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The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World QUOTES

The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World QUOTES

1 " While some of us act without thinking, too many of us think without acting. "

― Dan Millman , The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World

2 " Lao-tzu advised, “As soon as you have a thought, laugh at it,” because reality is not what we think. We perceive the world through a window colored by beliefs, interpretations, and associations. We see things not as they are but as we are. The same brain that enables us to contemplate philosophy, solve math equations, and create poetry also generates a stream of static known as discursive thoughts, which seem to arise at random, bubbling up into our awareness. Such mental noise is a natural phenomenon, no more of a problem than the dreams that appear in the sleep state. Therefore, our schooling aims not to struggle with random thoughts but to transcend them in the present moment, where no thoughts exist, only awareness. Our mind’s liberation awaits not in some imagined future but here and now. "

― Dan Millman , The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World

3 " But as we mature and begin to grasp that we are often the cause of our own difficulties, we begin a process of compassionate self-observation leading to deeper self-knowledge — denial gives way to authenticity as the light of awareness penetrates our shadow. We come to accept ourselves (and others) as we are rather than as we might want ourselves (or them) to be. And as we embrace the full scope of our humanity, we open the way to genuine growth and transformation. "

― Dan Millman , The Four Purposes of Life: Finding Meaning and Direction in a Changing World