We have the need to be accepted and to be loved by others, but we cannot accept and love ourselves. The more self-love we have, the less we will experience self-abuse. Self-abuse comes from self-rejection, and self-rejection comes from having an image of what it means to be perfect and never measuring up to that ideal. Our image of perfection is the reason we reject ourselves the way we are, and why we don't accept others the way they are.
Miguel Angel RuizThe only way to store information is by agreement. The belief system is like a Book of Law that rules our mind. Our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive. Humans punish themselves endlessly for not being what they believe they should be. We have the need to be accepted and to be loved by others, but we cannot accept and love ourselves.
Miguel Angel RuizLife is very, very simple and easy to understand, but we complicate it with the beliefs and ideas that we create.
Miguel Angel RuizRelationship is an art. The dream that two people create is more difficult to master than one.
Miguel Angel RuizPersonal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about me.
Miguel Angel RuizThe only way to change the world is to change the main character of our story - the one we believe that we are. If we change the main character, if we respect ourselves, then just like magic, all the secondary characters will change. We can only give what we have, and if we don't respect ourselves, how can we respect others?
Miguel Angel Ruiz