"If we are not in harmony with ourselves, how can we possibly be in harmony with anyone else, much less the world we inhabit? We want to lead lives that are whole, without sorrow, anger, fear, stress, and anxiety, yet we continue to define ourselves by these negative outlooks.

"We seem to be ignorant of, and even threatened by, more positive perceptions. Intellectuals who achieve personal security only in being cynical scoff at love and the softer emotions as being mere sentimentality. Good is not in the cards for the human race, they say. What they are really saying is, 'I don't want to risk belief, or love, or anything kindly, because I can't bear to be hurt, or betrayed, or rebuffed, or made to look foolish.'

"The human race has indeed had a bloody history. So what do we do? Keep allowing, or causing, it to happen? Or try, each one of us individually, to accept the internal recognition of responsibility, to believe in and make real the power that each of us possesses, knowing that what one single person does can indeed make a difference."

From Going Within