conceptual focus. That kind of genuine, true compassion is only possible after realizing emptiness.
— Tsoknyi Rinpoche, Carefree Dignity: Discourses on Training in the Nature of Mind
The mind which is created quick to love, is responsive to everything that is pleasing, soon as by pleasure it is awakened into activity. Your apprehensive faculty draws an impression from a real object, and unfolds it within you, so that it makes the mind turn thereto. And if, being turned, it inclines towards it, that inclination is love; that is nature, which through pleasure is bound anew within you.
— Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
Each place is the right place--the place where I now am can be a sacred space. (3)
— Ravi Ravindra, The Wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: A New Translation and Guide by Ravi Ravindra
Inner Peace can be seen as the ultimate benefit of practicing patience.
— Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
Start living right here, in each present moment. When we stop dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, we're open to rich sources of information we've been missing out on—information that can keep us out of the downward spiral and poised for a richer life.
— Mark         Williams, The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness
I would like to ofer some exercises that can help us use the Five Precepts to cultivate and strengthen mindfulness. It is best to choose one of these exercises and work with it meticulously for a week. Then examine the results and choose another for a subsequent week. These practices can help us understand and find ways to work with each precept. 1. Refrain from killing: reverence for life. Undertake for one week to purposefully bring no harm in thought, word, or deed to any living creature. Particularly, become aware of any living beings in your world (people, animals, even plants) whom you ignore, and cultivate a sense of care and reverence for them too.2. Refraining from stealing: care with material goods. Undertake for one week to act on every single thought of generosity that arises spontaneously in your heart.3. Refraining from sexual misconduct: conscious sexuality. Undertake for one week to observe meticulously how often sexual feelings arise in your consciousness. Each time, note what particular mind states you find associated with them such as love, tension, compulsion, caring, loneliness, desire for communication, greed, pleasure, agression, and so forth.4. Refraining from false speech: speech from the heart. Undertake for one week not to gossip (positively or negatively) or speak about anyone you know who is not present with you (any third party).5. Refraining from intoxicants to the point of heedlessness. Undertake for one week or one month to refrain from all intoxicants and addictive substances (such as wine, marijuana, even cigarettes and/or caffeine if you wish). Observe the impulses to use these, and become aware of what is going on in the heart and mind at the time of those impulses (88-89).
— Jack Kornfield, For a Future to Be Possible: Buddhist Ethics for Everyday Life
Mindful leadership keeps you cool and energetic in any situation, so that you can make the best possible decisions.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Meditation for Corporate Leadership and Management
You actions are your only true belongings.
— Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
Stop, breathe, look aroundand embrace the miracle of each day,the miracle of life.
— Jeffrey A.  White
[Mindfulness] is not concerned with anything transcendent or divine. It serves as an antidote to theism, a cure for sentimental piety, a scalpel for excising the tumor of metaphysical belief. (130)
— Stephen Batchelor, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
A bird cried jubilation. In that moment they lived long. All minor motions were stilled and only the great ones were perceived. Beneath them the earth turned, singing.
— Sheri S. Tepper, The Revenants
To reteach a thing its loveliness is the nature of metta. Through lovingkindness, everyone & everything can flower again from within.
— Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness
Seeking is endless. It never comes to a state of rest
—  it never ceases.
But remember, there's no greater gift than the present.
— Dan Santat, Are We There Yet?
...it is often more difficult to remember to be mindful than to be mindful itself. (p. 47)
— Donald Rothberg, The Engaged Spiritual Life: A Buddhist Approach to Transforming Ourselves and the World
The next time you feel a sense of dissatisfaction, of something being missing or not quite right, turn inward as an experiment. See if you can capture the energy of that very moment. Instead of picking up a magazine or going to the movies, calling a friend or looking for something to eat or acting up in one way or another, make a place for yourself. Sit down and enter into your breathing, if only for a few minutes. Don't look for anything - neither flowers not light nor a beautiful view. Don't extol the virtues of anything or condemn the inadequacy of anything. Don't even think to yourself, "I am going inward now." Just sit. Reside at the center of the world. Let things be as they are.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
You must know that weather or not you are practicing mental prayer has nothing to do with keeping your lips closed. If, while I am speaking with God, I am fully conscious of doing so, and if this is more real to me than the words I am uttering, then I am combining mental and vocal prayer. I am amazed when people tell me that you are speaking with God by reciting the Paternoster even while you are thinking of worldly things. When you speak with a Lord so great, you should think of Who it is you are addressing and what you yourself are, if only that you may speak to Him with proper respect. How can you address a king with the reverence he deserves unless you are clearly conscious of his position and yours?
— Teresa of Ávila, The Way of Perfection
We cannot force the development of mindfulness.
— Allan Lokos, Patience: The Art of Peaceful Living
Worry about your own neck. Don’t waste time worrying what others may or may not think. If someone is rude, if they disrespect you, recognize that this is an issue with them and not you. Don’t let it change how you behave. Be the same kind, loving and compassionate person as always. Don’t fuel the negativity. Always strive to carry peace in your heart, wherever you go. It will help to keep you in a positive frame of mind.
— Akiroq Brost
The study of modern mindfulness meditation and emotional intelligence is deeply rooted in the ancient Vipassana meditation techniques.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Meditation for Corporate Leadership and Management
Let go of all the drama, all that is superficial, all the worry over things you have no control over. Let go of the past. Don't lose yourself in competing and comparing yourself with others. Don't lose yourself in consumerism, in greed, in the acquisition of wealth. What matters the most is that you live. That you live as you, that you live IN your life as your genuine self. Don't put off living. Don't wait until the end of the day to enjoy a couple of hours of life. Don't wait until retirement. Be in whatever it is you do. If you can't, then make every effort to change what it is you do. Whatever you do, do it with care, concern and love. Don't over-complicate your life. Keep it as simple as you can. Do what you love as much as possible. Love what you do as much as possible. Love yourself. Appreciate yourself. Appreciate every drop of life you receive and make the most of it by not shying away from life. Life is meant to be lived. Don't forget to live.
— Akiroq Brost
Without relying on any deities, mantras, or mandalas, without having to master the intricacies of any doctrine or philosophy, I vividly understood what it meant to be a fragile, impermanent creature in a fragile, impermanent world. The mindfulness sharpened my attention to everything that was going on within and around me. My body became a tingling, pulsing mass of sensations. At times when I sat outside I felt as though the breeze were blowing through me. The sheen of the grass was more brilliant, the rustling leaves were like a chorus in an endlessly unfolding symphony. At the same time there was a deep stillness and poise at the core of this vital awareness.
— Stephen Batchelor, Confession of a Buddhist Atheist
Life is simple. It is meant to be lived. Don't over-complicate things. Don't lose your life in the things that don't matter.
— Akiroq Brost
Don't let fear cripple you and keep you from trying new things, changing things, exploring and living a life of adventure. Be courageous, be brave. A whole life is out there just waiting to be lived. Don't wait until it is too late. Seize the opportunity and seize the day. Don't allow yourself to get caught in regret by limiting yourself and your life. Life passes by very quickly. Make the most of every day!
— Akiroq Brost
If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life. It’s so clear. Mindfulness is the energy and practice that helps you go back to the here and now so that you encounter life.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power
When you hold the hand of a child, invest one hundred percent of yourself in the act of holding her hand. When you hug your partner, do the same. Forget everything else. Be totally present, totally alive in the act of hugging. This is the opposite of the way we’ve been trained to lead our lives and run our businesses. We’ve been taught to do many things at once. We answer an e-mail while we talk on the phone; while in a meeting for one project, we work on our notes for another project. Every new technology promises to help us do more things at once. Now we can send e-mail while listening to music, talking on the phone, and taking a picture, all with the same device. With your energy that dispersed, where is your power?
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power
Don’t wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow may be too late. If we know how to live according to the insight of impermanence, we will not make many mistakes. We can be happy right now. We can love our beloved, care for her, and make her happy today. And we won’t run toward the future, losing our life, which is available only in the present moment.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power
Mindfulness works like a vaccine, boosting natural resilience. You undertake practices that can initially feel odd or counterintuitive. You practise in safe, low-risk ways, stimulating the recovery and growth mechanisms of the human mind and emotions. Meditating builds resilience muscles that are strong enough to kick in during stressful moments in life, when you need them the most.
— Meg Salter, Mind Your Life: How Mindfulness Can Build Resilience and Reveal Your Extraordinary
There is a rhythm throughout the universe. The pulsation throbs within every heart, during each moment of ecstasy, in every birth contraction. The rhythm exists in the pull of the ocean tide, around the weight of each raindrop, woven into every cocoon.The sequence, the progression, is what we call time. Our time of influence affects the expansion of the universe. Heaven is eager to learn how we will add to the growth of eternal existence. God is ready to respond as you take part in creation. The rhythm never ends, it only strengthens and expands.This life force is you. You are the mystery.You are the journey. You are exquisite.You are here.Now, it’s your time.
— Julie A. Barnes, All Flavors
Mindfulness is the art of cosmic collaboration.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
[R]emain open to not knowing, perhaps allowing yourself to come to the point of admitting, "I don't know," and then experimenting with relaxing a bit into this not knowing instead of condemning yourself for it. After all, in this moment, it may be an accurate statement of how things are for you.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Mindfulness gives us the power to understand our deep connection with the trees, flowers, stars, sun and the moon.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Meditation for Corporate Leadership and Management
Taking in the good is not about putting a happy shiny face on everything, nor is it about turning away from the hard things in life. It's about nourishing well-being, contentment, and peace inside that are refuges you can always come from and return to.
— Rick Hanson, Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
By grounding yourself in mindfulness early in the morning, you are reminding yourself that things are always changing, that good and bad things come and go, and that it is possible to embody a perspective of of constancy, wisdom, and inner peace as you face any conditions that present themselves.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
The purpose of meditation practice is not enlightenment; it is to pay attention even at unextraordinary times, to be of present, nothing-but-the-present, to bear this mindfulness of now into each event of ordinary life.
— Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard
The challenge of mindfulness is to work with the very circumstances that you find yourself in - no matter how unpleasant, how discouraging, how limited, how unending and stuck they may appear to be - and to make sure that you have done everything in your power to use their energies to transform yourself before you decide to cut your losses and move on.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
There can be no resolution leading to growth until the present situation has been faced completely and you have opened to it with mindfulness, allowing the roughness of the situation itself to sand down your own rough edges. In other words, you must be willing to let itself to become your teacher.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
The virtues of getting up early have nothing to do with cramming more hours of busyness and industry into one's day. Just the opposite. They stem from the stillness and solitude of the hour, and the potential to use that time to expand consciousness, to contemplate, to make time for being, for purposefully not doing anything. The peacefulness, the darkness, the dawn, the stillness - all contribute to making early morning a special time for mindfulness practice.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
The point is not to resist painful experiences or grasp at pleasant ones: that's a kind of craving - and craving leads to suffering. The art is to find a balance in which you remain mindful, accepting, and curious regarding difficult experiences - while also taking in supportive feelings and thoughts.
— Rick Hanson, Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom
A quiet mind allows the artist to tap into the wellspring of Divine Music within.
— Kenny Werner, Effortless Mastery
Mindset is your beliefs about your potential, skills, strength, intelligence and choices. Through mindfulness you can change your mindset.
— Amit Ray
Mindfulness is observing the beauty of every moment unfolding before us.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
Stop over-thinking, put more energy on what you really want to do.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
Breathe out unwanted thoughts with your exhale and re-focus your attention directly on what is important right now, at this moment.
— Amit Ray, Beautify your Breath - Beautify your Life
Karma Yoga is mindful service to the humanity with love and respect.
— Amit Ray, Yoga The Science of Well-Being
Mindful living is a conscious way of living – noticing the beauty of life in every moment.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
It's not that God, the environment, and other people cannot help us to be happy or find satisfaction. It's just that our happiness, satisfaction, and our understanding, even of God, will be no deeper than our capacity to know ourselves inwardly, to encounter the world from the deep comfort that comes from being at home in one's own skin, from an intimate familiarity with the ways of one's own mind and body.
— Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
Suffering has its beneficial aspects. It can be an excellent teacher.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, No Mud, No Lotus: The Art of Transforming Suffering
Mindfulness is to understand that there is a no moment left to be unhappy.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
In every bend of time there is some surprise, joy and beauty. Mindfulness is the light to discover it.
— Amit Ray, Mindfulness Living in the Moment - Living in the Breath
If we turn away from our own pain, we may find ourselves projecting this aversion onto others, seeing them as somehow inadequate for being in a troubled situation.
— Sharon Salzberg, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
Being a critic is easy.But if the critic tries to run the operation, he soon understands that nothing is as easy as his criticisms.Criticism without a solution is merely an inflation of the critic's ego.
— Haemin Sunim, The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: Guidance on the Path to Mindfulness from a Spiritual Leader
Life and love generate effort, but effort will not generate them.
— Alan W. Watts, The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
The overarching practice of letting go is also one of gaining resilience and insight.
— Sharon Salzberg, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
Mindfulness helps us see the addictive aspect of self-criticism— a repetitive cycle of flaying ourselves again and again, feeling the pain anew.
— Sharon Salzberg, Real Love: The Art of Mindful Connection
The roots of war are in the way we live our daily lives —the way we develop our industries, build up our society, and consume goods.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Peace is based on respect for life, the spirit of reverence for life.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
If we are aware of our lifestyle, our way of consuming, of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Most people treat the present moment as if it were an obstacle that they need to overcome. Since the present moment is life itself, it is an insane way to live.
— Eckhart Tolle
Truth is found in life and not merely in conceptual knowledge.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
We wanted peace. We did not care about anyone’s victory or defeat. We just wanted the bombs to stop falling on us.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
Life is the force of the absolute, the supreme, the Creator who creates everything.
— Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Everything in existence is a manifestation of the one living being we call God. Everything is God.
— Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
When you understand, you cannot help but love. You cannot get angry.
— Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life