„Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.“
Eckhart Tolle198
German writer 1948Related quotes
„Accept — then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it. Always work with it, not against it. Make it your friend and ally, not your enemy. This will miraculously transform your whole life.“
— Eckhart Tolle German writer 1948
Source: The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
„The present moment
contains past and future.
The secret of transformation,
is in the way we handle this very moment.“
— Thich Nhat Hanh Religious leader and peace activist 1926
Understanding Our Mind (2006) Parallax Press ISBN 978-81-7223-796-7
„This is a place accepted, not chosen.“
— Czeslaw Milosz Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator 1911 - 2004
"It Was Winter" (1964), trans. Czesław Miłosz, Robert Hass, Robert Pinsky and Renata Gorczynski
Bobo's Metamorphosis (1965)
Context: We are a poor people, much afflicted.
We camped under various stars,
Where you dip water with a cup from a muddy river
And slice your bread with a pocketknife.
This is a place accepted, not chosen.
„It is one thing, then, to say, "The Bible contains the religion revealed by God," and quite another to say, "Whatever is contained in the Bible is religion, and was revealed by God." If the latter be accepted, metaphor and allegory become literal statements and the errors and absurdities of bibliolatry follow.“
— Lionel Trilling American academic 1905 - 1975
Source: Matthew Arnold (1939), Ch. 11: Joy Whose Grounds Are True
„Whatever you want, at any moment, someone else is getting it. Whatever you have, someone else is longing for.“
— Laura Lippman Detective fiction writer 1959
Source: The Most Dangerous Thing
„Happiness is closer to the experience of acceptance and contentment than it is to pleasure. True happiness exists as the spacious and compassionate heart's willingness to feel whatever is present.“
— Noah Levine American Buddhist teacher 1971
Against the Stream (2007)
„I will not accept boundaries; appearances cannot contain me“
— Nikos Kazantzakis, book The Saviors of God
The Saviors of God (1923)
Context: I will not accept boundaries; appearances cannot contain me; I choke! To bleed in this agony, and to live it profoundly, is the second duty.
The mind is patient and adjusts itself, it likes to play; but the heart grows savage and will not condescend to play; it stifles and rushes to tear apart the nets of necessity.
„Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.“
— Zhuangzi classic Chinese philosopher -369 - -286 BC
Source: Nan-Hua-Ch'en-Ching, or, the Treatise of the transcendent master from Nan-Hua
„The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. (21)“
— Thich Nhat Hanh Religious leader and peace activist 1926
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
„You live between two Masses. You exist in the present moment.“
— Catherine Doherty Religious order founder; Servant of God 1896 - 1985
Madonna House Staff Letter #140
„The moment when you really experience that you have created yourself being whatever way you are, at that same moment you will never have to be that way again.“
— Werner Erhard Critical Thinker and Author 1935
Interview with William Warren Bartley, cited in — [Bartley, William Warren, w:William Warren Bartley, Werner Erhard: the Transformation of a Man: the Founding of est, Clarkson N. Potter, Inc., 1978, New York, 252, 0-517-53502-5]
„Even when we think we are in the present moment we are in very subtle ways looking over its shoulder anticipating what's coming next. We're always solving a problem. And it's possible to simply drop your problem, if only for a moment, and enjoy whatever is true of your life in the present… This is not a matter of new information or more information. It requires a change in attitude. It requires a change in the attentiveness you pay to your experience in the present moment.“
— Sam Harris American author, philosopher and neuroscientist 1967
Sam Harris, "Death and the Present Moment", speech at the Global Atheist Convention (April 2012) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITTxTCz4Ums&t=24m27s
2010s
„But I accept whatever He gives and I give whatever He takes“
— Matka Tereza Roman Catholic saint of Albanian origin 1910 - 1997
On her dark night of spiritual desolation amidst devotion, in a letter to Bishop Lawrence Trevor Picachy (September 1962), as quoted in Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light (2009) by Brian Kolodiejchuk, 2009, p. 238 http://books.google.com/books?id=XDILw3N_jGoC&pg=PA238&dq=%22I+accept+whatever+He+gives+and+I+give+whatever+He+takes%22&hl=en&ei=3L9kTd-KEISBlAffqen5Bg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22I%20accept%20whatever%20He%20gives%20and%20I%20give%20whatever%20He%20takes%22&f=false
1960s
Context: Often I wonder what does really God get from me in this state — no faith, no love — not even in feelings. The other day I can't tell you how bad I felt. — There was a moment when I nearly refused to accept. — Deliberately I took the Rosary and very slowly and without even meditating or thinking – I said it slowly and calmly. The moment passed — but the darkness is so dark, and the pain is so painful. – But I accept whatever He gives and I give whatever He takes. People say they are drawn closer to God — seeing my strong faith. – is this not deceiving people? Every time I have wanted to tell the truth – “that I have no faith” – the words just do not come – my mouth remains closed. – And yet I still keep on smiling at God and all.
„You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with the best you have to give.“
— Eleanor Roosevelt American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States 1884 - 1962
„Every moment you steal from the present is a moment you've lost forever. There is only now.“
— Jeanette Winterson, book The Passion
Variant: every moment you steal from the present is a moment you have lost for ever. There's only now.
Source: The Passion
„Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.“
— Patañjali ancient Indian scholar(s) of grammar and linguistics, of yoga, of medical treatises -200 - -150 BC
Patanjali, in "Being Consciousness Bliss: A Seeker's Guide", p. 205.
„Let me say it again:
the present moment is all you ever have.“
— Eckhart Tolle German writer 1948
Variant: Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have.
Source: A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose