Nathaniel Branden Quotes

A woman in love will do almost anything for a man, except give up the desire to improve him.

To exist without purpose is to be at the mercy of the chance encounter, the chance invitation, the chance phone call, the chance event- always being controlled by forces external to oneself.

The greatest barrier to achievement and success is not lack of talent or ability but rather the feeling that achievement and success, above a certain level, are outside our self-concept-our image of who we are and what is appropriate to us.

To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the prerogative of mindlessness, but the exact opposite: It is the reward of self-esteem.

The reputation you have with yourself - your self-esteem - is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.

In the whole history of capitalism, no one has been able to establish a coercive monopoly by means of competition in a free market...Every single coercive monopoly that exists or ever has existed...was created and made possible only by an act of government...which granted special privileges (not obtainable in a free market) to a man or a group of men, and forbade all others to enter that particular field.

Force, governmental coercion, is the instrument by which the ethics of altruism - the belief that the individual exists to serve others - is translated into political reality.

Be careful what you say to your children. They may agree with you.

Living consciously reflects the conviction that sight is preferable to blindness; that respecting the facts of reality is more satisfying than denying them; that evasion does not make the unreal real or the real unreal; that it is better to correct your mistakes that to pretend they do not exist; and that the more conscious you are of facts bearing on your life and goals, the more wisely and effectively you can act.

Your life is important. Fight for it. Honour your highest potentials.

How do we keep our inner fire alive? Two things, at minimum, are needed: an ability to appreciate the positives in our life – and a commitment to action. Every day, it's important to ask and answer these questions: ‘What's good in my life?’ and ‘What needs to be done?

High self esteem people can surely be knocked down by an excess of troubles, but they are quickerto pick themselves up again.

Anyone who engages in the practice of psychotherapy confronts every day the devastation wrought by the teachings of religion.

The highest compliment one can be paid by another human being is to be told: 'Because of what you are, you are essential to my happiness.'

A depression is a large-scale decline in production and trade...there is nothing in the nature of a free-market economy to cause such an event.

Fear and pain should be treated as signals not to close our eyes but to open them wider.

Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations.

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

If my aim is to prove I am 'enough,' the project goes on to infinity-because the battle was already lost on the day I conceded the issue was debatable.

Self-acceptance is my refusal to be in an adversarial relationship to myself.

The higher our self-esteem, the stronger the drive to express ourselves, reflecting the sense of richness within. The lower our self-esteem, the more urgent the need to "prove" ourselves or to forget ourselves by living mechanically and unconsciously.

In a world in which the total of human knowledge is doubling about every ten years, our security can rest only on our ability to learn

We tend to feel most comfortable, "most at home", with people whose self esteem level resembles our own.

Most of the time, I regard the judgment of people as a waste of time. I regard the judgment of behavior as imperative.

What is guilt? It is moral self-reproach-I did wrong when it was possible to have done otherwise.

Self-respecting men and women think about the consequences of their actions-and are willing to take responsibility for them.

The real basic power of an individual isn't what he or she knows; it's the ability to think and learn and face new challenges.

Suffering is just about the easiest of all human activities; being happy is just about the hardest. And happiness requires, not surrender to guilt, but emancipation from guilt.

A well-developed sense of self is a necessary if not sufficient condition of your well-being. Its presence does not guarantee fulfillment, but its absence guarantees some measure of anxiety, frustration, or despair.

Every day, it's important to ask and answer these questions: "What's good in my life?" and "What needs to be done?"

I believe that earning your living doing something you enjoy is one of the very best ways to nourish yourself. But even if you are employed at something that is not your ideal work, it is important to find ways to take as much pleasure in it as possible. Living in the present moment can make ordinary activities more interesting and joyful; you may be surprised, if you only look, at what you will find. If you try to stay connected with why you are doing what you are doing, for example, then even the parts of your life that aren't especially interesting can become more meaningful.

It is painful to face the self we know we have never had the integrity to honor and assert.

An emotion is both a mental and a physical event.

The world belongs to those who persevere.

Sometimes the subconscious mind manifests a wisdom several steps or even years ahead of the conscious mind, and has its own way of leading us toward our destiny.

The first love affair you must consummate is the love affair with yourself. Only then are you ready for a romantic relationship.

If you bring five percent more awareness to your work tomorrow, or to your most important relationship, what might you do differently? Are you willing to find out?

Self-esteem is not a luxury; it is a profound spiritual need.

Persons of high self-esteem are not driven to make themselves superior to others; they do not seek to prove their value by measuring themselves against a comparative standard. Their joy is being who they are, not in being better than someone else.

For children mastery entails struggle. This means they must be permitted to struggle. If parents inappropriately step in to "help"-out of impatience or solicitude-they sabotage important learning. Among other things, the child is unlikely to discover the advantages of perseverance and self-discipline.

If you are terrified of making mistakes, you will be reluctant to acknowledge them when you do make them-and therefore you will not correct them.

Where we see self esteem, we see self acceptance. High self esteem individual tend to avoid falling into an adversarial relationship with themselves.

It's not that achievements prove our worth but rather that the process of achieving is the means by which we develop our effectiveness, our competence at living.

Integrity means congruence. Words and behavior match.

Some people stand and move as if they have no right to the space they occupy. They wonder why others often fail to treat them with respect-not realizing that they have signaled others that it is not necessary to treat them with respect.

One of the hardest expressions of self-assertiveness is challenging your limiting beliefs.

For the rational, psychologically healthy man, the desire for pleasure is the desire to celebrate his control over reality. For the neurotic, the desire for pleasure is the desire to escape from reality.

We are anxious when there is a dissonance between our "knowledge" and the perceivable facts. Since our "knowledge" is not to be doubted or questioned, it is the facts that have to be altered.