110+ Elizabeth Lesser Quotes On Education, Happiness And Compassionate

Elizabeth Lesser is an American author and co-founder of Omega Institute, a holistic learning center. She is the author of several books, including "The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure" and "Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow". She is an advocate for personal growth and spiritual exploration. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Elizabeth Lesser on love, education, happiness.

Top 10 Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

1. I know that if we allow ourselves into the gridlock of tribalism, we're in trouble.
2. One does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.
3. Fear is a sneaky thief, stealing away precious moments of your life.
4. Life is like a school; one can learn, one can graduate, one can skip a grade or stay behind.
5. Diversity is good. We need each other's ideas.
6. When we slow down, quiet the mind, and allow ourselves to feel hungry for something that we do not understand, we are dipping into the abundant well of spiritual longing.
7. I think that life is a friggin' magic carpet ride - it's amazing. Everything about life is mysterious and beautiful and touching and tragic and lovely and mystical.
8. Adversity is a natural part of being human. It is the height of arrogance to prescribe a moral code or health regimen or spiritual practice as an amulet to keep things from falling apart.
9. No one has the answer; only you know the way home.
10. It's like you trade the virility of the body for the agility of the spirirt.

Elizabeth Lesser Short Quotes

• To be human is to be lost in the woods.
• Our errors and failings are chinks in the heart's armor through which our true colors can shine.
• It seems to be almost a law of physics, that the winds of change awaken fear and fundamentalism.
• Rumi called his teacher "the friend." And that's what we need. We need friends.
• We must pay attention to the voice that calls us out of the safety zone.
• The person who takes the first step in a conflict toward the other, those are brave people.
• Anyone whose lifestyle may frighten you or whose point of view makes smoke come out of your ears.
• What wants to live in you may be waiting...at the end of a long loneliness.
• We don't need any more teachers. We don't. We need friends.
• We'll never change everyone's minds. We're not supposed to.

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes About Love

What mothers do - they act with love, at least good mothers do! They have a spirit of strong, fierce, protective energy - the way a mother would put her life on the line for her children - we need to put our life on the line for each other. — Elizabeth Lesser

Love is the secret you unmask yourself to find; it is the foundation of the spiritual life, the destination where all roads of the journey lead. — Elizabeth Lesser

First we love within, then we love the world. — Elizabeth Lesser

Grief is an expression that you loved well. — Elizabeth Lesser

Grief is good...it is a sign of how well we have loved. — Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes About Life

How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be. — Elizabeth Lesser

It's not always about survival, this life we are given; it's usually so much easier than that. It's about trusting the eternal life force that is flowing within us-letting that force lead the way through all of the inevitable changes we will face across the span of our time here on Earth. — Elizabeth Lesser

If spirituality is not religion or cynicism or sentimentality or narcissism, then what is it?... we can confidently say... that spirituality is fearlessness. It is a way of looking boldly at this life we have been given, here, now, on earth, as this human being. — Elizabeth Lesser

Over and over, we are broken on the shore of life. Our stubborn egos are knocked around, and our frightened hearts are broken open—not once, and not in predictable patterns, but in surprising ways and for as long as we live. — Elizabeth Lesser

If you have fathered a child, if you have given birth, if sex is a source of healthy pleasure, thank your pelvis and your reproductive organs for allowing you to feel the creative rhythms of life. — Elizabeth Lesser

It is the acceptance of death that has finally allowed me to choose life. — Elizabeth Lesser

If we can stay awake when our lives are changing, secrets will be revealed to us-secrets about ourselves, about the nature of life, and about the eternal source of happiness and peace that is always available, always renewable, already within us. — Elizabeth Lesser

I do think in general, women have a value system. And it's that value system that I think is feminism. Not "men are bad, women are good, let's get women empowered" - it's let's get this value system, which is about the capacity to feel and empathize with life, and therefore to protect it. — Elizabeth Lesser

How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change — Elizabeth Lesser

May you listen to the voice within the beat even when you are tired. When you feel yourself breaking down, may you break open instead. May every experience in life be a door that opens your heart, expands your understanding and leads you to freedom. — Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes About Empowering

I would say to women, always question what you're empowering yourself for and what are you claiming power for. — Elizabeth Lesser

We don't need anymore empowered people who are all about the ego. — Elizabeth Lesser

The real work of feminism is to empower a woman and to give her language to express a new value system for the world. The new feminism must create both the process by which we generate influence and the influence itself. — Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes About Listen

Agree to these ground rules: Be curious, conversational and real. Don't persuade or interrupt. Listen, listen, listen. — Elizabeth Lesser

Don't persuade, defend or interrupt. Be curious, be conversational, be real. And listen. — Elizabeth Lesser

But when I learned about the dangers of rejection or attack, I thought, it's time to change this. What if we faced any pain we had caused each other and, instead of rejection or attack, could we listen? Could we forgive? Could we merge? — Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Famous Quotes And Sayings

Every day we're given a choice: We can relax and float in the direction that the water flows, or we can swim hard against it. If we go with the river, the energy of a thousand mountain streams will be with us . . . if we resist the river, we will feel rankled and tired as we tread water, stuck in the same place. — Elizabeth Lesser

I accept that life is uncertain--that the goal is not to become more certain about anything but to relax more into the mystery of not knowing what will come next. And then, miracle of miracles, out there in the deep and uncertain water, I come into a peaceful knowing--a faithful wisdom that surpasses control and certainty. — Elizabeth Lesser

Whatever is happening, whatever is changing, whatever is going or not going according to my plans - I release my hold on all of it. I leave behind who I think I am, who I want to be, what I want the world to be. I come home to the great peace of the present moment. — Elizabeth Lesser

We can be the one to take the first courageous step toward the other and to do something or to try to do something other than rejection or attack. We can do this with our siblings and our mates and our friends and our colleagues. We can do this with the disconnection and the discord all around us. — Elizabeth Lesser

I was just a kid when I started doing this,yoga, meditation, natural foods, acupuncture - things like were seen as practically voodoo. And today you can go into any hospital and they'll have massage, and Chinese medicine, and therapy, and a prayer room. — Elizabeth Lesser

As humans try to evolve out of greed, let's put aside some wild places, protected lands, protected farms, things like that, since we may not evolve fast enough to protect nature. — Elizabeth Lesser

Learn respect for the feeling function: Become aware of and undo some of your (improper) cultural training so that you grant the moods and messages of the heart the same respect that you give the thoughts and ideas of the mind. — Elizabeth Lesser

We need to claim our power for something beautiful, something harmonious and something globally healthy. — Elizabeth Lesser

I recommend learning how to come into the presence of stillness and vastness. Learn any form of meditation. Spend twenty minutes every day if possible, in meditation, listening to the crazy monkey mind inside you, and learning how to still the thoughts and discover that big, deep soulful part of yourself. — Elizabeth Lesser

My years as a mystic have made me question almost all my assumptions. They've made me a proud I-don't-know-it-all. — Elizabeth Lesser

If family and society tell you its unfeminine, not really womanly, to be aggressive, to speak up, to have strong opinions, to take up space, then women won't trust their own voice, because to be heard and to be influential, you've got to have a way to sing out with passion and love and self-trust - to sing out your song for everyone to hear. — Elizabeth Lesser

A broken heart is not the same as sadness. Sadness occurs when the heart is stone cold and lifeless. On the contrary, there is an unbelievable amount of vitality in a broken heart. — Elizabeth Lesser

Forgiveness doesn't mean being a wimp. It doesn't mean being weak. It doesn't mean having no principles and no values. Sometimes we have to stand firm for what we believe and make really hard decisions. — Elizabeth Lesser

Some people, who are deeply involved in an organized, traditional religion, find it very difficult to accept that their way isn't the only way. And that their sacred text isn't the only text and it must be taken literally. — Elizabeth Lesser

It's rare that you have a conflict and two people or two groups who are equally mature in their desire or capacity to get there. That doesn't mean it can't happen. What it means is that one person has to take the lead, has to be bigger. I call that kind of person the new first responder. — Elizabeth Lesser

Not only must we follow the golden thread towards spiritual freedom, but we must also unravel the garden-variety twine that is wrapped tightly around our hearts and minds. — Elizabeth Lesser

When the fire is over, always, in the ashes, our opportunities to repair, to move forward without vengeance being required - that's kind of the way us humans seem to live. We make massive mistakes. We do stupid things. We do things to survive. And then there's an opportunity to learn from them and move forward with grace. And forgiveness and that gracefulness are very connected. — Elizabeth Lesser

Sometimes to speak as a woman is to cry, and to speak from our emotional, intuitive knowing, as opposed to graphs and charts and vertical lines. And that's scary - that's scary to do. And the fallout from it can be brutal. — Elizabeth Lesser

To me the purpose of life is to enjoy it! It's to enjoy the gift, and to make sure that other people have an opportunity to enjoy the gift. — Elizabeth Lesser

The conversation people need to have is no longer about women assuming positions of leadership within the existing power structure, it's about the power structures themselves, it's about how to go about assuming power, how to change the structures. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think the main problem people have getting older, whether they know it or not, is that you're closer to dying. And we may fixate on not wanting to look a certain way, but it really is just the clock ticking, that it means, "Oh, I am not immortal!". — Elizabeth Lesser

I have noticed if I pull from fear or despair about the state of the world, I get tired, ineffective, afraid and sometimes mean-spirited. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think if you asked people "what's the biggest problem in your life?" They'd say, "I just don't have time for anything!" And at our fingertips, if it isn't e-mail, it's our Blackberry, and it's our iPods and telephones - we never stop. We never take those moments to stop the stimulus to find out "what's going on in there? What's really happening?" And then things start to build up. And then we are almost afraid to slow down. — Elizabeth Lesser

...approach change with an understanding of the process and an openness to the pain. — Elizabeth Lesser

Сertainly there are people for whom anti-depression medication has allowed them to use difficulty to wake up, and I don't deny that at all, but as usual with us human beings, we've overdone it. We are self-medicating ourselves away from the great awakening moments, and losing our coping skills and losing wake-up calls. — Elizabeth Lesser

If humanity does not evolve spiritually - each one of us and collectively - our species won't make it. So following that back to each individual - every day you are faced with choices. — Elizabeth Lesser

I'm not naive. I know how hard it is to get along. — Elizabeth Lesser

There's something in our makeup and in our bodies that really wants to luxuriate more in just the joy of being alive and not always consuming, creating, building. There's something inside of us that wants desperately to stop and experience and just be - not just always do. — Elizabeth Lesser

The soul is the river of energy that animates who we are. — Elizabeth Lesser

But grief is also a tonic. It is a healing elixir, made of tears that lubricate the heart. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think diversity of thinking and healing traditions from around the world are good for us. The movement itself has evolved enormously and it's been a thrill to be part of it. — Elizabeth Lesser

I'm very much a family person, and that's always my first priority. — Elizabeth Lesser

I do not wish upon anyone a descent into hell. But if your life has to be turned inside out in order for you to know yourself--if the shadow of a shaman crosses your path and you turn and follow it down--I pray that you use its force wisely. I hope that you take the ultimate responsibility for your actions and that you consecrate any destruction to the rebuilding of your higher self and a more radiant life. — Elizabeth Lesser

We need each other's ideas. Now, I'm not talking about racist ideas or misogynistic ideas or cruel or criminal ideas. I'm talking about most of us who have very varied experiences, needs and ideas. It's really about believing that it's an important part of healing America. — Elizabeth Lesser

If it's not as easy as we thought it was, for women to speak our truth, to even know our truth, then the missing ingredient is some sort of inner courage. To first of all, believe in the validity of who we are. And then to speak from it. It takes inner courage. As a leader in a large organization, I've often been the only woman working with powerful men, especially when I was younger. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think it's better that people actually are saying what they feel. Especially, people are saying, I'm not heard. I don't have a voice in America. — Elizabeth Lesser

Spirituality is a brave search for the truth about existence, fearlessly peering into the mysterious nature of life. — Elizabeth Lesser

I've realized that aging is the younger cousin of dying. ... How much time do I have left? We become aware that we're on the downside of the mountain, coasting toward our final days. — Elizabeth Lesser

I can only do what I do with a spirit of humor, and faith and give the controls over to something else. — Elizabeth Lesser

I actually don't think we're more divided than we were. — Elizabeth Lesser

If we do not suffer a loss all the way to the end, it will wait for us. It won’t just dissipate and disappear. Rather, it will fester, and we will experience its sorrow later, in stranger forms. — Elizabeth Lesser

I actually don't think we're more divided than we were. I think it's more evident. It's more evident because of the internet. — Elizabeth Lesser

What will matter is the good we did, not the good we expected others to do. — Elizabeth Lesser

Life actually is this mystery and gift. And every moment of it can be full of real radical joy and wakefulness. And for some reason in our most difficult times, we have the best chance to wake up. Many people will tell you that their divorce or illness or loss of job was the wake up call. — Elizabeth Lesser

Look for a way to lift someone up. If that's all you do, it's enough. — Elizabeth Lesser

I'm deeply disturbed by the ways in which all of our cultures are demonizing the other. This is why I'm launching a new initiative, and it's to help all of us, myself included, to counteract the tendency to otherize. — Elizabeth Lesser

I heard the term "mamisma" when describing Speaker of the House [Nancy] Pelosi, how she was speaking from that place which is kind of like a strong mother. Like when your mom says like, "put that down!" you know that is coming from a place of both love and strength. And at this critical stage in human history we need both action and caring. — Elizabeth Lesser

To be spiritual is to be genuine in everything you say and do, come what may. — Elizabeth Lesser

When women hear each other's stories, told from the heart, it gives us inspiration to keep on going. — Elizabeth Lesser

Every day we have the opportunity to make our relationships be on the outside what they really are on a spiritual level. — Elizabeth Lesser

First we forgive ourselves, then we forgive others and life itself. — Elizabeth Lesser

I love this life, because I am a human being and it sure would be nice, I think, to preserve it. But I don't even know if that's true, because God's mind is huge, and I don't really know what he's thinking.I can only do what I do with a spirit of humor, and faith and give the controls over to something else. — Elizabeth Lesser

I hope this is the lesson we women really commit to memory - we learned that it doesn't work to try be someone other than who you really are. — Elizabeth Lesser

I believe that educating people to awaken into full consciousness is the most important thing we can do. — Elizabeth Lesser

I'm interested in helping women become courageous in being exactly who they are. Because the only way to change anything is to do it from your genuine self. — Elizabeth Lesser

There is no one alive who has not wanted to go back to sleep. — Elizabeth Lesser

If I pull from places of faith, joy and gratitude, then I have the wind of creativity behind me. And, my work in the world is much more effective. — Elizabeth Lesser

The worst eras in human history, whether in Cambodia or Germany or Rwanda, they start like this, with negative Otherizing. — Elizabeth Lesser

We think that maybe feminism isn't appropriate anymore, since Western women have really made enormous strides. But check out the rest of the world if you'd like to not be able to sleep tonight. — Elizabeth Lesser

Recognition of the harm that patriarchy has caused to people and the planet does not mean that men are wrong and women are right; rather it is a call for new organizational forms and for relishing gender differences within a context of equality. — Elizabeth Lesser

It isn't so much that God is the unified state of consciousness that each of us came from and will return to, but more so that God is the creative energy flowing between all states of consciousness. God is in the land beyond the mountains, but God is also in the mountains and in the valley of illusions cradled within the mountains. God is not one thing or another, rather God flows between and through all things. — Elizabeth Lesser

Life is about change, it never stops, it's moving and it's moving this human body inexorably towards its demise. — Elizabeth Lesser

One can be a full-fledged Christian and at the same time, enjoy the reality of a universal spiritual truth. — Elizabeth Lesser

Talking to each other instead of talking about each other is not some kind of nicey-nice (ph) idea. It's the difference between societies falling apart and societies getting something wonderful done. — Elizabeth Lesser

We have little control over the outer weather patterns as we make our way through the landscape of a life. But we can become masters of the inner landscape. We can use what happens on the outside to change the way we function on the inside. — Elizabeth Lesser

Power is just using energy in a wise way to get things done. Power has been misinterpreted to mean getting my way on the backs of other people. Getting whatever I want, forgetting that there are other beings and species and energies involved. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think as women and men become more conscious, the terms "woman/man" begin to lose meaning. — Elizabeth Lesser

If you're interested in opening the doors to the heavens, start with the door to your own secret self. See what happens when you offer to another a glimpse of who you truly are. When your heart is undefended, you make it safe for whomever you meet to put down his burden of hiding, and then you both can walk through the open door. — Elizabeth Lesser

Beautiful quality that women have, which is we like to get together and gab. It's time to elevate that aspect of being a woman. — Elizabeth Lesser

When we descend all the way down to the bottom of loss, and dwell patiently, with an open heart, in the darkness and pain, we can bring back up with us the sweetness of life and the exhilaration of inner growth. When there is nothing left to lose, we find the true self - the self that is whole, the self that is enough, the self that no longer looks to others for definition, or completion, or anything but companionship on the journey. — Elizabeth Lesser

In the true spirit of the holidays, let the darkness of your moods lead you back up to the light, and when New Year's rolls around, your resolution will be tinged with new authenticity and power. — Elizabeth Lesser

I think the gender story will become less fraught with hard edges - and not that we'll have androgyny, but that men and women will move more fluidly into each other's domains. — Elizabeth Lesser

Instead of fixating on the physical aspects of aging, it's good to contemplate the deeper source of our anxiety. That can be liberating. — Elizabeth Lesser

Life Lessons by Elizabeth Lesser

1. Elizabeth Lesser teaches us to be mindful of our own inner wisdom and to listen to our intuition, as it can lead us to a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
2. She encourages us to be open to the possibility of transformation and to embrace the process of change in our lives.
3. She also reminds us to be kind to ourselves and to others, and to strive to live a life of purpose and connection.