“Don’t set your mind on things you don’t possess as if they were yours, but count the blessings you actually possess and think how much you would desire them if they weren’t already yours. But watch yourself, that you don’t value these things to the point of being troubled if you should lose them.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, The Daily Stoic (Page 149)
33 Quotes on Healing and How There’s No Such Thing As “Healed”
Excerpt: Just as pain is an ongoing, inevitable part of life—so, too, should healing be. Read our 33 quotes on healing and adopt an ongoing practice.
Read More »33 Quotes on Healing and How There’s No Such Thing As “Healed”
“Our ambition should not be to win, but to play with our full effort. Our intention is not to be thanked or recognized, but to help and to do what we think is right. Our focus is not on what happens to us but on how we respond. In this, we will always find contentment and resilience.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 148)
“I believe that the shadow is one of the greatest gifts available to us. Carl Jung called it a ‘sparring partner’; it is the opponent within us that exposes our flaws and sharpens our skills. It is the teacher, the trainer, and the guide that supports us in uncovering our true magnificence. The shadow is not a problem to be solved or an enemy to be conquered but a fertile field to be cultivated. When we dig our hands into its rich soil, we will discover the potent seeds of the people we most desire to be.”
Debbie Ford, The Shadow Effect (Page 5)
“Although ignoring or repressing our dark side is the norm, the sobering truth is that running from the shadow only intensifies its power. Denying it only leads to more pain, suffering, regret, and resignation. If we fail to take responsibility and extract the wisdom that has been hidden beneath the surface of our conscious minds, the shadow will take charge.”
Debbie Ford, The Shadow Effect (Page 2)
“It is one of the great troubles of life that we cannot have any unmixed emotions. There is always something in our enemy that we like, and something in our sweetheart that we dislike.”
William Butler Yeats, via Sunbeams (Page 102)
“Although the world is very full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”
Helen Keller, via Sunbeams (Page 102)
“You can hold back from the suffering of the world, you have free permission to do so, and it is in accordance with your nature, but perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could have avoided.”
Franz Kafka, via Sunbeams (Page 102)
“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)
“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)