#esp

Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! ↗

— Elif Shafak

#thankfulness #troubles #life

There is something infantile in the presumption that somebody else (parents in the case of children, God in the case of adults) has a responsibility to give your life meaning and point. [...] Somebody else must be responsible for my well-being, and somebody else must be to blame if I am hurt. Is it a similar infantilism that really lies behind the 'need' for a God? ↗

— Richard Dawkins

#life #religion #responsibility #life

I remember in treatment, Mr. Shaw told me that the alcohol and drugs never were my problem. He said the alcohol and drugs were my solution and that was my problem. And he was right. ↗

— Ryan Winfield

#hope #inspirational #life-lessons #inspirational

In the end, those who demean others only disrespect themselves. ↗

— D.B. Harrop

#life-lessons #respecting-others #respecting-yourself #thoughts-on-life #life

I drink to the general joy o’ the whole table." Macbeth ↗

— William Shakespeare

#joy #life #party #shakespeare #toast

Many times when we help we do not really serve. . . . Serving is also different from fixing. One of the pioneers of the Human Potential Movement, Abraham Maslow, said, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.' Seeing yourself as a fixer may cause you to see brokenness everywhere, to sit in judgment of life itself. When we fix others, we may not see their hidden wholeness or trust the integrity of the life in them. Fixers trust their own expertise. When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. Others may then be able to see their wholeness for themselves for the first time.

— Rachel Naomi Remen

#humility #respect #service #life

By this time I was no longer very much terrified or very miserable. I had, as it were, passed the limit of terror and despair. I felt now that my life was practically lost, and that persuasion made me capable of daring anything ↗

— H.G. Wells

#terror #life

First of all, you have to keep unmasking the world about you for what it is: manipulative, controlling, power-hungry, and, in the long run, destructive. The world tells you many lies about who you are, and you simply have to be realistic enough to remind yourself of this. Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: 'These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God's eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting belief. ↗

— Henri J.M. Nouwen

#god-s-love #life

Have a big enough heart to love unconditionally, and a broad enough mind to embrace the differences that make each of us unique. ↗

— D.B. Harrop

#life-lessons #life-philosophy #love #respect-yourself #respecting-others

Being stubborn won't make you fluent. Practicing will! The more mistakes you make, the more you'll learn not to. ↗

— Thanhha Lai

#classic #hope #hope-and-despair #insideoutandbackagain #learning