9 Quotes by Mark Matousek

joy is not just about being happy. Joy is a rigorous spiritual practice of saying yes to life on life’s terms,

joy is not just about being happy. Joy is a rigorous spiritual practice of saying yes to life on life’s terms

As one widow put it to me, “Strength doesn’t mean being able to stand up to anything, but being able to crawl on your belly a long, long time before you can stand up again.

When people are in need, you must be present. When people suffer, you must let them know you’re suffering with them.” “The good side of bad acts?” I say. “I would not say that from horror comes goodness. That would be giving horror too much credit. But goodness prevails in spite of horror.

Whatever it takes to break your heart and wake you up is grace.

The more we remember that life is a gift-that everything changes, we’re not in control-the stronger our sense of well-being becomes.

When we set our hearts on knowing the truth, we assist one another in the long tender work of awakening. When the story is right, and the people we love are waiting to listen, we tell each other how to live.

There’s a myth among amateurs, optimists and fools that beyond a certain level of achievement, famous artists retire to some kind of Elysium where criticism no longer wounds and work materializes without their effort.

As psychologist James Hillman reminds us, “Our lives are determined less by our childhood than by the traumatic way we have learned to remember our childhoods.