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Inner Work Quotes

    “Sooner or later the outer poverty is going to disappear—we now have enough technology to make it disappear—and the real problem is going to arise. The real problem will be inner poverty. No technology can help.”

    Osho, Everyday Osho (Page 47)

      “No AI can ever replicate the feeling of July. The joy of freshly-made jam. The beauty of wildflowers climbing up your walkway. And, the way it feels when there is still so much possibility in the air. If you’ve been craving new possibility for yourself—my suggestion for you is this: Stop searching. Stop scrolling. Stop browsing. And go outside. Bring a notebook. Sit with nature. And ask yourself a simple question: What do I really want to do???“

      Ash Ambirge

        “How well we get along with ourselves depends largely on our internal leadership skills—how well we listen to our different parts, make sure they feel taken care of, and keep them from sabotaging one another. Parts often come across as absolutes when in fact they represent only one element in a complex constellation of thoughts, emotions, and sensations.”

        Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score (Page 282) | ★ Featured on this book list.

          “Writing experiments from around the world, with grade school students, nursing home residents, medical students, maximum-security prisoners, arthritis sufferers, new mothers, and rape victims, consistently show that writing about upsetting events improves physical and mental health.”

          Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score (Page 243) | ★ Featured on this book list.

            “As functioning members of society, we’re supposed to be ‘cool’ in our day-to-day interactions and subordinate our feelings to the task at hand. When we talk with someone with whom we don’t feel completely safe, our social editor jumps in on full alert and our guard is up. Writing is different. If you ask your editor to leave you alone for a while, things will come out that you had no idea were there. You are free to go into a sort of a trance state in which your pen (or keyboard) seems to channel whatever bubbles up from inside. You can connect those self-observing and narrative parts of your brain without worrying about the reception you’ll get.”

            Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score (Page 240) | ★ Featured on this book list.

              “Most of our conscious brain is dedicated to focusing on the outside world: getting along with others and making plans for the future. However, that does not help us manage ourselves. Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going on inside ourselves.”

              Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps The Score (Page 208)

                “When you see someone having something that you believe you deserve, you take a note. You ask yourself a few questions. Is it something that you really want? Perhaps that person is better suited than you are for that. Does the universe — is the universe conspiring for you to have that? Really kind of try and be honest with who you are and where you’re at in life. Once you do that, you take a deep breath and you say, ‘Their wins have nothing to do with my worthiness.’ And then you’re ready to give a note. You go on social media, and you say congratulations. Or my personal favorite, you pick up the phone, like it’s the 20th century, and you say, ‘Congratulations, kudos, you did that, Al! You go, girl!’ You do all the things. Instantly you feel like a better human being because you have actually extended grace.”

                Bevy Smith, TED Talk

                  “We can never watch the same show twice. We can never listen to the same song twice. We can never get the same piece of advice twice. Because our experiences, our tastes, our understanding of the world has changed. But, those second and third and fourth encounters–those re-introspectings–are actually where the real insights and breakthroughs can come from. That’s when we can really get it. That’s when we might really come to get ourselves in the process.”

                  Ryan Holiday

                    “The speed at which technology moves is anxiety inducing and it can set us up to think frantically, to jump from extreme to extreme. This means that the tools we use to develop our inner peace and wellbeing are more important than ever. To be able to deal with the chaos of the world, we need to consistently tend to our inner harmony. To do that, it is essential to hold our healing as a top priority.”

                    Yung Pueblo

                      “This is perhaps the essence of the meaning of these visionary experiences, as it is really the heart of Active Imagination itself: It is a way of learning from your own experience those profound truths of life that can’t be transferred from one person to another with words but can only be genuinely known through one’s own connection to the collective unconscious. In this sense, we can only learn what we already know at the unconscious level.”

                      Robert A. Johnson, Inner Work (Page 218)

                        “It is as much the ego’s duty to bring [a] sense of responsibility to the creatures of the inner world as it is for us to tend to the welfare of our fellow humans in the outside world. It is the health of our own, inner selves that is at stake.”

                        Robert A. Johnson, Inner Work (Page 190)

                          “Philosophy is the essential, centering pursuit. It challenges us. It requires work and reflection and self-criticism. It requires that we hold ourselves to certain standards and that we hold ourselves to account when we fail to. It’s the real work, not the busy work. Philosophy is what birthed you, raised you, and continues to re-make you as life goes on. Don’t let some momentum in your other pursuits fool you into thinking you no longer need it. It’s home. Make sure you’re paying the proper respects. Make sure you’re going back often, so that today’s rhythm does not become tomorrow’s rut.”

                          Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic Blog

                            “For me, the seashore is a magical place that often appears in my dreams. When I don’t know how to start my Active Imagination, I frequently go to the seashore in my mind and start walking. Inevitably something happens or someone appears, and the imagination is launched. There have been a few days when I walked and walked, and almost nothing happened; sometimes you can grow weary walking. But generally, if you go to the inner place and search, you will find someone waiting for you.”

                            Robert A. Johnson, Inner Work (Page 170)