Judgment Quotes

“Whatever we judge or condemn in another is ultimately a disowned or rejected part of ourselves. When we are in the midst of projection, it appears as though we are seeing the other person, but in reality we are seeing a hidden aspect of ourselves.”
Debbie Ford, The Shadow Effect (Page 117)

Impressed?

“To be rational today, we have to do just three things: First, we must look inward. Next, we must examine ourselves critically. Finally, we must make our own decisions—uninhibited by biases or popular notions.”
Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic (Page 122)

Louise Hay Quote on Problems and How They Fix Themselves When We Fix Our Thinking

“I don’t fix problems, I fix my thinking. Then problems fix themselves.”
Louise Hay

Beyond the Quote (337/365)

Life isn’t easy—for any of us. I think we all can agree on that. If so, it can be assumed that life is hard—for all of us. Now, we can never know for sure how “hard” life is or isn’t for another person. We can only ever judge another person’s life from the outside looking in, which is an INCREDIBLY limited and superficial perspective. Of course, if someone is homeless or without basic necessities for survival, there are assumptions of “hard” that we can validly make. But, when it comes to judging the other people around us, how a person’s life appears to be and how their life actually is should never be assumed to be the same thing.

People don't think about you as much as you think.

Their words are a reflection of them; not you.

“Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Hmmm… Maybe we should reconsider?

On Being “Cool” and On Being a “Dork” and Why We Get These Ideas Backwards As A Society

For anyone that wants to go above and beyond, this article might hit better if you do the following before reading:

Make a list of the Top 3 reasons why you might consider yourself to be, “Cool”
Make a list of the Top 3 reasons why you might consider yourself to be a, “Dork”

That is all. Once you finish with those two lists, continue below. Or, if you’re in a hurry and choose not to make the lists, feel free to continue below anyway.

Beyond the Quote (232/365)

The fundamental precursor to understanding.

Look closely.

“We’re all going to make horrible choices, but that doesn’t make us horrible people. When we zoom in and look at a horrible choice in isolation, it may simply be an outlier, a lapse of judgment, because of many things. We weren’t born out of the box with the right tools to handle life’s challenges; we need to learn them, and we can’t demonize those who were never taught better ways of handling things.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 210)

“As adults, we don’t need to empathize just with those people we harm; we also need to empathize with those who harm us. That means we have to suspend judgment and focus more on understanding as much as we can.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 185)

“We judge people because it’s easier than what we should be doing: trying to understand them. When we understand, we’re less reactive and more compassionate. Trying to understand someone or something requires much more effort than judging, but it’s so much more enriching in the long run.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 163)

Humble the Poet Quote on Comparing Ourselves To Others (and Why That Can Be Dangerous)

“I was comparing myself to everyone and anyone I encountered. If I was making music and met a well-off stockbroker, my mind would ask, ‘Why aren’t you selling stocks?’ When money got better, but I met someone with a beautiful body, I’d ask, ‘Why aren’t you spending more time in the gym?’ I would identify all the gaps in my life on the basis of whomever I crossed paths with. That’s a dangerous thing because everyone we meet will always have something we don’t have.”
Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 121)

Beyond the Quote (77/365)

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who somebody else is today. As Humble mentions above, you’re going to meet people who have more money; who have more beautiful bodies; who are more popular; who are more intelligent than you. What you can’t do when you meet them is compare where you are on your journey to where they are on their journey.

“Sometimes when things feel too heavy, I ask myself, ‘Will this matter in three hundred years?’ and I think about the fact that no one I know will be around then—none of their judgments, opinions, debts, or drudges—and that I should enjoy this journey while I’m still healthy enough to do so. In three hundred years it won’t matter that I wasn’t invited to this or that event or included on this or that list or was able to connect with this or that person. It won’t matter that I showed up wearing a mustard stain on my outfit or that I didn’t proofread my text message before I hit ‘send.’ Figuring out what will matter in three hundred years will result in a much shorter list—almost next to nothing.” ~ Humble the Poet, Things No One Else Can Teach Us (Page 37)

Richard Carlson Quote on Judging and Criticizing Other People

“When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person; it merely says something about our own need to be critical.”
Richard Carlson

Beyond the Quote (25/365)

Not only does criticizing and judging other people say something about our own need to be critical, but it acts as a mirror that reveals far more about our own character than it ever does about the person being targeted. In other words, what we’re ACTUALLY doing when we’re talking about someone else is, ironically, talking solely about ourselves. Think about it.