Quotes from book

The Power of Now

“The reason why you don't put your hand in the fire is not because of fear, it's because you know you'll get burned. You don't need fear to avoid an unnecessary danger, just a minimum of intelligence and common sense.”

“I cannot live with myself any longer.” This was the thought that kept repeating itself in my mind. Then suddenly I became aware of what a peculiar thought it was. “Am I one or two? If I cannot live with myself, there must be two of me: the ‘I’ and the ‘self’ that ‘I’ cannot live with.”

“Every outer purpose is doomed to “fail” sooner or later, simply because it is subject to the law of impermanence of all things.”

“If there is no joy, ease, or lightness in what you are doing, it does not necessarily mean that you need to change what you are doing. It may be sufficient to change the how. “How” is always more important than “what.” See if you can give much more attention to the doing than to the result that you want to achieve through it.”

“To be free of time is to be free of the psychological need of past for your identity and future for your fulfillment.”

“You are here to enable the divine purpose of the universe to unfold. That is how important you are!”

“Where there is anger there is always pain underneath.”

“Pleasure is always derived from something outside you, whereas joy arises from within.”

“Ask yourself what “problem” you have right now, not next year, tomorrow, or five minutes from now. What is wrong with this moment?”

“The future is usually imagined as either better or worse than the present. If the imagined future is better, it gives you hope or pleasurable anticipation. If it is worse, it creates anxiety. Both are illusory.”