My experience is that the teachers we need most are the people we're living with right now.

One morning, in February 1986, out of nowhere, I experienced a realization. In an instant, I discovered that when I believed my stressful thoughts, I suffered, but when I questioned them, I didn't suffer.

People try so hard to let go of their negative behaviors and thoughts, and it doesn't work, or it works only for a short time. I didn't let go of my negative thoughts; I questioned them, and then they let go of me, and so did my addictions and depression.

When we believe in our thoughts, when we tell ourselves a story, we suffer. 'My husband doesn't respect me.' 'I should be thinner.' Those are stories. When there's no story, there's no suffering.

I do whatever I can to serve peace. My job is the end of suffering.

I believe in the power of every human being to end suffering.

Suffering over things that have happened to us is nothing more than an argument with the past.

Your suffering is never caused by the person you're blaming.

I am the perpretor of my suffering - but only all of it.

The ability to understand the cause of your own suffering gives you the ability to understand ours.

The way to truly help someone is for me to not get immersed in their suffering.

If you argue against reality you will suffer.

The only time we suffer is when we believe a thought that argues with what is. When the mind is perfectly clear, what is is what we want.

Any story that you tell about yourself causes suffering. There is no authentic story.

Every mind deserves to be free. When the mind is free, that's the end of suffering.

When you realize that suffering and discomfort are the call to inquiry, you may actually begin to look forward to uncomfortable feelings. You may even experience them as friends coming to show you what you have not yet investigated thoroughly enough.

We suffer only until we realize that we can't know anything.

A mind that doesn't question its judgements, makes the world very small and dangerous.

The perfect world is created when the mind is free to see it.

There is no peace in the world until you find peace within yourself in this moment.

I stopped waiting for the world to give me what I wanted; I started giving it to myself.

It's a wonderful world when you have what you want at all times.

When your mind opens, the whole world falls into place.

Until you can see everything in the world as your friend, your work is not done.

The world is what you believe it to be, and it changes as you change.

I came to see that the world is always as it should be, whether I opposed it or not.

When we love what is, it becomes so simple to live in the world. The world is exactly as it should be.

When we question our thoughts, we see that the craziness was never in the world, but in us.

If you don't like your world, question your thoughts about it.

The world is as you perceive it to be. For me, clarity is a word for beauty. It’s what I am. And when I’m clear, I see only beauty. Nothing else is possible.

The whole world is simply my story, projected back to me on the screen of my own perception. All of it.

Reality is always the story of a past, and what I love about the past is—it's over.

The Work is merely four questions; it's not even a thing. It has no motive, no strings. It's nothing without your answers. These four questions will join any program you've got ad enhance it. Any religion you have-they'll enhance it. If you have no religion, they will bring you joy. And they'll burn up anything that isn't true for you. They'll burn through to the reality that has always been waiting.

To argue with reality is to argue with God

Arguing with reality it like trying to teach a cat to bark.

Insanity is arguing with reality.

If you want reality to be different than it is, you might as well try to teach a cat to bark.

I realized that it's insane to oppose it. When I argue with reality, I lose-but only 100% of the time. How do I know that the wind should blow? It's blowing!

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.

Nothing terrible has ever happened except in our thinking. Reality is always good, even in situations that seem like nightmares. The story we tell is the only nightmare that we have lived.

Reality - the way that is, exactly as it is, in every moment - is always kind. It's our story about reality that blurs our vision, obscures what's true, and leads us to believe that there is injustice in the world. I sometimes say that you move totally away from reality when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer.

The opening to reality, as it really is, is beauty.

When you srgue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.

Reality doesn't wait for your opinion, vote, or permission, sweetheart. It just keeps being what it is and doing what it does.

Spare yourself from seeking love, approval, or appreciation-from anyone. And watch what happens in reality, just for fun.

Without an uninvestigated story, there's only the perfection of life appearing as itself. You can always go inside and find the beauty that's revealed after the pain and fear are understood.

Every uncomfortable feeling, every pain, every moment of stress & suffering is for your own self-realizatio n.

Lack of understanding is always painful.

Some of us are returning to sanity, because we're tired of the pain. We're in a hurry. No time to mess around.

The pain shows you what's left to investigate.