Consciousness and Self-Knowledge

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.

Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems—but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems incredible.

My mistakes are my life.

There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.

The fact is, it seems, that the most you can hope is to be a little less, in the end, the creature you were in the beginning, and the middle.

Many individuals have, like uncut diamonds, shining qualities beneath a rough exterior.

The mind ought sometimes to be diverted, that it may return the better to thinking.

Value is not intrinsic; it is not in things. It is within us; it is the way in which man reacts to the conditions of his environment.

Character and personal force are the only investments that are worth anything.

We understand why children are afraid of the darkness, but why are men afraid of the light?

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

Without self-confidence we are as babes in the cradles. And how can we generate this imponderable quality, which is yet so invaluable most quickly? By thinking that other people are inferior to oneself.

To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you somebody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

Our bodies are our gardens... our wills are gardeners.

While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside us.

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

Every man, as to character, is the creature of the age in which he lives. Very few are able to raise themselves above the ideas of their times.

In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; try to imitate it, and your faults will drop off like dead leaves when their time comes.

Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.

Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.