Richard Carlson Quotes

Wholeness or health is our natural state. The nature of healing involves removing obstructions to this natural state and bringing individuals into alignment with themselves and their world. Free of these obstructions, an individual's innate intelligence and self-regulating capabilties will guide him toward a state of well being.

Ironically, when you surrender your need to hog the glory, the attention you used to need from other people is replaced by a quiet inner confidence that is derived from letting others have it.

Inner peace is accomplished by understanding and accepting the inevitable contradictions of life - the pain and pleasure, success and failure, joy and sorrow, births and deaths. Problems can teach us to be gracious, humble, and patient.

People are no longer human beings. We should be called human doings.

The key to a good life is this: If you're not going to talk about something during the last hour of your life, then don't make it a top priority during your lifetime.

I guess it´s safe to say that practice makes perfect. It makes sense, then, to be careful what you practice.
(Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, 1997)

When your goal is to build people up, to make them feel better, to share in their joy, you too reap the rewards of their positive feelings. The next time you have the chance to correct someone, even if their facts are a little off, resist the temptation. Instead, ask yourself, "What do I really want out of this interaction?" Chances are, what you want is a peaceful interaction where all parties leave feeling good. Each time you resist 'being right,' and instead choose kindness, you'll notice a peaceful feeling within.

So many people spend so much of their life energy 'sweating the small stuff' that they completely lose touch with the magic and beauty of life.

It's always a good idea to ask yourself, Where is this decision likely to lead? When you do, you can avoid many hassles and mistakes that are otherwise inevitable. By asking this simple question, you can keep your energy directed in areas that will serve you and others well.

No one knows exactly where thought comes from, but it can be said that thought comes from the same place as whatever it is that beats our heart ... it comes from being alive.

Slowing down your responses and becoming a better listeners aids you in becoming a more peaceful person

This is pretty simple stuff. But the truth is, the reality of making money and wise decisions isn't very complicated. However, not many people understand the importance of a don't-worry attitude. If you do, you're one step ahead of the game.

Retirement can and will be a glorious time in your life. You'll love the freedom and ability to try new things. It's a new phase of life; a chance to be a beginner again.

Life isn't all it's cracked up to be. Nothing is ever good enough the way it is.

No one has the right to force you to violate your own privacy.

Being heard and understood is one of the greatest desires of the human heart.

One of the mistakes many of us make is that we feel sorry for ourselves, or for others, thinking that life should be fair, or that someday it will be. It's not and it won't. When we make this mistake we tend to spend a lot of time wallowing and/or complaining about what's wrong with life. "It's not fair," we complain, not realizing that, perhaps, it was never intended to be.

The first step to becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you're creating your own emergencies. Life will usually go on if things don't go according to plan. It's helpful to keep reminding yourself and repeating the sentence, "Life isn't an emergency".

Life didn't come with a fool-proof manual.

A low mood is not the time to analyze your life. To do so is emotional suicide. If you have a legitimate problem, it will still be there when your state of mind improves. The trick is to be grateful for our good moods and graceful in our low moods - not taking them too seriously. The next time you feel low, for whatever reason, remind yourself, "This too shall pass." It will.

Make living your life with absolute integrity and kindness your first priority.

What interferes with this peaceful feeling is our expectation of reciprocity.

Fear is the single most self-defeating emotion in our lives.

When you let someone else win an argument, often you both end up winners.

Many people live as if life were a dress rehearsal for some later date.

Try to maintain the perspective that, in time, everything disintegrates and returns to its initial form.

It is our ability to forget our problems, through the process of thought, rather than the passage of time, that frees us from the circumstances of our past.

Criticism, like swearing, is actually nothing more than a bad habit.

It is in our lowest moods, when we are least equipped to do so, that we are tempted to try to solve problems or resolve issues with others.

Many people spend their entire lifetimes wishing that other people would acknowledge them. They feel this especially about their parents, spouses, children, and friends.

Proving yourself is a dangerous trap.

The ill effects of thought come about when we forget that thought is a function of our consciousness ... an ability that we as human beings have. We are the producers of our own thinking.

Each of us places varying degrees of significance on what's really relevant and important, and we can almost always find fault with the way someone else is thinking or behaving. We can usually validate our own versions of reality by focusing on examples that, we believe, prove us to be right. In short, the way we see life will always seem justified, logical, and correct - to ourselves. The problem is, everyone else has the same assumption.

I'm merely talking about learning to be less bothered by the actions of people.

I am certain that a quiet mind is the foundation of inner peace. And inner peace translates into outer peace.

They will pass away just as surely as the sun sets in the evening.

If someone throws you the ball, you don't have to catch it.

Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness.

Two rules of harmony. #1) Don't sweat the small stuff, and #2) It's all small stuff.

Your heart, the compassionate part of you, knows that it's impossible to feel better at the expense of someone else.

The truth is, we don't know what's going to happen - we just think we do. Often we make a big deal out of something. We blow up scenarios in our minds about all the terrible things that are going to happen. Most of the time we are wrong. If we keep our cool and stay open to possibilities, we can be reasonably certain that, eventually, all will be well. Remember: maybe so, maybe not.

Your job is to try to determine what the people in your life are trying to teach you. You'll find that if you do this, you'll be far less annoyed, bothered, and frustrated by the actions and imperfections of other people.

Rather than diluting the positive feelings by telling others about your own kindness, by keeping it to yourself you get to retain all the positive feelings.

Life is a process
just one thing after another. When you lose it, just start again.

Every day, tell at least one person something you like, admire, or appreciate about them.

Admit that you're wrong- or that you've made a mistake.

We take simple preferences and turn them into conditions for our own happiness.

Choose to be kind over being right and you'll be right everytime.

One of the most dynamic and significant changes you can make in your life is to make the commitment to drop all negative references to your past, to begin living now.

As our appreciation of happiness in relationship increases, we take notice of the things that tend to take us away from this feeling. One major catalyst taking us away is the need to be right. An opinion that is taken too seriously sets up conditions that must be met first before you can be happy. In relationships, this might sound like 'You must agree with or see my point of view in order for me to love and respect you.' In a more positive feeling state, this attitude would seem silly or harmful. We can disagree, even on important issues, and still love one another - when our own thought systems no longer have control over our lives and we see the innocence in our divergent points of view.

The need to be right stems from an unhealthy relationship to your own thoughts. Do you believe your thoughts are representative of reality and need to be defended, or do you realize that realities are seen through different eyes? Your answer to this question will determine, to a large extent, your ability to remain in a positive feeling state.

Everyone I know, who has put positive feeling above being right on their priority list has come to see that differences of opinion will take care of themselves.

Your thoughts always create your emotions. Understanding the significance of this fact is the first step in escaping from unhappiness and depression.

Don't sweat the small stuff.

When you have what you want (inner peace), you are less distracted by your wants, needs, desires, and concerns. It's thus easier to concentrate, focus, achieve your goals, and to give back to others.

Ask yourself this question, will this matter a year from now?

Even though we often mess up, most of us are doing the best that we know how with the circumstances that surround us.

Reading is a gift. It's something you can do almost anytime and anywhere. It can be a tremendous way to learn, relax, and even escape. So, enough about the virtues of reading. Time to read on.

Meanwhile, life keeps moving forward. The truth is, there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when?

Success originates in the mind and translates into the material world.

One of the cardinal rules of joyful living is that judging others takes a great deal of energy and, without exception, pulls you away from where you want to be.

If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it's helpful to do kind, peaceful things.

The next time you find yourself in an argument, rather than defend your position, see if you can see the other point of view first.

True happiness comes not when we get rid of all of our problems,but when we change our relationship to them, when we see our problems as a potential source of awakening, opportunities to practice, and to learn.

The fact that we can't see the beauty in something doesn't suggest that it's not there. Rather, it suggests that we are not looking carefully enough or with a broad enough perspective to see it.

People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have.

Effective listening is more than simply avoiding the bad habit of interrupting others while they are speaking or finishing their sentences. It's being content to listen to the entire thought of someone rather than waiting impatiently for your chance to respond.

Happiness is a state of mind, not a set of circumstances.

If, however, you take a moment to observe how you actually feel immediately after you criticise someone, you'll notice that you will feel a little deflated and ashamed, almost like you're the one who has been attacked. The reason this is true is that when we criticise, it's a statement to the world and to ourselves, "I have a need to be critical." This isn't something we are usually proud to admit.