My Favorite Inspirational Quotes

In nearly every class I teach, I share an inspirational quote ... something that has meaning to me and my life, that I know might resonate with others. I have learned much from these little snippets of wisdom. They have helped me shift perspective when I've felt lost, opened my eyes when I've felt blind, and allowed me to feel love just when I needed it the most.

I hope that this small collection of some of my favorite quotes inspire you as they have me.

"Enlightenment is the "quiet acceptance of what is". I believe the truly enlightened beings are those who refuse to allow themselves to be distressed over things that simply are the way they are." ~ Wayne Dyer
 

"The goal is not to tie ourselves in knots ... we're already tied in knots.

The aim is to untie the knots in our hearts. The aim is to unite with the ultimate, loving, and peaceful power in the universe." ~ Max Strom

"I have learnt silence from the talkative,

toleration from the intolerant,

and kindness from the unkind;

yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers."  ~ Kahlil Gibran

"Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.

If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your

deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as

beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings." ~ Rumi

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." ~ Mother Teresa

 

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field.

I'll meet you there." ~ Rumi 

"Every moment

I shape my destiny with a chisel -

I am the carpenter of my own soul." ~ Rumi

"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway." ~ Mother Teresa 

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

"Lord, make me an instrument of your Peace,

Where there is hatred let me Love,

Where there is injury, pardon,

Where there is doubt, faith,

Where there is despair, hope,

Where there is darkness, light,

And where there is sadness, joy."

A Buddhist Prayer before yoga or meditation practice

"By the power and truth of this practice:

May all beings have happiness and the cause of happiness

May all beings be free from sorrow and the causes of sorrow

May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrow less

And may all live in equanimity without too much attachment and too much aversion

And live believing in the equality of all that lives." 

“Peaceful is the one who is not concerned with having more or less.”  ~ Rumi

"Intuitive Knowing is when you have

come to the edge of all the Light

you consciously know and are about

to step off into the darkness of

the unknown; it is knowing in your

Heart that one of two things will

happen, there will be something

solid to stand on or you will be

taught to fly."  ~Stephen Levine 

"That which is false troubles the heart, but truth brings joyous tranquility." ~ Rumi

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it." ~ Mark Twain

"People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar." ~Thich Nhat Hanh 

"We're fascinated by the words--but where we meet is in the silence behind them."~ Ram Dass 
 

"You must give up the life you planned in order to have the life that is waiting for you." ~ Joseph Campbell

"We have never arrived. We are in a constant state of becoming." ~Bob Dylan

“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the Universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” ~ Albert Einstein

"Your task is not to seek for love,

but merely to seek and find all the barriers

within yourself that you have built against it."

~ Rumi 

 
“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path.” ~ Paulo Coelho

“Pooh, how do you spell love?” asked Piglet.

“You don’t spell it, you feel it.” said Pooh.

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” 

~ Dr. Seuss 

‎"Learn to watch your drama unfold, while at the same time knowing that you are more than your drama." ~ Ram Dass

"Friend . . . are you ready? Do you understand that your body is but a moment? That nothing you touch with your hands can you bring with you? So then what do you truly own? Whatever is truly yours you are free to bring, and nothing more. So learn, dear friend, that all you possess is in your heart and nowhere else." ~ Max Strom

"Although I may try to describe Love, 

When I experience it, I am speechless." ~ 

Rumi

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”
~ Bob Moawad