Samuel Alexander Quotes

So your emotional state really has a lot to do with what you're thinking about and what you're paying attention to.

We are not a victim of our emotions or thoughts. We can understand our triggers and use them as tools to help us respond more objectively.

When you feel the need to moan and groan, laugh with woeful recognition and eat flaky pastries. If you hear yourself taking the art of complaining a little too seriously, ask yourself what you're trying to accomplish, exactly.

Whoever grows angry amid troubles applies a drug worse than the disease and is a physician unskilled about misfortunes.

I went to a psychotherapist for a year and a bit, and it was fantastic. I went in with a very clear question: I couldn't work out why I behaved in a certain way in certain situations, and I got that answered.

Every time you feel depressed about something, try to identify a corresponding negative thought you had just prior to and during the depression. Because these thoughts have actually created your bad mood, by learning to restructure them, you can change your mood.

When I was younger, I could do something useful just by being free for half a day, but now I need five days to get the world I've left out of my head and ten days or a fortnight not talking to anyone to hold what I need to hold inside my head.

As a kid, I'd go into the bathroom when I was having a tantrum. I'd be in the bathroom crying, studying myself in the mirror. I was preparing for future roles.

Sometimes I have to shut off the omnipresent disco ball and flashing lights that are always in my head. It's a part of maturing, I guess - just learning that it's not just always about a quick, easy fix of getting people to dance.

Almost all our suffering is the product of our thoughts. We spend nearly every moment of our lives lost in thought, and hostage to the character of those thoughts. You can break this spell, but it takes training just like it takes training to defend yourself against a physical assault.

The mind is the effect, not the cause.

I really work on paying attention to the clues my self is giving myself. For instance, I think of myself in the third person. That allows me to manage myself better.

I really do believe when you're in a ton of pain, you tend to take it out on other people. If you deal with your stuff, you don't take it out on everybody else.

I'm dealing with things as they come along, and I'm talking about it.

I have really focused on mindfulness. That helps me make better choices both physically, psychologically, and emotionally.

The way you think influences the way you feel, and the way you feel determines how you act.

I try to pace my life out and try not to be too involved with negativity and try to fix what I can fix in my life.

I believe, as human beings, we sometimes indulge in self pity more than it's necessary. Over my life's journey, I have realised that overthinking about your problems and indulging in self-pity is not the answer to get through tough times.

Sometimes if you just take the time to really pay attention and break it down, you can figure out what caused it. And from there, generally, I can pull myself up out of it. And if I can't, that's where the support group comes in.

I should never be left alone with my mind for too long.

There's a scripture in the Book of James which says, 'Become a doer of the word and not a hearer only.' A hearer is someone who looks into a mirror, walks away, and quickly forgets what sort of person he is.

When there is pain, the animal instinct is 'fight or flight' (i.e., to either strike back or run away) - reflect instead. When you can calm yourself down, thinking about the dilemma that is causing you pain will bring you to a higher level and enlighten you, leading to progress.

Feeling irritated, restless, afraid, and hopeless is a reminder to listen more carefully.

We'd never get anything fixed to suit us if we waited for things to suit us before we started.

I think thoughts in my head bounce around in my skull and, if they keep bouncing around in my skull, they get worse and worse. When they come out of my mouth, they make people happy.