Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

I know that if we allow ourselves into the gridlock of tribalism, we're in trouble.

First we forgive ourselves, then we forgive others and life itself.

I accept that life is uncertain--that the goal is not to become more certain about anything but to relax more into the mystery of not knowing what will come next. And then, miracle of miracles, out there in the deep and uncertain water, I come into a peaceful knowing--a faithful wisdom that surpasses control and certainty.

But grief is also a tonic. It is a healing elixir, made of tears that lubricate the heart.

We'll never change everyone's minds. We're not supposed to.

It is very, very rare where a slight that turns into a grudge that is in need of forgiveness is only about one of the parties. In most of our day-to-day situations - with colleagues at work, with your partner, with your children, with your friends - most of the time, if you really got down with each other and put aside your pride and your defensiveness and you had those hard conversations, you'd find a place where both people had something to ask for forgiveness from the other and to forgive the other.

If I pull from places of faith, joy and gratitude, then I have the wind of creativity behind me. And, my work in the world is much more effective.

It's like you trade the virility of the body for the agility of the spirirt.

Anyone whose lifestyle may frighten you or whose point of view makes smoke come out of your ears.

I'm very much a family person, and that's always my first priority.

I do not wish upon anyone a descent into hell. But if your life has to be turned inside out in order for you to know yourself--if the shadow of a shaman crosses your path and you turn and follow it down--I pray that you use its force wisely. I hope that you take the ultimate responsibility for your actions and that you consecrate any destruction to the rebuilding of your higher self and a more radiant life.

Life is like a school; one can learn, one can graduate, one can skip a grade or stay behind.

No one has the answer; only you know the way home.

If spirituality is not religion or cynicism or sentimentality or narcissism, then what is it?... we can confidently say... that spirituality is fearlessness. It is a way of looking boldly at this life we have been given, here, now, on earth, as this human being.

Not only must we follow the golden thread towards spiritual freedom, but we must also unravel the garden-variety twine that is wrapped tightly around our hearts and minds.

As humans try to evolve out of greed, let's put aside some wild places, protected lands, protected farms, things like that, since we may not evolve fast enough to protect nature.

It is such a teaching in itself for us, all of us, every moment when we're with anyone.

My years as a mystic have made me question almost all my assumptions. They've made me a proud I-don't-know-it-all.

Spirituality is a brave search for the truth about existence, fearlessly peering into the mysterious nature of life.

First we love within, then we love the world.

We can be the one to take the first courageous step toward the other and to do something or to try to do something other than rejection or attack. We can do this with our siblings and our mates and our friends and our colleagues. We can do this with the disconnection and the discord all around us.

There is no one alive who has not wanted to go back to sleep.

See what's happening to our sisters around the world. I'm very interested in the protection of women globally.

I pull from a place within me that has ultimate faith in the meaningfulness and beauty of human life.

When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead.

When women hear each other's stories, told from the heart, it gives us inspiration to keep on going.

Grief is good...it is a sign of how well we have loved.

We think that maybe feminism isn't appropriate anymore, since Western women have really made enormous strides. But check out the rest of the world if you'd like to not be able to sleep tonight.

If we want liberation, we must rewrite the Sleeping Beauty myth. No one is coming and no one else is to blame.

Diversity is good. We need each other's ideas.

I have noticed if I pull from fear or despair about the state of the world, I get tired, ineffective, afraid and sometimes mean-spirited.

I believe that educating people to awaken into full consciousness is the most important thing we can do.

I actually don't think we're more divided than we were. I think it's more evident. It's more evident because of the internet.

To be human is to be lost in the woods.

Love is the secret you unmask yourself to find; it is the foundation of the spiritual life, the destination where all roads of the journey lead.

Our errors and failings are chinks in the heart's armor through which our true colors can shine.

Recognition of the harm that patriarchy has caused to people and the planet does not mean that men are wrong and women are right; rather it is a call for new organizational forms and for relishing gender differences within a context of equality.

The soul is the river of energy that animates who we are.