Dan Millman Quotations

Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body.

I learned that we can do anything, but we can't do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.

You don't just have a story - you're a story in the making, and you never know what the next chapter's going to be. That's what makes it exciting.

Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.

Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it's greedy or loving.

I kind of got more interested in writing after I turned in my last college essay and nobody was going to tell me what kind of academic papers to write anymore. I could write whatever I wanted, and I realized that I actually liked it when I could choose what I would write.

Faith means living with uncertainty - feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.

There are times, you know, it's said in the Spiritual Tradition, just a glimpse at an enlightened personage can convey immense information at the sub-conscious level that sprouts later, that we don't even know.

I was a world champion on the trampoline at an international level, and gymnastics competitor.

Unless someone truly has the power to say no, they never truly have the power to say yes.

We all have the archetype inside us of the enlightened being.

I have an almost religious zeal... not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.

Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.

Life is constantly supporting us and giving us gifts. It's a matter of opening ourselves to that.

Saints were saints because they acted with loving kindness whether they felt like it or not.

Yes, I did shatter my leg, and it really changed my life, in a way. It wasn't much fun, but it did open me up, and as we all know intuitively, adversity can develop resources.

We're immersed in the spirit of God all the time. We just don't notice.

Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness--if you had little time left to live--you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you...you do have a terminal illness: It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason--or you will never be at all.

Life has three rules: Paradox, Humor, and Change. - Paradox: Life is a mystery; don't waste your time trying to figure it out. - Humor: Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure - Change: Know that nothing ever stays the same.

everyone tells you what's good for you. they don't want you to find your own answers. they want you to believe theirs.

Life comes at us in waves. We can't predict or control those waves, but we can learn to surf

So trust the process of your life unfolding, and know with certainty, through the peaks and valleys of your journey, that your soul rests safe and secure in the arms of God.

If babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk or talk. Can you imagine infants stomping, 'Aarggh! Screwed up again!' Fortunately, babies are free of self-criticism. They just keep practicing.

Choice means giving up something you want for something else you want more.

There is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path.

Stress happens when your mind resists what is...The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.

While some of us act without thinking, too many of us think without acting.

When we feel stuck, going nowhere-even starting to slip backward-we may actually be backing up to get a running start.

The seasons do not push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky. All things happen in their own good time.

A Zen student asked his roshi the most important element of Zen.The roshi replied, "Attention." "Yes, thank you," the student replied. "But can you tell me the second most important element?"And the roshi replied, "Attention."

Every positive change - every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness - involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.

Your fears are not walls, but hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.

Life is not a private affair. A story and its lessons are only made useful if shared.

The universe does not judge us; it only provides consequences and lessons and opportunities to balance and learn through the law of cause and effect. Compassion is the recognition that we are each doing the best we can within the limits of our current beliefs and capacities.

It may be true that the unexamined life is not worth living-but neither is the unlived life worth examining.

When you release your expectations that the world should fulfill you, your disappointments vanish.

The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.

Allow rather than resist what arises in the present moment-inside or out. Let it be interesting rather than good or bad.

As poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, "We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water." Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?

You can change your life with a simple shift of attention. But to make that simple shift, you have to find your heart. It's the only way. Accept yourself, then transcend yourself.

Your fears are not walls, but hurdles.

The quality of your moments produces the quality of your life. So, as thoughts come and go and the waves of mind rush on, Carpe punctum-Seize this moment. It deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again.

There are times to let things happen, and times to make things happen. Now is that time. You will either make things happen, watch what happens, or wonder what happened.

Ultimately, fear of failure generates a vicious circle that creates what is most feared. To break this cycle, you need to make peace with failure. It isn't enough to merely tolerate it; you need to appreciate the failure and use it ...

The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.

Moderation? It's mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It's the devil's dilemma. It's neither doing nor not doing. It's the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It's for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation...is lukewarm tea, the devil's own brew.

Conscious evolution begins as we take responsibility for clearing our own obstructions.

Carry your groceries, garden, and do other activities that keep you moving. You will add more years to your life and more life to your years.

Every choice eventually leads to wisdom.

As we stop monitoring others' opinions, we connect with our heart's wisdom.

The world's a puzzle; no need to make sense out of it." - Socrates

You are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your body, mind, and emotions through training, you reshape your life.

I'd always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.

Live with a peaceful heart; cultivate a warrior's spirit.

It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament. As your eyes open, you'll see that your state of health, happiness, and every circumstance of your life has been, in large part, arranged by you - consciously or unconsciously.

In life, stress happens when you resist what arises.

You're a prisoner of your own illusions - about yourself and about the world.

Anybody can be happy when things are going well, and I've learned that. But when things aren't going well it draws out the inner warrior in us to radiate that and bring whatever happiness we can to the situation.

Faith is the courage to live your life as if everything that happens does so for your highest good and learning. Like it or not.

It's better to make a mistake with the full force of your being than to timidly avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit. Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, action and consequence, then making a choice.

You haven't yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior's way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability--to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I've shown you by example that a warrior's life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior's sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.

The warrior is Here, Now.

The secret of change consists in concentrating one's energy to create the new, and not to fight against the old.

Life is the only real teacher. It offers many experiences....But the lessons of experience are hidden.

Life is a series of moments. The quality of attention and action that we bring to each moment determines the quality of our lives.

The only laws are paradox, humor and change.

To see where something leads, it's best to wait until you've reached the end.

If you want peace of mind I suggest you resign as general manager of the universe.

Sports and sex and movies are not inherently bad - But for you they're addictions, not enjoyments. You use them to distract you from what you know you should do. Break free!

The hours of your life are the most valuable currency you will ever have. How will you spend them?

Freedom from mental distraction equals power.

Meditation is a valuable exercise, but eventually you have to open up your eyes and look around.

There are no mistakes, only lessons. If you don't learn the lesson the first time, they get harder.

You have to lose your mind in order to regain your senses.

You are rich if you have enough money to satisfy all your desires. So there are two ways to be rich: you earn, inherit, borrow, beg, or steal enough money to meet all your desires; or you cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have enough money.

Wisdom is the use of knowledge

Babe Ruth was the home-run king of his time, but also the strikeout king.

Our sense of self-worth is the single most important determinant of the health, abundance, and joy we allow into our lives.

If you desire to dig a well to reach water, your efforts are more fruitful if you dig one 100-foot-deep hole than if you dig ten holes each 10 feet deep.

No need to feel brave or confident; just behave that way.

You don't have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.

Like this gas tank, you are overflowing with preconceptions, full of useless knowledge. You hold many facts and opinions, yet know little of yourself. Before you can learn, you'll have to first empty your tank.

This planet is a divine school, and daily life a classroom. Our choice of teachers depends on what we need to learn.

Everything you need to know is within you. Listen. Feel. Trust the body's wisdom.

Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow, signaling the later days of autumn.

Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is... The only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.

Personal and collective awakening are one and the same - when a raindrop joins the sea, the sea also merges with the raindrop.

If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever.

Better never begin; once begun, better finish.

Find the heart of it. Make the complex simple, and you can achieve mastery.

Thoughts naturally arise. The point of meditation is not to banish thoughts but to make peace with them by realizing their lack of substance.

Live in the Moment", "Empty Your Mind of the Trash" Wisdom is the Use of Knowledge

A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does

I had lost my mind and fallen into my heart.

You get no more and no less than what you believe you deserve.

When in haste, rest in the present. Take a deep breath and come back to here and now.

We discover our character through decisions under pressure.

Dream big. Start small and then connect the dots

Energy follows thought; we move toward, but not beyond, what we can imagine. What we assume, expect, or believe creates and colors our experience. By expanding our deepest beliefs about what is possible, we change our experience of life.

If you want a kinder world, then behave with kindness; if you want a peaceful world, make peace within.