On this sacred path of Radical Acceptance, rather than striving for perfection, we discover how to love ourselves into wholeness.

The boundary to what we can accept is the boundary to our freedom.

Observing desire without acting on it enlarges our freedom to choose how we live.

Pain is not wrong. Reacting to pain as wrong initiates the trance of unworthiness. The moment we believe something is wrong, our world shrinks and we lose ourselves in the effort to combat the pain.

But this revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.

As I noticed feelings and thoughts appear and disappear, it became increasingly clear that they were just coming and going on their own. . . . There was no sense of a self owning them.

What would it be like if I could accept life--accept this moment--exactly as it is?

I found myself praying: "May I love and accept myself just as I am.

In anguish and desperation, I reached out as I had many times before to the presence I call the Beloved. This unconditionally loving and wakeful awareness had always been a refuge for me.

I was manipulating my inner experience rather than being with what was actually happening.

The belief that we are deficient and unworthy makes it difficult to trust that we are truly loved

If something needs to be done, do it. If something needs to be said, say it.

I've always been attracted to guys with big brains.

Just keep your conscious mind busy with expectation of the best.

Why have I had this life? If I knew, I wouldn't have done it

Ask 'What' and 'When.' The 'How' will naturally be revealed.

Fortune gives too much to many, enough to none.

The moon was up, painting the world silver, making things look just a little more alive.

What is a weak pawn? A pawn that is exposed to attack and also difficult to defend is a weak pawn. There are several varieties: isolated, doubled, too advanced, retarded.

I thought he wanted it, anyway," I say. "Not like this," Haymitch says. "He wanted it to be real.

The difference between fiction and journalism is that you can disguise the characters, so you won't get your legs broken, and there's no interview tapes to transcribe.