Wise Quotes about Pretense

I predict future happiness for Americans
if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors of the people
under the pretense of taking care of them.
- Thomas Jefferson

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white.
Neither need you do anything but be yourself.
- Lao Tzu

Your greatest gift to your family and friends is yourself -
your relaxed, happy, and fully-present self.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Always be a first-rate version of yourself,
instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

Take time to play!
Ask for what you want.
Laugh.
Live loudly.
Be avid.
Learn a new thing.
Be Yourself!
- Mary Anne Radmacher

When you are offended at any man's fault,
turn to yourself and study your own failings.
Then you will forget your anger.
- Epictetus

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself -
and you are the easiest person to fool.
- Richard Feynman

There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it
and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.
- Henry David Thoreau

If evil be spoken of you
and it be true, correct yourself,
if it be a lie, laugh at it.
- Epictetus

Happiness is a choice.
You grieve, you stomp your feet,
you pick yourself up and choose to be happy.
- Lucy Lawless

Give yourself permission to allow this moment to be exactly as it is,
and allow yourself to be exactly as you are.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things,
and then proceed to greater.
- Epictetus

The only questions that really matter are the ones you ask yourself.
- Ursula K. Le Guin

As soon as you trust yourself,
you will know how to live.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When you are impeccable, you take
responsibility for your actions,
but you do not judge or blame yourself.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Humility is not thinking less of yourself,
it's thinking of yourself less.
- Rick Warren (author of The Purpose Driven(R) Life)

You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
- Khalil Gibran

You grow up the day you have
your first real laugh - at yourself.
- Ethel Barrymore

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu

One of the surest ways to cause
yourself great suffering
is to insist upon being right -
to demand that all others view life
exactly as you view it.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Simply put, you believe that things
or people make you unhappy,
but this is not accurate.
You make yourself unhappy.
- Wayne Dyer

Put some distance between yourself
and whatever is concerning you.
Distance in space or time
always creates a new perspective.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Fortify yourself with contentment,
for it is an impregnable fortress. -
- Epictetus

You may be always victorious if
you will never enter into any contest
where the issue does not wholly depend upon yourself.
- Epictetus

Don't believe me,
don't believe yourself,
and don't believe anyone else.
- don Miguel Ruiz

Meditation is neither shutting things out nor off.
It is seeing things clearly,
and deliberately positioning yourself differently in relationship to them.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Look at other people and ask yourself
if you are really seeing them or just your thoughts about them.
- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself -
your own thinking coming back at you.
- Byron Katie

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority,
it is time to pause and reflect.
- Mark Twain

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.
- Lao Tzu

If you have found your truth within yourself
there is nothing more in this whole existence to find.
- Osho

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition,
is not only a waste of energy
but the worst habit you could possibly have.
- Dale Carnegie

No, they don't appreciate you - and it's not their job.
It's your own job to appreciate yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Always dream and shoot higher than you know you can do.
Don't bother just to be better than
your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself.
- William Faulkner

Circumstances don't defeat you -
you defeat yourself when you give up.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Reputation is what other people know about you.
Honor is what you know about yourself.
- Lois McMaster Bujold

Truth is not defined by
how many people believe something.
Ask. Question. Think.
Decide - for yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Do the best you can. Be proud of your accomplishments -
without comparing yourself to others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Choose! If it's worth doing, do it today.
If it's not worth doing today, save yourself a lot
of worry and regret by choosing to permanently
erase it from your to-do list.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

I believe that everything happens for a reason.
People change so that you can learn to let go,
things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right,
you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself,
and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
- Marilyn Monroe

You must live in the present,
launch yourself on every wave,
find your eternity in each moment.
- Henry David Thoreau

Don't ask yourself what the world needs;
ask yourself what makes you come alive.
And then go and do that.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
- Howard Thurman

May the world be kind to you,
and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Better keep yourself clean and bright;
you are the window through which
you must see the world.
- George Bernard Shaw

Don't take rejection personally.
Don't let someone else's bad day spoil your day.
As long as you never reject yourself, you'll be fine.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Keep courage. Whatever you do,
do not feel sorry for yourself.
You will win in a great age of opportunity.
- Richard L. Evans

Shake structures.
School yourself.
Look twice at a thing,
once upside down.
Answer yourself clearly.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Remember that nurturing yourself is as important
(if not more so) as nurturing others.
- Mary Anne Radmacher

Every day is the perfect day to ask yourself
questions about your life goals,
and how you plan to address those goals.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Inferiority Complex:
a name for not loving yourself enough.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Begin to act from your dominion.
Declare the truth by telling yourself
that there is nothing to be afraid of,
that you no longer entertain any images of fear.
- Ernest Holmes

Believe in yourself, and trust your own wisdom
rather than being swayed by the opinions of others.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

While it is natural to feel some degree of
need for the approval of others, be careful.
If you find yourself unwilling to
take actions that others disapprove of,
you have lost control of your own life
and have given your destiny to others.
An excessive need-for-approval
is a sign of low self-esteem,
and in severe cases, a condition termed co-dependency.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

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Wisdom Quotes