In a culture of technique, we often confuse authority with power, but the two are not the same. Power works from the outside in, but authority works from the inside out. . . . I am painfully aware of the times in my own teaching when I lose touch with my inner teacher and therefore with my own authority. In those times I try to gain power by barricading myself behind the podium and my status while wielding the threat of grades. . . . Authority comes as I reclaim my identity and integrity, remembering my selfhood and my sense of vocation.
Parker J. PalmerThe highest form of love is the love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference.
Parker J. PalmerCommunity doesn't just create abundance - community is abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed.
Parker J. PalmerThe past isn't fixed and frozen in place. Instead, its meaning changes as life unfolds.
Parker J. Palmer... the stranger is not a threat but an opportunity to grow in my view of reality, to grow in my own sense of possibility
Parker J. PalmerEverybody is on a lifelong journey toward trying to live more deeply. There is nobody who can say, "Well, I've got that one checked off my to-do list." We have to be honest with ourselves about where we are on this journey and about the difficulty of living in our own identities and integrity.
Parker J. Palmer