Getting well is not the only goal. Even more important is learning to live without fear, to be at peace with life and ultimately death.
BERNIE SIEGELI performed wound care or minor surgery, I would always apologize for any pain I was causing the animal and they would lick my hand and not bite me out of anger due to the pain. They are also far more forgiving than people are of human beings and other animals.
More Bernie Siegel Quotes
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If our wholeness is interrupted, then our health suffers, and we need to find a way to restore our sense of meaning. When we move in the direction of that meaning, we’re healing.
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What thoughts are so important that it is worth holding on to them even when they make you miserable? Why are you holding on?
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If God came in and said, I want you to be happy for the rest of your life, what would you do?
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By disregarding intuition in favor of science, or science in favor of instincts, we limit ourselves.
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A surgeon is surrounded by people who are sick, discouraged, afraid, embittered, dying – but also courageous, loving, wise, compassionate and alive.
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True inspiration overrides all fears. When you are inspired, you enter a trance state and can accomplish things that you may never have felt capable of doing.
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When my body gets to the point where I can no longer function or feel gratitude, then I’ll leave it and become grateful again. But until then, I will appreciate what I have and not whine about what I don’t have,
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The other great tonic for the immune system is love—loving ourselves as well as others.
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You can find examples of how little we value ourselves everywhere you look. The signs on the front of the convenience stores where Stephen lives in Florida tell the story. Beer, ice, bread and milk are the big come-ons.
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I am not talking about selfishness or self-interest. When I ask, What will make you happy?, I mean, What way of loving others feels right for you? Choose a way of loving that makes you happy, and your efforts will be play rather than work.
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To paraphrase something the anthropologist Ashley Montagu once said, the way I change my life is to act as if I’m the person I want to be. This is, to me, the simplest, wisest advice you can give anyone.
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The words of love you hear, and the life you feel touching your body and soul, then you know you have discovered the great value of misfortune.
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We destroy ourselves when we stop feeling. If you bury your feelings within you, you become a graveyard.
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Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation.
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When you accept that you are not in charge of everything, you can begin to work with the one who really is in charge. This has been my experience; when I accepted that I was not in charge and started to work with someone else’s plan, the Boss showed up.
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You are in charge of your thoughts and feelings. If you are willing to search for the reason that you can’t let go of disturbing thoughts, you can learn about yourself and restore your own peace of mind.
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I love how Mother Theresa said she wouldn’t attend an anti-war rally but if there was a peace rally to call her. So I realized it’s not about waging a war against everybody’s disease and diagnosis but rather about helping them live.
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I once heard a man say he knew there was a God, he just didn’t think he needed Him. It is nice to take care of yourself and be independent, but it is also nice to know that you have a resource to rely on in times of need.
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An awareness of one’s mortality can lead you to wake up and live an authentic, meaningful life.
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When you wake up and act like a loving person, you realize not only that you are altered, but that the people around you are also transformed, because everybody is changed by the reception of this love.
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Consciousness is non-local and does not depend on words to communicate.
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Hoping means seeing that the outcome you want is possible and then working for it.
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If you see what you do each day as your way of loving the world and helping it heal, then life gets to be a lot different. The difference between burning up and burning out is the difference between loving what you are doing and not loving it.
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Do things to make your day precious.
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Those who look on the world with love will need a handkerchief, not to use as a blindfold, but to blow their nose and dry their tears.
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I know patients who bring a dozen roses to the doctor’s office. And, boy, the next visit, nobody forgets that. You come in and hey – ‘Here’s the lady who brought the roses’ vs. ‘Here’s the lung cancer.’
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