Skip to content

Richard Carlson Quotes

Richard Carlson Quote on Dealing With Bad Moods

    “When you’re in an ill mood, learn to pass it off as simply that: an unavoidable human condition that will pass with time, if you leave it alone. A low mood is not the time to analyze your life.”

    Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

    Beyond the Quote (179/365)

    And yet, low moods seem to draw out of us those very thoughts about our lives don’t they? It isn’t when we’re in a good mood that we decide to sit down and analyze our lives. When things are good—things are good! What’s there to analyze? You’re moving fluidly from one moment to the next and joyfully embracing the wonders of the world around you. When you’re in a good mood you’re laughing, dancing, singing, playful, excited, and warm. There’s nothing to diagnose and there’s nothing to fix—and so on with the good mood momentum we go!

    Read More »Richard Carlson Quote on Dealing With Bad Moods

    Richard Carlson Quote on Letting Go Of Expectations and A Short Story About Finding Inner Peace

      “Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t, you’re upset and you suffer. On the other hand, when you let go of expectations, when you accept life as it is, you’re free.”

      Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

      Beyond the Quote (159/365)

      A wealthy westerner, in search of peace of mind travels east to find a guru who might be able to help. After searching far and wide, through many towns and villages, he finally gets word of just the guru who can help. When they finally meet, the wise guru asks the wealthy westerner what is in the bag that he is holding so close to his heart. The wealthy man explains that it is a large sum of money that will be rewarded to whomever can help him find the inner peace that he so desperately hopes to find. The wise guru paused for a moment and reflected on the offer. Then, to everybody’s surprise, snatched the bag of money right from the man’s hands and ran away!

      Read More »Richard Carlson Quote on Letting Go Of Expectations and A Short Story About Finding Inner Peace

      Richard Carlson Quote on How Wherever You Go, There You Are.

        “Something wonderful begins to happen with the simple realization that life, like an automobile, is driven from the inside out, not the other way around. As you focus more on becoming more peaceful with where you are, rather than focusing on where you would rather be, you begin to find peace right now, in the present. Then, as you move around, try new things, and meet new people, you carry that sense of inner peace with you. It’s absolutely true that, ‘Wherever you go, there you are.’”

        Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

        Beyond the Quote (140/365)

        One of the tragedies that we experience every day is missing out on the moment because we’re somewhere else. Our consciousness is constantly twisted up in what already happened and what we’re anticipating might happen next. And I’m not talking about a few moments out of every day—I’m talking about the vast majority of our moments every day. Let’s see how the following examples sits with you.

        Read More »Richard Carlson Quote on How Wherever You Go, There You Are.

        Richard Carlson Quote on Blowing Things Out of Proportion

          “We forget that life isn’t as bad as we’re making it out to be. We also forget that when we’re blowing things out of proportion, we are the ones doing the blowing.”

          Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

          Beyond the Quote (108/365)

          The powerful thing about perspective is that it has the ability to change how we see.  And if how we see changes, well, everything in the world will look different.  In life, many of us disproportionately view our world as larger than it is—we blow it out of proportion.  Why?  Because from our perspective, our world is the world.  The size of our perception of life is the size of our understanding of the world.  And when we hyper focus on the trivialities of our life in comparison to all that’s happening in life throughout the world?  Those trivialities can start to look much bigger than they really are.

          Read More »Richard Carlson Quote on Blowing Things Out of Proportion

            “We deny the parts of ourselves that we deem unacceptable rather than accepting the fact that we’re all less than perfect.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

              “Effective listening is more than simply avoiding the bad habit of interrupting others while they are speaking or finishing their sentences. It’s being content to listen to the entire thought of someone rather than waiting impatiently for your chance to respond.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                “One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It’s not and it won’t. When we make this mistake we tend to spend a lot of time wallowing and/or complaining about what’s wrong with life. “It’s not fair,” we complain, not realizing that, perhaps, it was never intended to be.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                  “True happiness comes not when we get rid of all of our problems, but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice, and to learn.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                    “The key to a good life is this: If you’re not going to talk about something during the last hour of your life, then don’t make it a top priority during your lifetime.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                      “Something wonderful begins to happen with the simple realization that life, like an automobile, is driven from the inside out, not the other way around. As you focus more on becoming more peaceful with where you are, rather than focusing on where you would rather be, you begin to find peace right now, in the present. Then, as you move around, try new things, and meet new people, you carry that sense of inner peace with you. It’s absolutely true that, ‘Wherever you go, there you are.'” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                        “The truth is, in order to experience a feeling, you must first have a thought that produces that feeling.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                          “As you put more emphasis on being a loving person, which is something you can control – and less emphasis on receiving love, which is something you can’t control – you’ll find that you have plenty of love in your life.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                            “Our disappointment comes about in essentially two ways. When we’re experiencing pleasure we want it to last forever. It never does. Or when we’re experiencing pain, we want it to go away – now. It usually doesn’t. Unhappiness is the result of struggling against the natural flow of experience.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                              “It’s interesting to consider that when you disagree with someone, the person you are disagreeing with is every bit as certain of his or her position as you are of yours.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff

                                “Whenever you expect something to be a certain way and it isn’t, you’re upset and you suffer. On the other hand, when you let go of expectations, when you accept life as it is, you’re free.” ~ Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff