Marianne williamson quotes

You playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so others won't feel insecure around you. As you let your own light shine, you indirectly give others permission to do the same.

We are not held back by the love we didn't receive in the past, but by the love we're not extending in the present.

Every time we're about to criticize someone for what we think they did wrong, let's first remember to thank them for the things they did right. And to mean it; to sincerely affirm them. Then, if there's still a problem that needs to be shared, it will come from a completely different energy -- and actually be heard!

We have great power to affect the attitudes and behavior of the people around us, at work and at home. We have the power to set a tone of honor, to create an energy around ourselves that says, 'I respect myself. I respect you. Let's respect each other.'

Bless more; blame less.

Darkness is merely the absence of light, and fear is merely the absence of love. If we want to be rid of fear, we cannot fight it but must replace it with love.

You don't need a new life, just a new lens through which to view the one you have.

Don't think small and expect to have a big life.

Love and fear represent two different lenses through which to view the world. Which I choose to use will determine what I think I see.

The wise person doesn't ask, "What have I achieved?" but rather, "What have I contributed?"

Sometimes when we're feeling sad, it's important just to feel the sadness. Like a snake shedding its skin, old feelings of remorse and regret and hurt and anger often have to come up in order to be released. On the other side we're a better person, capable of a happier life...who we are when we're no longer burdened by the buried feelings that weighed us down, or the self - defeating patterns that the pain produced.

Imagine the most outrageously positive possibility for your life, claim it, and consider it done.

There is, inside all our heads, the ego’s rabid attack dog. It is purely vicious toward others and toward ourselves as well. Learning to control that dog, and ultimately to end its life, is the process and purpose of enlightened relationships.

Our problem is not that we don't have power, so much as that we tend to not use the power we have.

On any given day, in any given moment, something could happen that opens up for you an entirely new path. Be still, be alert, be ready.

Forgiveness does not mean that we suppress anger; forgiveness means that we have asked for a miracle: the ability to see through mistakes that someone has made to the truth that lies in all of our hearts. Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness. Attack thoughts towards others are attack thoughts towards ourselves. The first step in forgiveness is the willingness to forgive.

You get to decide what energy you choose to download in any moment. No one but you gets to decide who you wish to be.

Once you know that every moment and every person and every situation has something to teach you, you're a student all day. You know it's the depth of your observation that is the issue - not how much the world has to show you.

Think bigger. Forget limits. Embrace the idea of endless possibility.... It will change you.

Whatever situation you're in: Send love, place it in God's hands, open your heart to everyone involved - and it will turn out miraculously.

Living meaningfully is what brings joy.

When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him, you will see yourself. As you treat him, you will treat yourself. As you think of him, you will think of yourself. Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself.

Happiness is the choice I make today. It does not rest on my circumstances, but on my frame of mind...In cultivating the habits of happiness, I attract the people and situations that match its frequency. I smile more often, give praise more often, give thanks more often, and am glad more often. For such is my choice today.

The goal of spiritual practice is full recovery, and the only thing you need to recover from is a fractured sense of self.

A queen is wise. She has earned her serenity, not having had it bestowed on her but having passer her tests. She has suffered and grown more beautiful because of it. She has proved she can hold her kingdom together. She has become its vision. She cares deeply about something bigger than herself. She rules with authentic power.

Miracles begin when we consider the possibility that there might be another way.

Each of us has a unique part to play in the healing of the world.

Often we see a couple who has separated or divorced and look with sadness at the ‘failure’ of their relationship. But if both people learned what they were meant to learn, then that relationship was a success.

I've come to trust not that events will always unfold exactly as I want, but that I will be fine either way. The challenges we face in life are always lessons that serve our soul's growth.

The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love.

We have a lot of choice about whether to interpret something as adversity or as opportunity. I see in myself the tendency at times to make situations worse than they have to be because of my catastrophic interpretation.

We cannot give what we do not have: We cannot bring peace to the world if we ourselves are not peaceful. We cannot bring love to the world if we ourselves are not loving. Our true gift to ourselves and others lies not in what we have but in who we are.

Magic happens when you tell the universe what you want it to do for you; miracles happen when you ask how you can be of service to the universe.

A miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love.

When a woman conceives her true self, a miracle occurs and life around her begins again.

The universe is wired with the electricity of God, & each of us is a lamp. It doesn't matter the size or shape of the lamp; it only matters that the lamp is plugged in. With every prayer, every thought of forgiveness, every meditation, every act of love, we plug in. The more of us who plug in, to more the darkness of the world will be cast from our midst. Today, let's all increase love's wattage!

Prepare for the new; expect the new; embrace the new. Otherwise, you'll just repeat what's old.

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.

Your future isn't programmed by your past; it's programmed by your thoughts.

Behind every dark cloud there is an every-shining sun. Just wait. In time, the cloud will pass.

What's difficult in life is to stay centered when somebody does or says something that tempts us to close our hearts because their heart was closed. That is hard. But that is also how we grow. We go through those circumstances in order to evolve into people who can hold to our loving center no matter what the world throws us.

Inner peace doesn't come from getting what we want, but from remembering who we are.

To the ego mind, surrender means giving up. To the spiritual mind, surrender means giving in and receiving.

By softening our attitudes, practicing mercy and compassion, we transform our lives by transforming other people's experience of us. Send love before you when you enter a room, and people will subconsciously feel it; they'll be prone to show greater kindness in return. That's how love makes things work better in our lives; it realigns the reactions of people and things around us.

Until we get to the point where we've had enough of things that hurt and long more than anything for a peaceful love, we are bound to take painful roads. We are destined to play out our frivolous disasters until we declare ourselves finished and done with them. How much pain do we have to suffer before we are sure we want no more? As much, it seems, as we have to until we don't.

May my heart be your shelter, and my arms be your home.

No one is any more or any less important than you are.

Forgiveness is not always easy. At times, it feels more painful than the wound we suffered, to forgive the one that inflicted it. And yet, there is no peace without forgiveness.

Consider the possibility of infinite possibility.

If we never take a risk, we'll never know the parts of ourselves that would have emerged if we had.

The more room you give yourself to express your true thoughts and feelings, the more room there is for your wisdom to emerge.

Sometimes when we don't know the answer, it's time to simply be with the question.

In any moment, in any circumstance, a miracle will occur when we align ourselves with truth.

A miracle is a shift in perception from fear to love-from a belief in what is not real, to faith in that which is. That shift in perception changes everything.

Behind every fear, there is a miracle waiting.

Whatever worked in the past, build on it; whatever didn't work in the past, break the chain that binds you to it.

Until we have met the monsters in ourselves, we keep trying to slay them in the outer world. And we find that we cannot. For all darkness in the world stems from darkness in the heart. And it is there that we must do our work.

In every moment we make a decision -- whether conscious or unconscious. Will I choose to open my heart, send love, withhold judgment and thus free myself from fear? Or will I close my heart, project fear instead of extending love, judge others, and thus bind myself to fear? The choice is mine and mine alone.

We don't reach the light through endless analysis of the dark. We reach the light by choosing the light.

There is no such thing as a faithless person; we either have faith in the power of love, or faith in the power of fear. For faith is an aspect of consciousness. Have faith in love, and fear will lose its power over you. Have faith in forgiveness, and your self-hatred will fall away. Have faith in miracles, and they will come to you.

The key to abundance is meeting limited circumstances with unlimited thoughts.

Everything we do is either an act of love or a cry for help.

Once the light of our awareness is cast on any darkness, then it cannot hide and it cannot remain. Such is the law of consciousness.

Forgiveness is the ultimate preventive medicine, as well as the greatest healer.

Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.

The way to have the life we want is to receive more deeply the life we have. Sometimes we keep our own life at arm's length, thinking we'll wait until circumstances improve before giving it all we've got. But life is just a reflection of consciousness, so it's never going to give any more to us than we give to it. Don't wait for a perfect life; breathe in the life that's already perfect.

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.

Spiritual growth involves giving up the stories of your past so the universe can write a new one.

Every act of kindness on your part is a boost to your own immune system.

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth.

It is not too late. You are not too old. You are right on time-And you are better than you know.

Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.

We do not heal the past by dwelling there. We heal the past by living in the present.

The more we allow ourselves to enjoy, the more reasons we find to be joyful.

If you know what changes a heart, you know what changes the world.

Go for greatness. Anything else is a waste of time.

Something very beautiful happens to people when their world's fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor.

I deepen my experience of God through prayer, meditation, and forgiveness.

Your life shows up for you when you show up for your life.

When we do align with it, we thrive. And when we do not, we suffer. This is not "punishment." It is merely the Law of Cause and Effect. With each thought we think, we either align with universal love, or we disconnect ourselves from it. Whichever is our choice determines whether we then feel connected to, or disconnected, from our own true Selves.

We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what's wrong in your life, or you can focus on what's right.

Speak from your mind and people will hear you with their mind. Speak from your heart and people will hear you with their heart.

Enlightenment doesn't mean we were never wounded; it means we've found a way to evolve beyond our wounds. Enlightenment isn't idealistic; it's practical. What's idealistic is thinking we can live from our wounds, stay in our weakness, and ever transform the world.

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.

Take a good look at your life right now. If you don't like something about it, close your eyes and imagine the life you want. Now allow yourself to focus your inner eye on the person you would be if you were living this preferred life. Notice the differences in how you behave and present yourself; allow yourself to spend several seconds breathing in the new image, expanding your energy into this.

Miracles arise from conviction. Be convicted about these things: Miracles can happen. Miracles do happen. Love makes them happen.

For every person who might reject you if you live your truth, there are ten others who will embrace you and welcome you home.

If you want to end darkness you cannot beat it with a baseball bat, you have to turn on a light.

Forgiveness is the key to inner peace because it is the mental technique by which our thoughts are transformed from fear to love.

No matter what the problem, a miracle can solve it. Remember to ask for one.

God is the electricity and we are the lamps.

Karma means that all actions have consequences. Grace means that in a moment of atonement -taking responsibility, making amends, asking for forgiveness - all karma is burned.

Something amazing happens when we surrender and just love. We melt into another world, a realm of power already within us. The world changes when we change. the world softens when we soften. The world loves us when we choose to love the world.

We are not here to fix, change or belittle another person. We are here to support, forgive and heal one another.

To be a princess is to play at life. To be a queen is to be a serious player...The purpose of life as a woman is to ascend to the throne and rule with heart.

The choice to follow love through to its completion is the choice to seek completion within ourselves. The point at which we shut down on others is the point at which we shut down on life. We heal as we heal others, and we heal others by extending our perceptions past their weaknesses. Until we have seen someone’s darkness, we don’t really know who that person is. Until we have forgiven someone’s darkness, we don’t really know what love is. Forgiving others is the only way to forgive ourselves, and forgiveness is our greatest need.

Envision possibility. Don't worry who else believes in it; the universe is only looking for instructions from you.

Go forth in confidence and go forth in peace. For there are angels to your left and angels to your right; angels in front of you and angels behind you; angels above you and angels below. You are loved, and you are not alone.

Change is in the air, as old patterns fall away and new energies are emerging. Consciously release what needs to be released, and welcome with a full embrace the newness you've prayed for and so richly deserve.

Always be open to new beginnings. To the universe, every moment is the start of the next big thing in your life.

Every bird that sings, sings for you. Every breeze that blows, blows for you. Every sunray shines for you. If you only knew how loved you are.

Something very beautiful happens to people when their world has fallen apart: a humility, a nobility, a higher intelligence emerges at just the point when our knees hit the floor. Perhaps, in a way, that's where humanity is now: about to discover we're not as smart as we thought we were, will be forced by life to surrender our attacks and defenses which avail us of nothing, and finally break through into the collective beauty of who we really are.

Forgiveness is the choice to see people as they are now. When we're mad at people, we're angry because of something they said or did before this moment. By letting go of the past, we make room for miracles to replace our grievances.

Don't be concerned that things appear to be falling apart: this has to happen in order for something new and wonderful to emerge.

Our triumph over sorrow is not that we can avoid it but that we can endure it. And therein lies our hope; that in spirit we might become bigger than the problems we face.

Let's forgive the past and who we were then. Let's embrace the present and who we're capable of becoming. Let's surrender the future and watch miracles unfold.

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.

Ego says, "Once everything falls into place, I'll feel peace". Spirit says, "Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place".

Success means we go to sleep at night knowing that our talents and ablities were used in a way that served others.

People hear you on the level you speak to them from. Speak from your heart, and they will hear with theirs.

Your character defects are not where you're bad, but where you're wounded. But no matter who or what causes the wound, it's yours now and you're responsible for it.

You have tremendous gifts to give; God sent them with you when you came to this earth. And while you might forget them, or doubt they exist, God does not forget and He will show them to you. As soon as your gifts are dedicated to His work, they will blossom. Chains that might have held you back for years will dissolve. And you will feel free. You will learn that your spirit is bigger than your circumstances, as soon as you put your spirit first.

‎"Nothing binds you except your thoughts; nothing limits you except your fear; and nothing controls you except your beliefs.

The meaningful question is never what we did yesterday, but what we have learned from it and are doing today.

We need less posturing and more genuine charisma. Charisma was originally a religious term, meaning "of the spirit" or "inspired." It's about letting God's light shine through us. It's about a sparkle in people that money can't buy. It's an invisible energy with visible effects. To let go, to just love, is not to fade into the wallpaper. Quite the contrary, it's when we truly become bright. We're letting our own light shine.

No matter what is happening in our lives, we choose how we wish to think about it. And the greatest gift we give ourselves is often our willingness to change our minds. Despite what might seem to be the saddest and most intractable situation, we have the power to believe that something else is possible, that things can change, that a miracle can happen.

Children are happy because they don't have a file in their minds called "All the Things That Could Go Wrong.

We're all assigned a piece of the garden, a corner of the universe that is ours to transform. Our corner of the universe is our own life - our relationships, our homes, our work, our current circumstances -. exactly as they are. Every situation we find ourselves in is an opportunity, perfectly planned by the Holy Spirit, to teach love instead of fear.

In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.

In each of us, there lies a divine connection to a power more powerful than hate or violence. Today is the day to attune to that power and use it on behalf of peace on earth.

...you're on this earth with a divine purpose: to rise to the level of your highest creative possibility, expressing all that you are intellectually, emotionally, psychologically, and physically in order to make the universe a more beautiful place.

We aren't bodies at all; who we are is the love inside us, and it is that love alone that determines our value. When our minds are filled with light, there is no room for darkness.

Within the miraculous brew of universal creativity , all you desire already exists. Spend five minutes each morning with your eyes closed, living in that dimension. Allow images to unfold without censor. Feel yourself living the most magnificent life -- a life of joy, creativity and love -- as you grow inwardly into the person you need to be in order to manifest it effortlessly.

Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.

The challenges we face in life are always lessons that serve our soul's growth.