185 Quotes by Mark Nepo

No amount of thinking can stop thinking.

The simplest and bravest way to counter the plight of disheartenment is to move toward what is precious.

So what does it mean to be a spiritual warrior? It is far from being a soldier, but more the sincerity with which a soul faces itself in a daily way. It is this courage to be authentic that keeps us strong enough to withstand the heartbreak through which enlightenment can occur. And it is by honoring how life comes through us that we get the most out of living, not by keeping ourselves out of the way. The goal is to mix our hands in the earth, not to stay clean.

Wakefulness is not a destination but a song the human heart keeps singing, the way birds keep singing at the first sign of light.

If peace comes from seeing the whole, then misery stems from a loss of perspective.

We’re quietly aching for something to celebrate.

We are all continually asked to learn how to ask for what we need, only to practice accepting what we’re given.

Who’s to say the effort to be real isn’t the beginning of wings?

What is most healing about bearing witness to things exactly as they are, including my own part in my pain, is that when the voice of the pain fits the pain, there is no room for distortion or illusion. In this way, truth becomes a clean bandage that heals, keeping dirt out of the wound. To voice things as they are is the nearest medicine.