“Love is what we were born with.  Fear is what we learned here.  The spiritual journey is the relinquishment, or the unlearning, of fear and the acceptance of love back into our heart.”  Marianne Williamson

“Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”  I Corinthians 12: 4-7 (NIV)

“To love yourself right now, just as you are, is to give yourself to heaven.  Don’t wait until you die.  If you wait, you die now.  If you love, you live now.”  Alan Cohen

“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”  Buddha

“As various forms of human-made madness continue to swirl around us — occasionally catching us up in the swirl — it’s important to be intentional about seeking sources of inner peace.  Only when we’re at peace inwardly can we bring some measure of peace to a violent world.”  Parker Palmer

“By negative understanding I mean a state of mind that looks at a problem, or at a mountain, without verbalizing it: it just looks.  It is a state of mind that doesn’t interpret, censor, or choose, but is aware without choice.”  Krishnamurti

“When we ignore our painful feelings or push them away, they impede our flowing aliveness and obscure the pure awareness that is our source.  By not listening to our inner life, we cut ourselves off from reality.  What remains is a diminished self, an unreal other.”  Tara Brach

“When we’re speeding along, we violate our own natural rhythms in a way that prevents us from listening to our inner life and being in a resonant field with others.  We get tight.  We get small.  We override our capacity to appreciate beauty, to celebrate, to serve from the heart.”  Tara Brach