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

There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self-esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity.

Freedom is still the most radical idea of all.

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.

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.

It would be hard to name a more certain sign of poor self-esteem than the need to perceive some other group as inferior.

The lies most devastating to our self-esteem are not so much the lies we tell as the lies we live.