The essence of practice is always the same: instead of falling prey to a chain reaction of revenge or self-hatred, we gradually learn to catch the emotional reaction and drop the story lines.
Pema ChodronRead
It's so much easier to know who you are when there aren't a thousand people telling you who they think you are.
Interpretation
Knowing yourself is simpler when you're not influenced by others' opinions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-identity and the challenge posed by external influences. When surrounded by many people who project their perceptions and expectations onto us, it can be difficult to understand and embrace our true selves. The clarity of self-awareness often emerges in solitude, away from the noise of external validation.
In practice
This quote can serve as a reminder during a motivational speech about self-discovery.
The essence of practice is always the same: instead of falling prey to a chain reaction of revenge or self-hatred, we gradually learn to catch the emotional reaction and drop the story lines.
One of the many divine qualities of the Bible is that it does not yield its secrets to the irreverent and the censorious.
The trouble with nearly everybody who prays is that he says 'Amen' and runs away before God has a chance to reply. Listening to God is far more important than giving Him our ideas.
If I would be a young man again and had to decide how to make my living, I would not try to become a scientist or scholar or teacher. I would rather choose to be a plumber or a peddler in hope to find that modest degree of independence still available under present circumstances.
If you have somebody who's brilliant and highly creative with a different point of view than you have, and a very different intellectual background, great things can happen.
Victory puts us on a level with heaven.
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