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Quote by Alexander Mccall Smith (Author)

“Oh, send thine angels to his blessed side / And bid them there abide. It sounds like a request for reinforcements." Isabel liked the metaphor. We all needed reinforcements, she thought. We wanted others to think the way we did, to protest the values we held dear, to keep at bay the things we thought needed to be kept at bay. If imaginary beings could help to keep our courage up, then there was no harm in that.”

Quote by Alexander Mccall Smith (Author)

Book:The Geometry of Holding Hands
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The Geometry of Holding Hands

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Alexander Mccall Smith (Author)

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“Many of us, often without knowing it, live our lives in narrow corridors, hemmed in by fear. It’s as if there were walls of electrified fencing on the right and left of us, and we’re wearing a shock collar. If we veer too close to one side, we start feeling the fear, and we move back toward the center, often without noticing it. The challenge of change is not to get better at withstanding electric shocks, but to somehow reduce the voltage or remove the shock collar. It’s not about becoming more courageous; it’s about becoming more fearless. When the fear subsides, the walls come down, and we can go anywhere. This is not learning a new coping skill; it’s becoming a new person. We do things we’ve never done before because the fear that hemmed us in is gone, or reduced. The loss of fear is the mark of change, and the proof of change is what’s happening when we’re not trying.”

FearCourageCoping Skills
Book:Chasing Peace: A Story of Breakdowns, Breakthroughs, and the Spiritual Power of Neuroscience
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