From
Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love: Reflections on the
Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
“Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You
are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people
won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as
children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is
within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we
let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatically liberates others.”
“It
takes courage...to endure the sharp pains of self discovery rather
than choose to take the dull pain of unconsciousness that would last
the rest of our lives.”
“We
ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, handsome, talented
and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
“You
may believe that you are responsible 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 exercise choice.
What you do comes from what you think. ”
“In
the absence of love, we began slowly but surely to fall apart.”
“...available
people are the ones who are dangerous, because they confront us with
the possibility of real intimacy.”
“Do
what you love.
Do
what makes your heart sing.
And
NEVER do it for the money,
Go
to work to spread joy.”
“Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?”
“When
infants aren't held, they can become sick, even die. It's universally
accepted that children need love, but at what age are people supposed
to stop needing it? We never do. We need love in order to live
happily, as much as we need oxygen in order to live at all.”
“I
am a glorious child of God. I am joyful, serene, positive, and
loving.”
“May
my heart be your shelter, and my arms be your home.”
“...a
miracles is a reasonable thing to ask for.”
“We're
hallucinating. And that's what this world is: a mass hallucination,
where fear seems more real than love. Fear is an illusion. Our
craziness, paranoia, anxiety and trauma are literally all imagined.”
“Love
in your mind produces love in your life. This is the meaning of
Heaven. Fear in your mind produces fear in your life. This is the
meaning of hell.”
“Third-level,
life-long relationships are generally few because “their existence
implies that those involved have reached a stage simultaneously in
which the teaching-learning balance is actually perfect.” That
doesn’t mean, however, that we necessarily recognize our
third-level assignments; in fact, generally we don’t. We may even
feel hostility toward these particular people. Someone with whom we
have a lifetime’s worth of lessons to learn is someone whose
presence in our lives forces us to grow. Sometimes it represents
someone with whom we participate lovingly all our lives, and
sometimes it represents someone who we experience as a thorn in our
side for years, or even forever. Just because someone has a lot to
teach us, doesn’t mean we like them. People who have the most to
teach us are often the ones who reflect back to us the limits to our
own capacity to love, those who consciously or unconsciously
challenge our fearful positions. They show us our walls. Our walls
are our wounds—the places where we feel we can’t love any more,
can’t connect any more deeply, can’t forgive past a certain
point. We are in each other’s lives in order to help us see where
we most need healing, and in order to help us heal.”
“Our
self-perception determines our behavior. If we think we’re small,
limited, inadequate creatures, then we tend to behave that way, and
the energy we radiate reflects those thoughts no matter what we do.
If we think we’re magnificent creatures with an infinite abundance
of love and power to give, then we tend to behave that way. Once
again, the energy around us reflects our state of awareness.”
“In
asking for miracles, we are seeking a practical goal: a return to
inner peace. We’re not asking for something outside us to change,
but for something inside us to change. We’re looking for a softer
orientation to life.”
“Dear
God, I surrender this relationship to you,” means, “Dear God, let
me see this person through your eyes.” In accepting the Atonement,
we are asking to see as God sees, think as God thinks, love as God
loves. We are asking for help in seeing someone’s innocence.”
“Love
is the essential existential fact. It is our ultimate reality and our
purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love
in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life.”
“Our
deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to
be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.”
“Thought
is Cause; experience is Effect. If you don’t like the effects in
your life, you have to change the nature of your thinking.”
