Alan Cohen Quotes

Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.

Scared and sacred are spelled with the same letters. Awful proceeds from the same root word as awesome. Terrify and terrific. Every negative experience holds the seed of transformation.

To grow, you must be willing to let your present and future be totally unlike your past. Your history is not your destiny.

Do not resist events that move you out of your comfort zone, especially when your comfort zone was not all that comfortable.

There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.

It is not insult from another that causes you pain. It is the part of your mind that agrees with the insult. Agree only with the truth about you, and you are free.

When you protect yourself from pain, be sure you do not protect yourself from love.

Everything will line up perfectly when knowing and living the truth becomes more important then proving anything to anyone

When you learn to say yes to yourself, you will be able to say no to others, with love.

You have the power to take away someone's happiness by refusing to forgive. That someone is you.

Preparing to live your dream is postponing it. You are either living it, or not.

To make the world a better place, see the world as a better place.

View the past as your enemy, and it will be an albatross. View it as your friend, and it will give you wings.

Waiting does not exist in the experience of those who recognize the presence of love wherever they are.

Truly creative people care little about what they have done, and a lot about what they are doing.

The more you recognize the immense good within you, the more you magnetize immense around you.

People who pressure you usually deserve a “no". People who are patient with you usually deserve a “yes".

Anything you believe you have to do or become before you can be free is a denial and distraction from the truth that you are already free.

Keep memories of insult on a short leash, and memories of blessing on a long one.

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make excuses and those who get results. An excuse person will find any excuse for why a job was not done, and a results person will find any reason why it can be done. Be a creator, not a reactor

Quit planning your dream and start living it.

Take care what words you speak that follow “I am.” In so speaking you create your life.

For everyone you create to be dependent on you, you are equally dependent on them. Neither relationship is healthy.

Acts that proceed from your calm center are always more effective than acts that proceed from fear, guilt, or anger.

Only the ego resists egos. The spirit may notice egos, but sees beyond them and does not engage with them.

Busyness is not a reason for not getting other things done. It is an excuse for not claiming your true priorities.

Work may be your dominant thought, and joy an afterthought. But joy is your true purpose, and work the afterthought.

Your thoughts do not create reality, but they do create your experience.

You empower what you fight. You withdraw power from what you release.

Money is but one venue for generosity. Kindness is an even more valuable currency.

The first step to boosting your income is to identify where your passion lives and to be true to it.

The only thing more important than your to-do list is your to-be list. The only thing more important than your to-be list is to be. ~

Your greatest contribution to helping other people live their destiny is for you to live your own.

All hatred of others is a reflection of self-hatred. All love of others is a reflection of self-love.

Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.

Focus on the highest, clearest, and most meaningful teaching you can find, and let all else go.

Anxiety is a sign that you have made up a story contrary to reality. Love does not fear.

Everything will change when your desire to move on exceeds your desire to hold.

The fire of purpose easily melts the icicles of obstacles.

Life does not control you. What you believe about it, does.

Less explanation is more convincing than more explanation.

Appreciation is the highest form of prayer, for it acknowledges the presence of good wherever you shine the light of your thankful thoughts.

If you know something is true, you don’t need to convince anyone of it. If you are trying to convince anyone, it is probably yourself.

If you want to find God, hang out in the space between your thoughts.

Anger is the ego’s way of cloaking fear to make what is frail seem formidable.

The future you expect is a projection of your beliefs about the past. The future will be like the past only if you keep thinking the same thoughts

When you finally give up striving, you will be left with what you have been striving for.

Quit making believe you don’t know. You do know. Act on it.

If you have ever followed a rainbow to its end, it leads you to the ground on which you are standing.

Everyone is continuously finding evidence to prove what they want to believe.

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

ACIM states that you will be appalled when you realize what you are truly here for (T-17.V.5:6). You thought you were here to get stuff, prove yourself, and find people to love you. Instead you are here get peace, be yourself, and find people to love. You thought you were here to fix the world. Instead you are here to appreciate what is before you and see the world through new eyes.

The Tao, which is the Force, is fully present, alive, and unassailable by the illusions that cloud our vision as we plod through a world of shadows and distortions.

Those who recognize their innocence do not expect, receive, or accept punishment from any outside source.

If someone thinks you can help or heal them, and you think you can’t, choose their faith over your doubt.

What happens to you happens from you.

The images we impress upon our mind, especially when accompanied by emotion, yield the same experience whether they are true or fictional.

Does this bring more joy into the world, or does it diminish joy in the world?

Don’t wait for the world to change. Change your mind about the world.

All disease is a denial of love, and all denial of love is fear.

Temporary discomfort pales in the face of long-term awakening.

Somehow it all works out.

Affirmations are more powerful than requests, for they remind you that you already have what you seek.

Everything that happens ultimately serves us. An experience might not appear to be perfect according to the ego’s plan, but it may be supremely perfect according to Spirit’s plan.

Struggle is not an act; it is an attitude. If we believe that we must fight to get what we want, we will toil over everything we do. If we recognize, however, that the universe works more efficiently for us when we approach it with ease, life will serve us in miraculous ways.

How do I contribute to end the suffering of humanity?” is the most important question you will ever ask. The answer to that question begins with your answer to the question, “How do I end my own suffering?” If you can find your own way out of pain, you will know how to help other people out of their pain. Until then your efforts are hollow

You cannot be other than you are. Thank God.

Man’s [or woman’s] rejection is God’s protection.

Therefore the wise are guided by what they feel and not by what they see, Letting go of that and choosing this. —12

When you express your true delight, you make the world a better place.

What was, was. What is, is. Be true to what is, rather than clinging to an old form. Then you will create new meaningful relationships that match who you are and what you want.

Completion is an attitude, not an event.

Humility moves more mountains than arrogance.

Giving in order to get is not giving.

Do not wait for the future to be happy. You are happy now, or you are not.

There is nothing missing.

Everything you think, feel, say, and do contains seeds of more of itself.

Each day move a little more from tightening to lightening.

Your thoughts do not create reality. They either permit it or they do not.

Be at peace with your choices. They all serve you.

No one is too busy to do what they actually prefer.

Any attempt to improve on God's creation will distance you from God's creation

Love does not require you to make believe you are something you are not.

Don’t apologize for your uniqueness. Claim it as your genius.

The Key to a healthy "no" is to remember the "yes" that the "no" is making space for.

People ho need to be right do so because they fundamentally feel wrong.

THE REALITY: You are not getting what you want because your intentions are mixed, unclear, or contrary to what you say you want. When you clarify your intentions, your desired results will follow.

You cannot afford to allow your happiness to depend on any external situation. You must find the source of your happiness within you. Then nothing in the outside world will be able to remove your peace.

When you are excited about reaching a goal, you are connected to the source of life. Many people judge or dismiss passion as being self-indulgent, but authentic passion moves us to fulfill our soul’s mission, attract abundance and success, and serve humanity.

You are good not for what you do, but for who you are. When you recognize your deep inherent value, you make wise decisions that lead to greater good for you and everyone involved. Lao Tse would say, “Trust what you are, and all that you do will bless the world.

You cannot control the behavior of others, and you cannot dictate the choices they make. But you have total control over which aspects of them you are selecting to magnify in your experience. This is where your true authority lives. “My Father gives all power unto me

Be grateful, then, that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, or fed up with what is not feeding you. Toleration of dysfunction only keeps it in force. Refuse to put up with what is not working, and you will find your way to your perfect place in the Great Design.

You should look within for your answers. Your life is not determined by the stars. It is determined by your state of mind and the choices you make. Regardless of how the stars are configured, you are in charge of your journey. Make healthy choices, and even if adversity comes, the Tao will show you how to use it for your benefit.

Forced change is not true change;

Sometimes you can change the environment. Always you can change your mind. If you can change your environment from a sense of positive vision, you will succeed. Remember to work toward what you want rather than against what you resist.

Общоприето е схващането , че човек се чувства наранен , когато не получава любов.Но не това ни наскърбява . Болката започва , когато не даваме любов.Родени сме , за да обичаме . Може да се каже че сме машини за любов , създадени от Бога. Ние съществуваме с пълна сила , когато даряваме любов.Светът ни кара да вярваме , че нашето добруване зависи от хората , които ни обичат. Но това е изопачено разбиране , причина за много от нашите проблеми . Истината е , че нашето добруване зависи от това дали даряваме любов.Въпросът не е в това , какво получаваме в замяна . Въпросът е какво даваме !

If we allowed ourselves to face and feel the pain in our lives, it would serve its function to get our attention to recognize that we have stepped away from the Tao and we need to get back on course. It is said, “Love how much you hate it.” If you are doing something you find repulsive, or you have had a bad experience, use your disgust as a motivator to change direction. When you are sick of it enough you will do something about it. A Course in Miracles tells us, Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point.

There are two ways to turn devils into angels: First, acknowledge things about them that you genuinely appreciate. Uncle Morty took you to the beach when you were a kid. Your mom still sends you money on your birthday. Your ex-wife is a good mother to your children. There must be something you sincerely appreciate about this person. Shift your attention from the mean and nasty things they have said or done to the kind and helpful things they have said or done—even if there are just a few or even only one. You have defined this person by their iniquities. You can just as easily—actually, more easily—define them by their redeeming qualities. It’s your movie. Change the script. Perhaps you are still arguing that the person who has hurt you has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. She is evil incarnate, Rosemary’s baby conceived with Satan himself, poster child for the dark side of the Force, destined to wreak havoc and horror in the lives of everyone she touches. A nastier bitch never walked the earth. Got it. Let’s say all of this is true—the person who troubles you is a no-good, cheating, lying SOB. Now here’s the second devil-transformer. Consider: How has this person helped you to grow? What spiritual muscles have you developed that you would not have built if this person had been nicer to you? Have you learned to hold your power and self-esteem in the presence of attempted insult? Do you now speak your truth more quickly and directly? Are you now asking for what you want instead of passively deferring? Are you setting healthier boundaries? Have you deepened in patience and compassion? Do you make more self-honoring choices? There are many benefits you might have gained, or still might gain, from someone who challenges you.

The story is told about three men who were sentenced to death by guillotine. One was a doctor, another a lawyer, and the third an engineer. The day of execution arrived, and the three prisoners were lined up on the gallows. “Do you wish to face the blade, or look away?” the henchman asked the doctor. “I’ll face the blade!” the physician courageously replied. The doctor placed his neck onto the guillotine, and the executioner pulled the rope to release the blade. Then an amazing thing happened – the blade fell to a point just inches above the doctor’s neck, and stopped! The crowd of gathered townspeople was astonished, and tittered with speculation. After a bevy of excited discussions, the executioner told the doctor, “This is obviously a sign from God that you do not deserve to die. Go forth – you are pardoned.” Joyfully the doctor arose and went on his way. The second man to confront death was the lawyer, who also chose to face the blade. The cord was pulled, down fell the blade, and once again it stopped but a few inches from the man’s naked throat! Again the crowd buzzed – two miracles in one day! Just as he did minutes earlier, the executioner informed the prisoner that divine intervention had obviously been issued, and he, too, was free. Happily he departed. The final prisoner was the engineer who, like his predecessors, chose to face the blade. He fitted his neck into the crook of the guillotine and looked up at the apparatus above him. The executioner was about to pull the cord when the engineer pointed to the pulley system and called out, “Wait a minute! – I think I can see the problem!” Within each of us there resides an overworking engineer who is more concerned with analyzing the problem than accepting the solution. Many of us have become so resigned to receiving the short end of the stick in life, that if we were offered the long end, we would doubt its authenticity and refuse it. We must be willing to drop the heavy load of guilt, unworthiness, and self-denial we have carried for so long, perhaps lifetimes. We must openly affirm that we are ready to receive all the good that life has to offer us, without argument or wariness. Then we must accept our good – not just in word, but in action. In so doing we claim our right to live in a new world – one which attests that we are deserving not of punishment, but of release, freedom, and celebration.