“Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in it corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running… therefore, if you want to do something make a habit of it, if you don’t want to do that, don’t, but make a habit of something else instead. The same principle is at work in our state of mind. When you get angry, you’ve not only experienced that evil, but you’ve also reinforced a bad habit, adding fuel to the fire.”
Epictetus, Discourses, The Daily Stoic (Page 147)
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“Why do we have access to so much wisdom yet fail to have the strength and courage to act upon our good intentions by making powerful choices? Why do we continue to act out in ways that go against our value system and all that we stand for? […] It is because of our unexamined life, our darker self, our shadow self where our unclaimed power lies hidden. It is here, in this least likely place, that we will find the key to unlock our strength, our happiness, and our ability to live out our dreams.”
Debbie Ford, The Shadow Effect (Page 1)
“In the service of God, you can learn three things from a child, and seen from a thief. From a child you can learn: (1) always to be happy; (2) never to sit idle; and (3) to cry for everything one wants. From a thief you should learn: (1) to work at night; (2) if one cannot gain what one wants in one night to try again the next night; (3) to love one’s co-workers just as thieves love each other; (4) to be willing to risk one’s life even for a little thing; (5) not to attach too much value to things even though one has risked one’s life for them—just as a thief will resell as stolen article for a fraction of its real value; (6) to withstand all kinds of beatings and tortures but to remain what you are; and (7) to believe that your work is worthwhile and not be willing to change it.”
Dov Baer, the Mazid of Mezeritch, via Sunbeams (Page 101)
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
Carl Rogers, via Sunbeams (Page 101) | Read Matt’s Blog on this quote ➜
“Most rudeness, meanness, and cruelty are a mask for deep-seated weakness. Kindness in these situations is only possible for people of great strength.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 146)
“Kindness is invincible but only when it’s sincere, with no hypocrisy or faking. For what can even the most malicious person do if you keep showing kindness and, if given the chance, you gently point out where they went wrong—right as they are trying to harm you?”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, via The Daily Stoic (Page 146)
The Shadow Effect: Illuminating The Hidden Power Of Your True Self [Book]
Book Overview: New York Times bestselling authors and internationally acclaimed leaders in the field of new thought, Deepak Chopra, Debbie Ford, and Marianne Williamson have joined together to share thier knowledge on one of the most crucial obstacles to happiness we face—the shadow. These three luminaries, each with a signature approach, bring to light the parts of ourselves we deny but that still direct our life. The result is a practical and profound journey to wholeness.
Post(s) Inspired By This Book:
“Thinking about interior peace destroys interior peace. The patient who constantly feels his pulse is not getting any better.”
Hubert van Zeller, via Sunbeams (Page 100)
“Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.”
Baruch Spinoza, via Sunbeams (Page 100)
“The greatest portion of peace of mind is doing nothing wrong. Those who lack self-control live disoriented and disturbed lives.”
Seneca, Moral Letters, via The Daily Stoic (Page 145)
“Hurt people, hurt people.”
Charles Eads, Quote Investigator
“Hurt people hurt people. But healed people heal people. Respect your feelings, and you’ll find your trauma. Respect your trauma and you’ll find your purpose. Respect your purpose and you’ll find your destiny. Respect your destiny and you’ll find your legacy.”
Rebecca Bardess, Twitter
“The grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”
John Muir, via Sunbeams (Page 99)
“The tragedy of old age is not that one is old, but that one is young.”
Oscar Wilde, via Sunbeams (Page 99)
“Childhood is not only the childhood we really had but also the impressions we formed of it in our adolescence and maturity. That is why childhood seems so long. Probably every period of life is multiplied by our reflections upon it in the next. The shortest is old age because we shall never be able to think back on it.”
Cesare Pavese, via Sunbeams (Page 99)
“God created man, and finding him not sufficiently alone, gave him a female companion so that he might feel his solitude more acutely.”
Paul Valéry, via Sunbeams (Page 99)
“Let us therefore set out whole-heartedly, leaving aside our many distractions and exert ourselves in this single purpose, before we realize too late the swift and unstoppable flight of time and are left behind. As each day arises, welcome it as the very best day of all, and make it your own possession. We must size what flees.”
Seneca, Moral Letters, The Daily Stoic (Page 143)
