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Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

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Famous Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

“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.”

IfsKnowsMenFirstsBelieveSpeakEasyPowerfulLeaderMissingOrganizationWho We AreIngredientsValidityPowerful Man
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“Many people don't wake up. They fight against a difficult time, shut the window and become more bitter. Fortunately or unfortunately, however you see it, we are served up those opportunities over and over in our life. So if you've shut the window, don't worry, another hard time is going to come around the corner - to give you that chance all over again.”

PeopleIfsGivingHardFightingOpportunityDifficultChanceWorryOur LivesWindowWake UpCornersBitterHard TimesDifficult TimesAround The Corner
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“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.”

PeopleIfsThinkingMomentsProblemHappeningsMailTelephonesSlow DownStimulusIpodsFingertipsBlackberries
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“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.”

IfsWaySelfSongPassionSpeakStrongWomenVoiceSpaceOpinionHeardAnd LoveAggressiveInfluentialSelf TrustLove And PassionWomanlyStrong Opinions
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“One of the reasons I love prayer is that it is an antidote to guilt and blame. If we are unhappy with the way we have acted or been treated, instead of stewing in self-recrimination on the one hand, or harboring ill will toward someone else on the other, prayer gives us a way out of the circle of guilt and blame. We bring our painful feelings into the open and say, "I have done wrong," or "I have been wronged." And then we ask for a vaster view--one that contains within it all the forgiveness we need in order to move forward.”

IfsWayNeedsGivingHas BeensSelfReasonDoneFeelingsHandsMovingOrderAsksPrayerViewsBlameGuiltIllPainfulCirclesUnhappyTreatedMoving ForwardAntidoteWrongedIll WillLove PrayerPainful Feelings
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“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.”

IfsKnowsSelfUseActionOrderTurnsForceWishResponsibilityHellPathPrayingHigherShadowCrossesDestructionUltimateKnow YourselfI PrayRadiantDescentHigher SelfRebuilding
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“I'm calling my initiative take the other to lunch. If you are a Republican, you can take a Democrat to lunch or if you're a Democrat, think of it as taking a Republican to lunch because there is no shortage of the other right in your own neighborhood, maybe that person who worships at the mosque or the church or the synagogue down the street or someone from the other side of the abortion conflict - or maybe your brother-in-law who doesn't believe in global warming.”

IfsThinkingBelievePersonsLawSidesChurchStreetsBrotherCallingRepublicanConflictWorshipDemocratAbortionGlobal WarmingNeighborhoodLunchInitiativeIn-lawsShortageYour BrotherMosquesSynagogueBrother In Law
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“The great loneliness- like the loneliness a caterpillar endures when she wraps herself in a silky shroud and begins the long transformation from chrysalis to butterfly. It seems we too must go through such a time, when life as we have known it is over- when being a caterpillar feels somehow false and yet we don’t know who we are supposed to become. All we know is that something bigger is calling us to change. And though we must make the journey alone, and even if suffering is our only companion, soon enough we will become a butterfly, soon enough we will taste the rapture of being alive.”

IfsKnowsLifeFeelsLongEnoughSeemsSufferingChangeKnownAliveJourneyLonelinessBecomingCallingTasteBiggerTransformationEndureWho We AreCompanionButterflyWrapsBeing AloneRaptureFeeling LonelyCaterpillarsSupposingShroudsSoon EnoughI Am AliveChrysalisJourney Alone
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“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.”

IfsFeelsHardChoicesEnergyGivenWaterThousandMountainFlowRiversTiredStuckStreamsRelaxSwimFloatsMountain Streams
Book:Broken Open: How difficult times can help us grow
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“Your path is your own, but you must walk side by side with others, with compassion and generosity as your beacons. If anything is required it is this: fearlessness in your examination of life and death; Willingness to continually grow; and openness to the possibility that the ordinary is extraordinary, and that your joys and your sorrows have meaning and mystery”

IfsJoyGrowsSidesWalksCompassionPathMysteryPossibilitySorrowOrdinaryExtraordinaryGenerosityLife And DeathWillingnessOpennessExaminationFearlessnessBeacons
Book:The New American Spirituality: A Seeker's Guide
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