Pause

and

Reflect
Inspiring Insights
for the
Weary, Frustrated, Bewildered,
Curious and Somewhat Skeptical

COMPILED AND EDITED BY

ANITA BERGEN
 ©1999 Anita Bergen
New World Publishing
Acworth, Georgia, USA

All rights reserved. No part of this publication

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval sys-
tem, or transmitted, in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
or otherwise, without permission in writing
from the publisher. Permission to use individ-
ual selections should be obtained from the
original publisher or copyright holder.

ISBN# 0-943477-24-7
 Contents

Faith 11
Stillness 18
Silence 23
Solitude 34
Challenges 53
Take Action 62
Perseverance 83
Gratitude 90
Intuition 98
Thoughts and Beliefs 101
Affirmations 110
Special thanks and appreciation go to:

My family—for their encouragement

and understanding,

Robert B. James—who sees only the

best in everyone, for his re-assuring
spirit and infectious laugh.

All those whose works are included in

this collection—your thoughts have
touched my soul and pointed the way,
and
John Harricharan—who unfailingly of-
fered inspiration, encouragement and
support—your faith and vision could al-
ways see around corners.
 For Scott and his big brother—

This book is dedicated with love,

respect and gratitude.
 PREFACE

To know the road ahead,

ask those coming back.
— Chinese Proverb

Mother Nature continually demonstrates

that an organism’s survival clearly depends on its
ability to adapt and adjust to the changing condi-
tions of its environment. ‘The Survival of the Fit-
test’—those who have mastered the art of adapta-
tion—is the primary law of the jungle. And in this
day and age, we are well aware that it is, literally, a
jungle out there! As we approach a new millennium,
the changes in our lives and environment continue
to appear at an ever-increasing speed. We are called
upon to adjust, adapt, accept and modify ourselves
more frequently and with greater speed than ever
before in the history of humankind. It’s no small
wonder that, at times, we may find ourselves un-
able to cope—totally overwhelmed by change—
incapable of adjusting.
As you may have observed, our journey
through life may not always be a comfortable one.
Along our path, there may have been times when
we experienced the threat of the loss of our liveli-
hood, our health or, worse yet, the ones we hold
most dear. After relatively few encounters with ‘re-
ality’, we may find ourselves experiencing alternat-
ing cycles of frustration and confusion, perhaps,
even progressing through stages of disappointment,
despair, or skepticism.
At times we feel haunted by burning ques-
tions such as: “Why does life always seem so diffi-
cult? Does every day have to be such an uphill
struggle?” Following lengthy consideration, we are
faced with this simple truth: In life, there really is no
security. Everything is subject to change, and
change—regardless of its inconvenience or discom-
fort—is inevitable.
As we are inclined to become quite cozy in
our preferred habits, some find it more comfortable
to resist change. Yet, despite the pain and discom-
fort it creates, change forces us to stretch and grow
far beyond the limits of our comfort zone. A pain-
ful procedure this growth process—one that leaves
us never the same. All of this stretching and grow-
ing are outward signs that change is taking place
within—a cleverly disguised internal metamorpho-
sis of sorts—more evolutionary than revolutionary
in nature.
Eventually, however, we become aware of
a single, consoling detail—the fact that our own
struggle, while extremely personal, is not at all
unique. We, alone, have not been singled out. There
were others who traveled similar paths, doing battle
with many of the same dragons. A few of these trav-
elers were fortunate; they found a way to perse-
vere. Some managed to survive and, in the end,
gained extensive insight, which allowed them to
overcome crippling obstacles. No matter how over-
whelming our problems may appear or how fran-
tic our desperation to resolve them, rest assured that
someone else has trekked this same path before.
Personally speaking, it has long been a
source of great comfort to stumble upon the inspir-
ing reflections of someone who has endured, sur-
vived or, perhaps, even conquered a common chal-
lenge. What a fantastic find—a kindred spirit—
someone who’s been there, done that, or better yet,
survived, even prospered and somehow managed
to put it all down in writing, exclusively for us!
Why, this is like discovering a lost part of our soul.
And to top it off, they have presented us with a
precious prize—the gift of their wisdom and expe-
rience. What better legacy could one desire?
While it offers us tremendous comfort, it is
somewhat of an over-simplification to assume that
merely reading about someone else’s experiences
will solve our own problems. Of course, there is
much more to it than that. We grow to learn that
most of our problems stem from our deep-seated
thoughts and beliefs. Setting this situation right of-
ten requires considerable self-examination followed
by an equal amount of corrective action. The chal-
lenges, however, never cease to appear; they sim-
ply show up in different forms. Nevertheless, over
time, we learn to develop greater patience, toler-
ance and stronger spiritual muscles.
Plainly speaking, we don’t need to ‘re-in-
vent the wheel.’ In order to find a bit of solace while
working toward the solution, it helps to reflect on
someone else’s experience. Following this, we
merely need to ask for help from a higher source
and to wait in quiet expectation, pausing silently
to listen for the reply.
Taking some time to pause is extremely
important. When I was offered the opportunity to
review the manuscript of John Harricharan’s mar-
velous book, The Power Pause, I was completely
overwhelmed by its contents. It is a profound tale
of one man’s personal search for solutions to life’s
difficult problems. Ultimately, he learns that much
of the solution lies in taking time to pause—in
breaking away from the problem.
The elegance and simplicity of this story
utterly amazed me. It was John’s reassuring and
thought-provoking message that motivated me to
begin work on this collection of spiritual, inspira-
tional and motivational quotations. For, in the midst
of all our troubles, we need to take time to pause
and also to reflect. There is enormous healing power
in allowing ourselves to break away. As we take
time to pause and reflect, we may discover that the
solutions are no farther than a whisper.
There are times during our most difficult
personal conflicts and tragedies when life seems to
lose all meaning. Often, we lose our way when we
most need to hear the few inspiring words that will
arouse us to go on. This collection of quotations is
gathered from the great spiritual teachers of all re-
ligious traditions, ancient and modern, both East-
ern and Western, playwrights, poets, authors,
philosophers, psychologists, athletes, entertainers
and heads of state, both past and present.
It is my sincere hope that these selections
may serve one purpose: to inspire and renew your
spirit, to give you the courage and confidence you
need, to furnish some light and insight on the para-
dox that we experience as life.

Anita Bergen
Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose
wisely.
— Karen Kaiser Clark
 Faith

I f it can be verified, we don’t need

faith... . Faith is for that which
lies on the other side of reason. Faith
is what makes life bearable, with all
its tragedies and ambiguities and sud-
den, startling joys.
— Madeleine L’Engle

11
 Faith

Listen to what you know, not what you

fear.
— Richard Bach

Faith . . . . is nothing at all tangible. It

is simply believing God; and, like sight,
it is nothing apart from its object. You
might as well shut your eyes and look
inside, and see whether you have sight,
as to look inside to discover whether
you have faith.
— Hannah Whitall Smith

Faith is believing in things when com-

mon sense tells you not to.
— George Seaton

12
 Faith

What I admire in Columbus is not his

having discovered a world but his hav-
ing gone to search for it on the faith of
an opinion.
— A. Robert Turgot

And I said to the man who stood at the

gate of the year, “Give me a light that I
may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied, “Go out into the dark-
ness and put your hand into the hand
of God. That shall be to you better than
light and safer than a known way.”
— Louise Haskins

Trust in God. She will provide.

— Emmeline Pankhurst

13
 Faith

Faith makes: the uplook good, the out-

look bright, the future glorious.
— Anonymous

Attempt something so impossible that

unless God is in it, it is doomed to fail-
ure.
— John Haggai

Faith makes all things possible . . . love

makes all things easy.
— D.L. Moody

The first duty of man is that of subdu-

ing fear.
— Thomas Carlyle

14
 Faith

I believe . . . that living on the edge,

living in and through your fear, is the
summit of life, and that people who
refuse to take that dare condemn them-
selves to a life of living death.
— John H. Johnson

I know the path: it is strait and nar-

row.
It is like the edge of a sword. I rejoice
to walk on it. I weep when I slip. God’s
word is: “He who strives never per-
ishes.” I have implicit faith in that
promise. Though, therefore, from my
weakness I fail a thousand times, I shall
not lose faith.
— Mahatma Gandhi

Our faith comes in moments; our vices

are habitual.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

15
 Faith

There is not enough darkness in all the

universe to put out the light of a single
candle.
— Anonymous

Faith is not being sure. It is not being

sure, but betting with your last cent.
— Mary Jean Irion

The only way to meet affliction is to

pass through it solemnly, slowly, with
humility and faith, as the Israelites
passed through the sea. Then its very
waves of misery will divide, and be-
come to us a wall, on the right side and
on the left, until the gulf narrows be-
fore our eyes, and we land safe on the
opposite shore.
— Dinah Maria Mulock

16
 Faith

Another Day

It’s night again and daylight’s gone,

All covered up with Earth,
As death of dreams of yesterday
Precede the dawning birth
Of newfound life and newfelt hope,
And newly-opened eyes,
To once again continue on
The search for living’s prize.
— Gary Lawley

17
 Stillness

Y ou do not need to leave your

room. Remain sitting at your
table and listen. Do not even
listen, simply wait. Do not even
wait, be quite still and solitary. The
world will freely offer itself to you
to be unmasked, it has no choice, it
will roll in ecstasy at your feet.
— Franz Kafka

18
 Stillness

Teach us to care and not to care.

Teach us to sit still.
— T. S. Eliot

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or

frightened but go on in fortune or mis-
fortune at their own private pace, like
a clock during a thunderstorm.
— Robert Louis Stevenson

To have a quiet mind is to possess one’s

mind wholly; to have a calm spirit is to
possess one’s self.
— Hamilton Mabie

The greatest revelation is stillness.

— Lao-tse

19
 Stillness

The more faithfully you listen to the

voice within you, the better you will
hear what is sounding outside. And
only he who listens can speak.
— Dag Hammerskjöld

Jesus can expound nothing until we get

through all the noisy questions of the
head and are alone with him.
— Oswald Chambers

We stand, every day and every night,

in the presence of a power so incompa-
rable as to make the senses reel. And
yet, happily, this power—the intelli-
gence behind all the marvels of the sum-
mer sky—is a benevolent one. The man
who pays attention will hear, deep
within his soul, a quiet and friendly
voice saying: “This and so much more
also, is yours to share.”
— Vernon B. Harris

20
 Stillness

There is nobody else like you. The more

you can quiet your own thoughts, fears,
doubts, and suspicions, the more will
be revealed to you from the higher
realms of imagination, intuition, and
inspiration.
— Kenneth Wydro

Let us then labour for an inward still-

ness,
An inward stillness and an inward
healing,
That perfect silence where the lips and
heart are still,
And we no longer entertain our own
imperfect thought and vain opinions,
But God above speaks in us,
And we wait in singleness of heart,
That we may know His will,
And in the silence of our spirit
That we may do His will,
And do that only...
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

21
 Stillness

It is not necessary to go off on a tour of

great cathedrals in order to find the
Deity. Look within. You have to sit still
to do it.
— Albert Schweitzer

Be still, and know that I am God.

— Psalm 46:10

Joy [my wife] tells me that once, years

ago, she was haunted one morning by a
feeling that God wanted something of her,
a persistent pressure like the nag of a
neglected duty. And till midmorning she
kept on wondering what it was. But the
moment she stopped worrying, the an-
swer came through as plain as a spoken
voice. It was “I don’t want you to do any-
thing. I want to give you something,” and
immediately her heart was peace and
delight.
— C. S. Lewis

22
 Silence

S ilence is when the wholeness of

man.
God embraces the wholeness of

— Fr. Peter Ball CGA

23
 Silence

Folks who think they must always

speak the truth overlook another good
choice . . . silence.
— C. Hull

We listen too much to the telephone and

we listen too little to nature. The wind
is one of my sounds. A lonely sound,
perhaps, but soothing. Everybody
should have his personal sounds to lis-
ten for—sounds that will make him ex-
hilarated and alive, or quiet and calm
... . As a matter of fact, one of the great-
est sounds of them all—and to me it is
a sound—is utter, complete silence.
— Andre Kostelanetz

24
 Silence

The right word may be effective, but

no word was ever as effective as a
rightly timed pause.
— Mark Twain

Under all speech that is good for any-

thing there lies a silence that is better.
Silence is deep as Eternity; speech is
shallow as Time.
— Thomas Carlyle

A wise old owl sat on an oak;

The more he saw the less he spoke;
The less he spoke the more he heard;
Why aren’t we like that wise old bird?
— Edward H. Richards

25
 Silence

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.

— Charles De Gaulle

All the masters tell us that the reality

of life—which our noisy waking con-
sciousness prevents us from hearing—
speaks to us chiefly in silence.
— Karlfried Graf Dürckheim

The quieter you become, the more you

can hear.
— Ram Dass

O golden Silence, bid our souls be still,

And on the foolish fretting of our care
Lay thy soft touch of healing unaware.
— Julia Dorr

26
 Silence

There is hardly ever a complete silence

in our soul. God is whispering to us well
nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds
of the world die out in the soul, or sink
low, then we hear these whisperings of
God. He is always whispering to us, only
we do not always hear, because of the
noise, hurry, and distraction which life
causes as it rushes on.
— Frederick William Faber

Practice silence and you will acquire

silent knowledge. In the silent knowl-
edge is a computing system that is far
more precise and far more accurate
and far more powerful than anything
that is contained in the boundaries of
rational thought.
— Deepak Chopra

27
 Silence

Even a fool who keeps silent is consid-

ered wise...
— Proverbs 17:28

There is something greater than what

the mouth utters. Silence illuminates
our souls, whispers to our hearts, and
brings them together.
— Kahlil Gibran

What a strange power there is in si-

lence! How many resolutions are
formed, how many sublime conquests
effected, during that pause when lips
are closed and the soul secretly feels the
eye of her Maker upon her! They are
the strong ones who know how to keep
silence when it is a pain and grief unto
them, and who give time to their own
souls to wax strong against temptation.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

28
 Silence

Silence is unceasing eloquence. It is the

best language.
— Ramana Maharshi

Silence does not depend on being alone.

Whether you are in a streetcar, or in a
church, teaching a class, or working as
a typist, you can still be immersed in
the Silence of God. If you are immersed
in this silence, the little things you do
—scrub floors, wash carrots, work on a
farm or in an office—will be a thunder
that spans the divide between sun and
moon.
— Catherine De Hueck Doherty

You will find that deep place of silence

right in your room, your garden, or
even your bathtub.
— Elisabeth Kübler Ross

29
 Silence

Silence is the great teacher, and to learn

its lessons you must pay attention to
it. There is no substitute for the creative
inspiration, knowledge, and stability
that comes from knowing how to con-
tact your core of inner silence.
— Deepak Chopra

You can nurture silence in your noisy

heart if you value it, cherish it, and are
eager to nourish it.
— Wayne Oates

The highest of all human experiences

will be ours when we retire into the
Great Empire of Silence and meet with
the Eternal Spirit.
— Robert Merrill Bartlett

30
 Silence

Silence is precious, for it is of God. In

silence all God’s acts are done; in silence
alone can his voice be heard and his
word be spoken.
— Mother Mary Madelena

Silence is a friend who will never be-

tray.
— Confucius

We need to find God, and he cannot be

found in noise and restlessness. God is
the friend of silence. See how nature—
trees, flowers, grass—grow in silence;
see the stars, the moon and sun, how
they move in Silence... . The more we
receive in silent prayer, the more we
can give in our active life. We need si-
lence to be able to touch souls.
— Mother Teresa

31
 Silence

. . . that in this profound silence of the

whole soul, we may hearken to the in-
effable voice of the Divine Teacher. We
must listen with an attentive ear; for
it is a still small voice.
— Guyon Fenelon

Only in the oasis of silence can we drink

deeply from our inner cup of wisdom.
— Sue Patton Thoele

Silence is the ultimate weapon of power;

it is also one of the hardest arguments
to dispute.
— Anonymous

32
 Silence

… the universe gives to those who plug

in. Mediocrity is self-inflicted and ge-
nius is self- bestowed. We should culti-
vate the silence, and when we are alone,
the universe will talk to us in flashes of
inspiration.
— Eric Butterworth

33
 Solitude

W hen you have closed your

doors, and darkened your
room, remember never to say that
you are alone, for you are not alone;
God is within, and your genius is
within—and what need have they of
light to see what you are doing?
— Epictetus

34
 Solitude

Be able to be alone. Lose not the ad-

vantage of solitude.
— Sir Thomas Browne

When we cannot bear to be alone, it

means we do not properly value the
only companion we will have from
birth till death—ourselves.
— Eda LeShan

There are many people who fear soli-

tude, confusing it no doubt with
lonliness. But in solitude, as nowhere
else, there always is, or there may be
divine companionship.
— Archibald Rutledge

35
 Solitude

Unfortunately the world today does not

seem to understand, in either man or
woman, the need to be alone. Anything
else will be accepted as a better excuse.
If one sets time aside for a shopping
expedition, the time is accepted as in-
violable; but if one says, “I cannot come
because it is my hour to be alone,” one
is considered rude, egotistical, or
strange.
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh

All man’s miseries derive from not be-

ing able to sit quiet in a room alone.
— Blaise Pascal

The power to stand alone is worth ac-

quiring at the expense of much sorrow-
ful solitude.
— George Bernard Shaw

36
 Solitude

Solitude is wondrous because of what

it contains, not what it lacks. Solitude
is a place of stillness and joy that is
found in the heart and once found, be-
comes all-encompassing. It is a window
from the soul that looks upon every-
thing and sees unity. Because it resides
in our hearts, and not simply in cir-
cumstances, solitude need never be de-
layed until a more convenient time. We
can, and probably should, schedule
moments in which to practice solitude.
But our lives inevitably conspire
against us. Eventually, we learn to
quickly find that place of quietness
within us, regardless of the events swirl-
ing around us.
— Hugh Prather

What a lovely surprise to discover how

un-lonely being alone can be.
— Ellen Burstyn

37
 Solitude

What is necessary, after all, is only this:

solitude, vast inner solitude. To walk
inside yourself and meet no one for
hours—that is what you must be able
to attain.
— Rainer Maria Rilke

It is easy in the world to live after the

world’s opinions; it is easy in solitude
to live after your own; but the great
man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the inde-
pendence of solitude.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Solitude is the nurse of enthusiasm; en-

thusiasm is the true part of genius.
— Isaac D’Israeli

38
 Solitude

Because solitude is a presence, not an

absence, it is already here, already a
potential. To find it, we must merely
give it our full attention. We must
watch where we place our interest and
attention, not where we place our bod-
ies.
— Hugh Prather

Whether for reasons of preparation,

study, creation, penitence, self-exami-
nation, reflection, purification, or
prayer—solitude is the most fundamen-
tal of all the spiritual disciplines, and
we must return to it again and again
if we hope to hear the soft voice of in-
spiration, if we want to live fully real-
ized lives.
— Dale Salwak

39
 Solitude

Within you there is a stillness and a

sanctuary to which you can retreat at
any time and be yourself.
— Hermann Hesse

When I need solitude, I turn off the

phone and fax and sit until my breath
comes slow and gentle, and I am able
to enter into the sanctuary that always
awaits me at the center of my being.
— Sam Keen

The best remedy for those who are

afraid, lonely, or unhappy is to go out-
side, somewhere where they can be
quite alone with the heavens, nature,
and God.
— Anne Frank

40
 Solitude

I, a city dweller, have a summer place

on a cedar-crested bluff overlooking a
lovely bay down by the sea. The salt
breezes off the mighty ocean sweep
cares away; the soft sunlight falling on
the grass teaches me the quiet repose
of earth; the unhurried sounds of the
natural world, so different in quality
from strident city noises, quiet me as a
mother soothes her troubled child; and
at night when the stars come out, blos-
soming one by one in the infinite mead-
ows of heaven, and a hush falls over
the land and sea, I can hear the friendly
voice of Mother Nature, which is the
voice of God, saying: “My child, this is
life. Take time to live it.
— Norman Vincent Peale

Without great solitude no serious work

is possible.
— Pablo Picasso

41
 Solitude

I simply remind myself that within

every person lies a place of quietness
and peace exactly like mine. In fact,
they are the same place. Perhaps culti-
vating an awareness of the stillness we
all share reveals the basic nature of
solitude better than anything else: Our
small, unconnected thoughts are very
busy, but when we are still, we know
love.
— Hugh Prather

In solitude we may find a new begin-

ning, an opportunity to break old hab-
its. In solitude, we may find increased
sensitivity, compassion, and empathy.
In solitude, we may find the truth of
ourselves, restore our dulled senses, and
clarify and reorder our priorities.
Above all, in solitude, we may find God,
and come to hear that voice.
— Dale Salwak

42
 Solitude

Solitude can become your most mean-

ingful companion and it can assist you
in being a more giving person in your
spiritual partnerships. Rather than
regarding your partner’s need for time
alone as a threat, see it as a time of
renewal that you celebrate. Make ev-
ery effort to help each other have that
space. Treat that space as sacred.
— Wayne Dyer

Talent is nurtured in solitude; charac-

ter is formed on the stormy billows of
the world.
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Obviously, if we are to experience in-

sights from our consciousness, we need
to be able to give ourselves to solitude.
— Rollo May

43
 Solitude

Why do you suppose those moments of

solitude offer us such relief? ... Because
they give us a chance to simply be our-
selves, to enjoy what and where we are,
to savor just being. Alone with God, we
feel no need to perform, to do.
— Frank Bianco

I find it wholesome to be alone the

greater part of the time. To be in the
company, even the best, is soon weari-
some and dissipating. I love to be alone.
I never found the companion that was
so companionable as solitude.
— Henry David Thoreau

Settle yourself in solitude, and you will

come upon Him in yourself.
— St. Teresa

44
 Solitude

The most valuable thing we can do for

the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest,
wander, live in the changing light of a
room, not try to be or do anything
whatever.
— May Sarton

At one time or another all of us, I be-

lieve, hear the call to solitude. It can
come upon us at any moment, under
any circumstances—during times of
good health or the trials of infirmity,
after abandonment or the death of a
loved one, in childhood or later in life,
in crowds, voluntarily or imposed.
Sometimes, it sneaks up on us, much like
the persistent ache of a hunger that no
sustenance from our fellow human be-
ings can satisfy. Or it beckons as a still,
quiet voice from within—the voice of
God.
— Dale Salwak

45
 Solitude

[In seclusion] the troubled waters of the

mind grow still and clear, and much
that is hidden away and all that clouds
it floats to the surface and can be
skimmed away; and after a time one
reaches a state of peace that is unthought
of in the ordinary world.
— Patrick Leigh Fermor

For solitude is an attitude of gratitude.

It is a state of mind, a state of heart, a
whole universe unto itself. The early
contemplatives in all traditions knew
this secret of happiness
— Francine Schiff

Solitude is when you discover God first-

hand. You don’t need an intermediary.
— Buckminster Fuller

46
 Solitude

In what concerns you much, do not

think that you have companions: know
that you are alone in the world.
— Henry David Thoreau

To restore color to our faded personali-

ties and vitality to our languid minds,
we must learn to do things, to think
things, to become someone, alone. If we
are to gain from the world of experi-
ence and of people what that world has
to offer us, we must frequently with-
draw from it and find new experiences
within ourselves. We need that confi-
dence in ourselves and strength from
some Power greater than ourselves
which can come to us only from occa-
sional solitude.
— Mary Ellen Chase

47
 Solitude

If you wish to grow in your spiritual

life, you must not allow yourself to be
caught up in the workings of the world;
you must find time alone, away from
the noise and confusion, away from the
allure of power and wealth.
— Thomas à Kempis

Devote six years to your work but in

the seventh go into solitude or among
strangers so that your friends, by re-
membering what you were, do not pre-
vent you from being what you have
become.
— Leo Szilard

Solitude—walking alone, doing things

alone—is the most blessed thing in the
world. The mind relaxes and thoughts
begin to flow and I think that I am be-
ginning to find myself a little bit.
— Helen Hayes

48
 Solitude

By all means use sometimes to be alone.

Salute thyself: see what thy soul doth
wear... .
— George Herbert

I find there is a quality to being alone

that is incredibly precious. Life rushes
back into the void, richer, more vivid,
fuller than before. It is as if in parting
one did actually lose an arm. And then,
like a starfish, one grows it anew; one
is whole again, complete and round—
more whole, even, than before, when the
other people had pieces of one.
— Anne Morrow Lindbergh

The most important education you get

is your own—the one you learn in soli-
tude.
— Erica Jong

49
 Solitude

Only those who learn how to live with

solitude can come to know themselves
and life. I go out there and walk and
look at the trees and sky. I listen. I sit
on a rock or a stump and say to my-
self, “Who are you, Sandburg? Where
have you been, and where are you go-
ing?”
— Carl Sandburg

Solitude is simply spending time con-

necting with ourselves. Solitude means
we do it alone, spending time in reflec-
tion—perhaps talking to ourselves,
writing a journal, meditating. When we
practice solitude regularly over a pe-
riod of time, we develop a deep and
abiding connection with our self.
— Jan Johnson Drantell

50
 Solitude

Being alone gives us the space to listen

again to our inner rhythms, to embrace
our inner selves.
— Patricia Hoolihan

Whatever those unacquainted with it

may think, solitude and utter lonliness
are far from being devoid of charm.
Words cannot convey the almost volup-
tuous sweetness of the feelings experi-
enced.... Mind and senses develop their
sensibility in this contemplative life
made up of continual observations and
reflections. Does one become a vision-
ary or, rather, is it not that one has
been blind until then?
— Alexandra David-Neel

In solitude one can achieve a good re-

lationship with oneself.
— May Sarton

51
 Solitude

In order to get to know yourself, a per-

son needs to be alone with his thoughts
now and then.
—Richard Triumpho

The goal of a healthy solitude is love:

love and acceptance of ourselves as we
are, and love and compassion for oth-
ers.
— Dorothy Payne

Nowadays most men live lives of noisy

desperation.
— James Thurber

The insight we gain from solitude has

very little to do with the amount of time
we spend alone. It has a lot more to do
with the quality of time we spend with
ourselves.
— Jan Johnson Drantell

52
 Challenges

O ne of the most impotant truths

we can know when facing life’s
challenges is the following: this expe-
rience came to give me soul-growth
and to bless me. If we seek to avoid
the experience, we deprive ourself of
the blessing contained therein... . If
we didn’t need the experience for our
growth, it would be unlikely to come
to us.
— Sir John Templeton

53
 Challenges

Life’s challenges are not supposed to

paralyze you, they’re supposed to help
you discover who you are.
— Bernice Johnson Reagon

I am convinced that many times, in the

course of our lives, God challenges us
with a golden opportunity, a seemingly
impossible hurdle, or a terrible tragedy
. . . and how we react—or fail to react—
determines the course of our future,
almost as if we were involved in some
sort of heavenly chess game . . . with
our destiny always in the balance.
— Og Mandino

54
 Challenges

You came not to live in the valley but

to walk through the valley, and there
is light at both ends.
— Eric Butterworth

When you get into a tight place and

everything goes against you, till it
seems as though you could not hang on
a minute longer, never give up then,
for that is just the place and time that
the tide will turn.
— Harriet Beecher Stowe

Challenges make you discover things

about yourself that you never really
knew. They’re what make the instru-
ment stretch—what make you go be-
yond the norm.
— Cicely Tyson

55
 Challenges

God gave burdens, also shoulders.

— Yiddish Proverb

I am not afraid of storms for I am learn-

ing how to sail my ship.
— Louisa May Alcott

Accept the challenges so that you may

feel the exhilaration of victory.
— Anonymous

The lowest ebb is the turn of the tide.

— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

56
 Challenges

I have always grown from my problems

and challenges, from the things that
don’t work out, that’s when I’ve really
learned.
— Carol Burnett

One of the nicest things about problems

is that a good many of them do not ex-
ist except in our imaginations.
— Steve Allen

When things are bad we take comfort

in the thought that they could always
be worse. And when they are, we find
hope in the thought that things are so
bad they have to get better.
— Malcolm S. Forbes

57
 Challenges

Some people are strengthened by fail-

ure, and others are defeated by it. Who
survives and who does not has little to
do with money or advantage; it de-
pends more on inner strength of char-
acter, a primitive toughness that pro-
tects the self and will not let mere ex-
ternal events destroy it. This kernel of
survival is a precious possession, and
discovering it is one of the very real
rewards of failure.
— Linda Gottlieb, Carole Hyatt

There is no such thing as a problem

without a gift for you in its hands. You
seek problems because you need their
gifts.
— Richard Bach

58
 Challenges

It is not God who sends us dark times,

but we ourselves who bring them to us,
for purposes even we do not know.
Whenever there are shadows in front
of us, it must be that we have our backs
to the light. To make the shadows dis-
appear, we have but to turn and face
the light.
— John Harricharan

Circumstances do not make the man; it

reveals him to himself... The soul... at-
tracts those combinations of conditions
which reveal itself, which are the re-
flections of its own purity and impu-
rity, its strength and weakness. Men
do not attract that which they want,
but that which they are.
— James Allen

59
 Challenges

Challenge

Sometimes we have to walk

‘close to the edge’.
Sometimes our dreams demand it.
Whether that walk speaks of
courage or foolishness —
Something inside
Just commands it!

Living in fear is
NOT where I am.
There’s so much to do
In this life.

I’ll stand to be counted

Among those who care;
And not consciously figure the price.
— Jeni Prigmore

60
 Challenges

Life is difficult.

This is a great truth, one of the great-

est truths. It is a great truth because
once we truly see this truth, we tran-
scend it. Once we truly know that life
is difficult—once we truly understand
and accept it—then life is no longer dif-
ficult. Because once it is accepted, the
fact that life is difficult no longer mat-
ters.
— M. Scott Peck

I gain strength, courage and confidence

by every experience in which I must
stop and look fear in the face... . I say
to myself, I’ve lived through this and
can take the next thing that comes
along... . We must do the things we think
we cannot do.
— Eleanor Roosevelt

61
 Take Action

H aving the world’s best idea

will do you no good unless
you act on it. People who want milk
shouldn’t sit on a stool in the middle
of a field in hopes that a cow will
back up to them.
— Curtis Grant

62
 Take Action

Just go out there and do what you’ve

got to do.
— Martina Navratilova

You must get involved to have an im-

pact. No one is impressed with the won-
lost record of the referee.
— John H. Holcomb

The best way to make your dreams

come true is to wake up.
— Paul Valéry

63
 Take Action

Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, per-

son to person.
— Mother Teresa

Everything looks impossible for the

people who never try anything.
— Jean Louis Etienne

The secret of getting action:

What the mind attends to, it considers.

What it does not attend to, it dismisses.
What the mind attends to continually,
it believes.
And what the mind believes, it even-
tually does.
— Earl Nightingale

64
 Take Action

The best place to find a good helping

hand is at the end of your arm.
— Martin Vanbee

I learned this, that if you advance con-

fidently in the direction of your
dreams, and endeavor to live the life
which you have imagined, you will
meet with a success unexpected in com-
mon hours. You will put some things
behind, you will pass an invisible
boundary, new, universal, and more
liberal laws will begin to establish them-
selves around and within you; or the
old laws will be expanded, and inter-
preted in your favor in a more liberal
sense, and you will live with the license
of a higher order of beings.
— Henry David Thoreau

65
 Take Action

Go put your creed into your deed.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

We’re not in this to test the waters; we

are in this to make waves.
— Anonymous

Action is the antidote to despair.

— Joan Baez

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets

of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted
land, or opened a new heaven to the
human spirit.
— Helen Keller

66
 Take Action

It is never too late to be what you might

have been.
— George Eliot

I say if it’s going to be done, let’s do it.

Let’s not put it in the hands of fate. Let’s
not put it in the hands of someone who
doesn’t know me. I know me best. Then
take a breath and go ahead.
— Anita Baker

I do not know anyone who has got to

the top without hard work. That is the
recipe. It will not always get you to the
top, but should get you pretty near.
— Margaret Thatcher

67
 Take Action

No one can arrive from being talented

alone. God gives talent, work trans-
forms talent into genius.
— Anna Pavlova

You can’t fill your belly painting pic-

tures of bread.
— Chinese Proverb

Cause something to happen.

— Bear Bryant

Actions are our epochs.

— Lord Byron

68
 Take Action

Many of us have the right aim in life.

We just never get around to pulling the
trigger.
— Anonymous

People may doubt what you say, but

they will always believe what you do.
— Anonymous

Call on God, but row away from the

rocks.
— Amish Proverb

There are risks and costs to a program

of action. But they are far less than the
long range risks and costs of comfort-
able inaction.
— John F. Kennedy

69
 Take Action

The keen Spirit

Seizes the prompt occasion, makes the
thought
Start into instant action, and at once
Plans and performs, resolves and ex-
ecutes.
— Hannah More

The doer is better than the critic, and

the man who strives stands far above
the man who stands aloof.
— Theodore Roosevelt

Should you desire the great tranquil-

lity, prepare to sweat white beads.
— Hakuin

70
 Take Action

We have to understand that the world

can only be grasped by action, not by
contemplation. The hand is more im-
portant than the eye... . The hand is the
cutting edge of the mind.
— Jacob Bronowski

Nothing is worth doing unless the con-

sequences may be serious.
— George Bernard Shaw

The best part of one’s life is the work-

ing part, the creative part. Believe me,
I love to succeed . . . However, the real
spiritual and emotional excitement is
in the doing.
— Garson Kanin

71
 Take Action

Our grand business is not to see what

lies dimly at a distance, but to do what
lies clearly at hand.
— Thomas Carlyle

Good actions ennoble us, and we are the

sons of our own deeds.
— Miguel de Cervantes

Give me the ready hand rather than

the ready tongue.
— Giuseppe Garibaldi

Action to be effective must be directed

to clearly conceived ends.
— Jawaharlal Nehru

72
 Take Action

Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in

the doing.
— William Shakespeare

We are face to face with our destiny

and we must meet it with a high and
resolute courage. For us is the life of
action, of strenuous performance of
duty; let us live in the harness, striv-
ing mightily; let us rather run the risk
of wearing out than rusting out.
— Theodore Roosevelt

Get up and do something useful, the

work is part of the koan!
— Hakuin

73
 Take Action

It is from numberless diverse acts of

courage and belief that human history
is shaped. Each time a man stands up
for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot
of others, or strikes out against injus-
tice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring
those ripples build a current which can
sweep down the mightiest walls of op-
pression and resistance.
— Robert F. Kennedy

Think like a man of action and act like

a man of thought.
— Henri Bergson

Thought is the blossom; language the

bud; action the fruit behind it.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

74
 Take Action

I do not believe in a fate that falls on

men however they act; but I do believe
in a fate that falls on them unless they
act.
— Gilbert K. Chesterton

It is by acts and not by ideas that people

live.
— Anatole France

I find the great thing in this world is

not so much where we stand, as in what
direction we are moving: To reach the
port of heaven, we must sail sometimes
with the wind and sometimes against
it—but we must sail, and not drift, nor
lie at anchor.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes

75
 Take Action

The best way out is always through.

— Robert Frost

Thought and theory must precede all

salutary action; yet action is nobler in
itself than either thought or theory.
— William Wordsworth

Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul

even to your smallest acts. This is the
secret of success.
— Swami Sivananda

Positive anything is better than nega-

tive nothing.
— Elbert Hubbard

76
 Take Action

Action should culminate in wisdom.

— Anonymous

The great end of life is not knowledge

but action.
— Thomas Henry Huxley

We are so anxious to achieve some par-

ticular end that we never pay atten-
tion to the psycho-physical means
whereby that end is to be gained. So
far as we are concerned, any old means
is good enough. But the nature of the
universe is such that ends can never
justify the means. On the contrary, the
means always determine the end.
— Aldous Huxley

77
 Take Action

Action is the only reality; not only re-

ality but morality as well.
— Abbie Hoffman

Learning is finding out what you

already know.
Doing is demonstrating that you
know it.
Teaching is reminding others that
they know just as well as you.
You are all learners, doers, teachers.
— Richard Bach

Take time to deliberate, but when the

time for action has arrived, stop think-
ing and go in.
— Napoleon Bonaparte

78
 Take Action

Deliberation is the work of many men.

Action, of one alone.
— Charles de Gaulle

The key to whatever success I enjoy

today is: Don’t ask. Do.
— Vicki Carr

The fact is that to do anything in the

world worth doing, we must not stand
back shivering and thinking of the cold
and danger, but jump in and scramble
through as well as we can.
— Robert Cushing

You, yourself, must make the effort. The

buddhas are only teachers.
— Buddhist Proverb

79
 Take Action

God doesn’t make orange juice; God

makes oranges.
— Jesse Jackson

If faith without work is dead, willing-

ness without action is fantasy.
— Anonymous

The prayer of the chicken hawk does

not get him the chicken.
— Swahili Proverb

An ounce of action is worth a ton of

theory.
— Freidrich Engels

80
 Take Action

Life happens at the level of events, not

words.
— Alfred Adler

Dreams, visions, ideas can play signifi-

cant roles in our lives. They can entice,
entertain, or inspire us to greatness. To
bring them into reality, however, we
must act! Cowardice and lack of faith
can keep one from a chosen goal, but if
the heart is strong and brave, you can
add action to your dreams and make
them real.
— Sir John Templeton

God gives the nuts, but he does not crack

them.
— German Proverb

Ask God’s blessing on your work, but

don’t ask Him to do it for you.
— Dame Flora Robson

81
 Take Action

Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll

get run over if you just sit there.
— Will Rogers

As I grow older, I pay less attention to

what men say. I just watch what they
do.
— Andrew Carnegie

Ideas have a short shelf life—that’s why

we must act before the expiration date.
— Anonymous

You are never given a wish without

also being given the power to make it
true. You may have to work for it, how-
ever.
— Richard Bach

82
Perseverance

To strive, to seek, to find,

and not to yield.
— Alfred Lord Tennyson

83
 Perseverance

Press on: Nothing in the world can take

the place of perseverance. Talent will
not; nothing is more common than un-
successful men with talent. Genius will
not; unrewarded genius is almost a
proverb. Education alone will not; the
world is full of educated derelicts. Per-
sistence and determination alone are
omnipotent.
— Calvin Coolidge

By perseverance the snail reached the

ark.
— Charles Haddon Spurgeon

In the confrontation between the

stream and the rock, the stream always
wins—not through strength, but
through perseverance.
— Anonymous

84
 Perseverance

Keep on going and the chances are you

will stumble on something, perhaps
when you are least expecting it. I have
never heard of anyone stumbling on
something sitting down.
— Charles F. Kettering

’Tis a lesson you should heed,

Try, try again;
If at first you don’t succeed
Try, try again;
Then your courage should appear,
For, if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear;
Try, try again.
— W. E. Hickson

You may have to fight a battle more

than once to win it.
— Margaret Thatcher

85
 Perseverance

Courage and perseverance have a

magical talisman, before which difficul-
ties disappear and obstacles vanish into
thin air.
— John Quincy Adams

We conquer by continuing.
— George Matheson

Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last

key in the bunch that opens the lock.
— Anonymous

Success seems to be largely a matter of

hanging on after others have let go.
— William Feather

86
 Perseverance

The heights by great men reached

and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions
slept
Were toiling upward in the night.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I’m not there yet, but I’m closer than I

was yesterday.
— Anonymous

If we are facing in the right direction,

all we have to do is keep on walking.
— Buddhist Proverb

87
 Perseverance

As long as a person doesn’t admit he is

defeated—he’s just a little behind, and
isn’t through fighting.
— Darrell Royal

God helps those who persevere.

— Koran

Men do not fail, they stop trying.

— Elihu Root

Success consists of getting up just one

more time than you fall.
— Oliver Goldsmith

88
 Perseverance

Giving up is the ultimate tragedy.

— Robert J. Donovan

He that can’t endure the bad will not

live to see the good.
— Yiddish Proverb

He never knew when he was whipped

... so he never was.
— Louis L’Amour

The first and final thing you have to

do in this world is to last in it, and not
to be smashed by it.
— Ernest Hemingway

89
 Gratitude

G ratitude, praise and thanks-

giving activate the divine
laws of abundance. When the
universe can see we are conscious
of and grateful for what we have,
it is activated to shower us with
more.
— Iyanla Vanzant

90
 Gratitude

There is no quality I would rather have,

or be thought to have, than gratitude.
It is not only the greatest virtue; it is
the mother of all the rest.
— Cicero

When you drink the water, remember

the spring.
— Jewish Proverb

One can never pay in gratitude. One

can only pay “in kind” somewhere else
in life.
— Ann Morrow Lindbergh

91
 Gratitude

Thanksgiving is based on the premise

that living a life of appreciation and
gratefulness leads to having more to be
thankful for. We have the ability to
create blessings in our lives through the
power of our minds and the choices we
make.
— Sir John Templeton

The best way to be thankful is to use

the goods the gods provide you.
— Anthony Trollope

Thanksgiving comes to us out of the

prehistoric dimness, universal to all
ages and all faiths. At whatever straws
we must grasp, there is always a time
for gratitude and new beginnings.
— J. Robert Moskin

92
 Gratitude

Ingratitude is sooner or later fatal to

its author.
— Twi (West African) Proverb

When we learn to give thanks, we are

learning to concentrate, not on the bad
things, but on the good things in our
lives.
— Amy Vanderbilt

Whoever willingly thanks God becomes

rich himself.
— Albert Schweitzer

93
 Gratitude

Gratitude is not something monetary;

it is sustained, it is enduring. At its
foundation it is ‘remembering’ and not
a mere conservation: it must be re-
garded as a ‘wakefulness, as a watch-
fulness of the soul.’
— Gabriel Marcel

For solitude is an attitude of gratitude.

It is a state of mind, a state of heart, a
whole universe unto itself. The early
contemplatives in all traditions knew
this secret of happiness.
— Francine Schiff

Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation;

you do not find it among gross people.
— Samuel Johnson

94
 Gratitude

Be thankful for the smallest thing, and

you will be worthy to receive something
greater.
— Thomas à Kempis

I am grateful for all my problems. As

each of them was overcome, I became
stronger and more able to meet those
yet to come. I grew in all my difficul-
ties.
— J. C. Penney

When we are grateful for the blessings

we already have, our very gratitude
attracts extra good to us. Gratitude
nurtures within us a positive, joy-filled
consciousness and unifies us with life’s
flow, which gives birth to inner fulfill-
ment.
— Sir John Templeton

95
 Gratitude

Praise the bridge that carried you over.

— George Colman, The Younger

To educate yourself for the feeling of

gratitude means to take nothing for
granted, whatever it may be, but al-
ways to seek out and value the kind will
that stands behind the action.
— Albert Schweitzer

When something does not insist on be-

ing noticed, when we aren’t grabbed by
the collar or struck on the skull by a
presence or an event, we take for
granted the very things that most de-
serve our gratitude.
— Cynthia Ozick

96
 Gratitude

The virtue of gratitude . . . directly

touches the ultimate foundations of
human existence, for there is hardly
another quality of man that is so suited
to reveal the state of his inner spiritual
and moral health as his capacity to be
grateful.
— Otto Freidrich Bollnow

Gratitude originates in spiritual vital-

ity and is its expression.
— Ferdinand Ebner

97
 Intuition

I ntuition is a spiritual faculty and

does not explain, but simply points
the way.
— Florence Scovel Shinn

98
 Intuition

Heed the still, small voice that so sel-

dom leads us wrong and never into
folly.
— Madame du Deffand

Trust your hunches. They’re usually

based on facts filed away just below the
conscious level.
— Dr. Joyce Brothers

The intellect has little to do on the road

to discovery. There comes a leap in con-
sciousness, call it intuition or what you
will, and the solution comes to you and
you don’t know how or why.
— Albert Einstein

99
 Intuition

If you’re truly serious about preparing

your child for the future, don’t teach
him to subtract—teach him to deduct.
— Fran Lebowitz

Follow your instincts. That’s where true

wisdom manifests itself.
— Oprah Winfrey

… the universe gives to those who plug

in. Mediocrity is self-inflicted and ge-
nius is self-bestowed. We should culti-
vate the silence, and when we are alone,
the universe will talk to us in flashes of
inspiration.
— Eric Butterworth

100
 Thoughts
and
Beliefs

B e not afraid of life. Believe

that life is worth living, and
your belief will help create the fact.
— William James

101
 Thoughts and Beliefs

Belief consists in accepting the

affirmations of the soul, unbelief in
denying them.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are no atheists on turbulent

airplanes.
— Erica Jong

You may believe that you are respon-

sible for what you do, but not for what
you think. The truth is that you are
responsible for what you think, because
it is only at this level that you can ex-
ercise choice. What you do comes from
what you think.
— A Course in Miracles

102
 Thoughts and Beliefs

Man is what he believes.

— Anton Chekov

All that we are is the result of what we

have thought: all that we are is founded
on our thoughts and formed of our
thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with
an evil thought, pain pursues him, as
the wheel of the wagon follows the hoof
of the ox that draws it.

All that we are is the result of what we

have thought: all that we are is founded
on our thoughts and formed of our
thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with
a pure thought, happiness pursues him
like his own shadow that never leaves
him.
— The Dhammapada

103
 Thoughts and Beliefs

In your hands will be placed the exact

results of your thoughts; you will re-
ceive that which you earn, no more, no
less. Whatever your present environ-
ment may be, you will fail, remain, or
rise with your thoughts, your wisdom,
desire, as great as your dominant aspi-
ration.
— James Allen

Life does not consist mainly—or even

largely—of facts and happenings. It
consists mainly of the storm of thoughts
that are forever blowing through one’s
mind.
— Mark Twain

. . . that this world is not remotely what

it seems, that whatever we hold in our
thought comes true in our lives, that
miracles aren’t miraculous.
— Richard Bach

104
 Thoughts and Beliefs

It’s not the situation that’s causing your

stress, it’s your thoughts, and you can
change that right here and now. You
can choose to be peaceful right here and
now. Peace is a choice, and it has noth-
ing to do with what other people do or
think.
— Gerald G. Jampolsky MD

As you think you travel; and as you

love, you attract. You are today where
your thoughts have brought you; you
will be tomorrow where your thoughts
take you. You cannot escape the result
of your thoughts, but you can endure
and learn, can accept and be glad.
— James Allen

105
 Thoughts and Beliefs

The actions of men are the best in-

terpreters of their thoughts.
— John Locke

Everything that we are, everything

that we do, everything that we say is
immortal in the sense that it has its ef-
fect somewhere in the world, and that
effect in turn will have its results some-
where else, and the thing goes on in
infinite time and space. A man is what
he thinks, and every one who has in-
fluenced him—from Socrates, Plato,
and Confucius down to his parish
preacher and his nursery governess—
lives in him.
— HuShih

106
 Thoughts and Beliefs

If you wish to know what most occu-

pies a man’s thoughts, you have only
to listen to his conversation.
— Chinese Proverb

Many a time I have wanted to stop

talking and find out what I really be-
lieved.
— Walter Lippmann

Suffering is always the effect of wrong

thought in some direction. It is an in-
dication that the individual is out of
harmony with himself... . Blessedness,
not material possessions, is the measure
of right thought; wretchedness, not lack
of material possessions, is the measure
of wrong thought.
— James Allen

107
 Thoughts and Beliefs

Life is like a cash register, in that ev-

ery account, every thought, every deed,
like every sale, is registered and re-
corded.
— Fulton J. Sheen

Argue for your limitations, and sure

enough, they’re yours.
— Richard Bach

Let a man radically alter his thoughts,

and he will be astonished at the rapid
transformation it will effect in the
material conditions of his life. Men
imagine that thought can be kept se-
cret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystal-
lizes into habit, and habit solidifies into
circumstance.
— James Allen

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 Thoughts and Beliefs

Just when we think nothing is working

there is a glimmer of light. If we could
believe in our hearts that what looks
impossible can work out, we could bear
more easily with hardships. Living is
like the weather. It has its surprises, its
storms, its dry spells. But if we can hold
on, it all changes. The changes come the
way we change our minds—unexpect-
edly and sometimes for no apparent
reason. But the reason, the ‘uyelvdvi,’
real purpose is there. Every word we
speak, everything we believe, builds our
consciousness and makes us who we are.
If we expect nothing good, it will oblige
us. We are as unlimited as we say we
are, and it is in our power to make the
difference.
— Joyce Sequichie Hifler

109
 Affirmations

A ffirmation of life is the spirtual

act by which man ceases to
live unreflectively and begins to devote
himself to his life with reverence in
order to raise it to its true value.
— Albert Schweitzer

110
 Affirmations

A Quiet Place

Whenever the world seems to get the

best of me, whenever I feel it closing in
on me, I go to a quiet place that lies
somewhere in my soul. I do not reason,
analyze or think. Those will come later.
I simply go. And as a frightened child
finds comfort and strength in a loving
parent, I find my God and a band of
loving Invisibles. From this place of
power, I garner strength to stand firm
in the face of fire, to be calm in the
midst of thunder. When I emerge from
this sanctuary, the world has not
changed but I have. And in my chang-
ing a whole new world is born.
— John Harricharan

God, in His love, pours out His abun-

dant good upon me, and my life and
world show forth His perfect order.

111
 Affirmations

Opportunity is wherever I am! I am in

the flow, and every day I expect new
things to happen that will open the way
to success. I put my whole self into ev-
erything that I do and pour myself out
as a blessing wherever I go.
— Eric Butterworth

I am calm and confident in the

knowledge that God is where He is
needed, a loving, active, strengthen-
ing power.

I turn within to the limitless re-

sources of Spirit and I am filled with
light, wisdom, and peace. Success is
mine.

112
 Affirmations

Daily Prayer

Thank you, Holy Spirit within,

For encouragement and light,
For forbearance,
For the wisdom of silence,
For allowing me to see
The needs of my brothers when they
strike out,
Instead of responding with personal
pain.

Thank you,
For eyes,
Which sometimes can see Thy vision—
And ears,
Which still, on occasion,
Unmistakably recognize Thy voice.
— Jeni Prigmore

113
 Affirmations

’Tis not in seeking,

’Tis not in endless striving
Thy quest is found.
Be still and listen.
Be still, and drink the silence
Of all around.
Not for the crying,
Not for thy loud beseeching
Will peace draw near.
Rest, with palms folded,
Rest with thine eyelids fallen—
Lo, peace is here.
— Edward Rowland Sill

This is a new day and I will accept its

blessings and its challenges; I will en-
joy it and find fulfillment in it, even
though it, too, will pass.
— Eric Butterworth

114
 Affirmations

I Am One

I Am Absolute Peace, Harmony and

Fulfillment,
I can be no other for I Am One
Omnipotent, All Knowing Presence.

There is no power to oppose That I

Am,
for
I Am One,
So there can be no discord or limita-
tion.

There is nothing outside of That I

Am,
for
I Am One,
So there can be no lack.
— Robert B. James

115
 Affirmations

I Believe

I believe in an ever present,

omnipotent, omniscient
FORCE
which is constant at
all levels of expression,
known and unknown.

I believe this FORCE,

in static state is LAW,
in dynamic state is LOVE.

I believe this FORCE

transcends time,
space and magnitude.

I believe this FORCE

is known as LIFE,
at all levels, in all facets.

continued

116
 Affirmations

I believe in MYSELF
as a personalization
of FORCE,
a multidimensional,
spiritual being, with the
potential to draw on
every attribute
of FORCE.

Therefore, insofar as
I can accept it and
can embrace it,
I AM FORCE.
— Rick Prigmore

I know that the presence of God is with

me every moment of this day, and I
have no fear.

117
 Affirmations

Trusting

... I trust Thee.

Help me to trust Thee
to show me the Way.
Even an inch or a moment.
That is enough.
I cannot chart my path,
for I have not come this way before.
You, O God, have been here.
You have made the path.
Indeed, You are
the Path.

And so, in trust

I walk every step
with Thee.
— Verle Bell

118
 Affirmations

I am keenly responsive to God’s Spirit

within me. I listen for His guidance. I
behold His good at work. I am quick-
ened and healed and my life is trans-
formed.

In quietness and confidence I affirm the

drawing power of divine love as my
magnet of constantly increasing sup-
ply. Father, I thank Thee for unlimited
increase in mind, money, and affairs.

In faith, I praise and give thanks for

the good that is everywhere present.
My faith makes that good substantial
and real to me, and I rejoice in it.
— J. Sig Paulson

119
 Affirmations

A Positive Attitude

Good morning, Father-God!

Thank You for the dawn
of this new day.
Make my mind
open and receptive
to the good that
each experience,
each challenge,
holds for me.
My positive attitude
will make this day
one of accomplishment and joy.
Thank You, Father-God,
for the beginning
of a beautiful day!
— Elma N. Forshey

120
 Affirmations

I am secure in the light of God, my

mind and body are restored to
health and wholeness and I am di-
rected to my highest good.

The presence of God fills my life;

I am confident that all is well.

I am inspired to successful living by

the prospering power of God within.

I am secure in the power and love of

God. I live fully and freely, ever aware
of the constant flow of abundant good
that surrounds me.

121