Inspiration Quote by Pema Chodron — Inspiring Words on Life, Love & Wisdom

“If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.”

“My experience with forgiveness is that it sort of comes spontaneously at a certain point and to try to force it it's not really forgiveness. It's Buddhist philosophy or something spiritual jargon that you're trying to live up to but you're just using it against yourself as a reason why you're not okay.”

“In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel’s it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human…we really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience. It goes against the grain to stay present. These are the times when only gentleness and a sense of humor can give us the strength to settle down…so whenever we wander off, we gently encourage ourselves to “stay” and settle down. Are we experiencing restlessness? Stay! Are fear and loathing out of control? Stay! Aching knees and throbbing back? Stay! What’s for lunch? Stay! I can’t stand this another minute! Stay!”

“The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.”

“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”

“The secret of joy in work is contained in one word excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it.”

“Don't settle for a relationship that won't let you be yourself.”

“All I can say about life is, Oh God, enjoy it!”

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.”

“Good instincts usually tell you what to do long before your head has figured it out.”

“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”