Francois de La Rochefoucauld : "We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves."

Buddha: "To straighten the crooked you must first do a harder thing – straighten yourself."

Lao Tzu: "Stop thinking and end your problems."

Jesus: "Let he who seeks remain always seeking until he finds, and when he finds he will be troubled, having been troubled, he will marvel, he will reign over the All."

Jung: "The Shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort."

Marcus Aurelius: "For you can’t lose either the past or the future; how could you lose what you don’t have?"

Thich Nhat Hanh: "Be mindful 24 hours a day, not just during the one hour you may allot for formal meditation or reading scripture and reciting prayers. Each act must be carried out in mindfulness. Each act is a rite, a ceremony. Raising a cup of tea to your mouth is a rite. Does the word 'rite' seem too solemn? I use that word in order to jolt you into the realization of the life-and-death matter of awareness."

Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi: "Human beings, who are supposed to control objects, are now being controlled by them. This is the cause of all our problems." "Contentment and happiness depend solely on the mind, not on external objects or circumstances. Both heaven and hell are created by the mind...Even the highest heaven turns into a hell if the mind is agitated, whereas even the lowest hell will become a blissful abode for a man endowed with a peaceful and relaxed mind." "It is religion which helps a person to maintain the awareness that he or she is not separate from nature. Without religion, mankind loses that awareness." "To deny the existence of God, is like using the tongue to say 'I have no tongue.....".

Hi Mick...and you too neerj...we've got to stop meeting like this :) At first Mick I thought you ment teachers we had in school...but as long as were bringing in the heavyweights mine would be this one from J.Krishnamurti " To say one is well adjusted to a sick society is no great measure of health".

Surely a question in which I could give much thought on and many answers to = too much!

But I would say for myself, that for 30 years I have basically molded my life as much as I could around these basic premises, however, I really no longer know where and how they came to me originally. Perhaps from within myself.

1) You create you own reality.

2) Whoever one may call their higher power or most enlightened entity is to me All That Is, including both the obvious but what makes that entity what it is.

My understanding of this higher being is very different than those who are of a religious nature and more in line with indigenous religions around the world, including here in the US, and prominently with the Buddhists beliefs.

3) Life is indeed a stage (W. Shakespeare) or a schoolhouse where we come to learn specific lessons with specific people which always entails lessons of love - whether of ourselves or others.

4) What goes around comes around.

5) All things do happen for a reason. It took me through my 20's to understand that tragedies had the most powerful force for people to make change. Since I believe in an afterlife, the tragedies, I now believe, are not for those who passed but for those of us left behind, with human emotions and understanding, who have such trouble coping.

6. Be kind to everyone for no other reason but to be kind and to "pay it forward" expecting absolutely nothing in return.

I am proud of myself that I began to live my life this way even when my own life was in torturous turmoil - raised my kids to live their lives this way - and spend my entire professional career doing just this.

Thanks for this question and if I didn't answer exactly as you wished, I apologize, however far more importantly, I think, it has reopened me spiritually again and made me feel better about my SELF while dealing with the real sense of chronic pain recently which has hurt my self-esteem.

Thanks!

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

If you hold a cat by the tail you learn things you cannot learn any other way.

It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt

Mark Twain, often over looked but in my opinion right on track pertaining to spirituality and just living life.

Anything Rumi. Here are a few of my latest:

*

Not united

Not separate

Just perfect

*

I was reciting love poems to my Beloved

full of longing and desire to be with her.

She interrupted,

"Don't you think it's a waste

of our precious time together

to be reading these poems now?

I am sitting here beside you.

Make love to me - don't talk about it."

*

When we finally come home

we will laugh and laugh

at what fools we have been.

*

translated by R.A. Nicholson