Lucian Freud Quotes

Life is accepting what is and working from that.

I see nothing wrong with the human trait to desire. In fact, I consider it integral to our success mechanism. Becoming attached to what we desire is what causes the trouble. If you must have it in order to be happy, then you are denying the happiness of the here and now.

You can't ever get everything you want. It is impossible. Luckily, there is another option: You can learn to control your mind, to step outside of the endless cycle of desire and aversion.

If you were wise enough to know that this life would consist mostly of letting go of things you wanted, then why not get good at the letting go, rather than the trying to have?

If you have to have it, it's ego. If you have to not have it, it's ego. Hold life lightly and it will deliver what you need and release what you don't.

What do I want to let go of and what do I want to give myself to?

The only way to get what you really want is to let go of what you don't want.

What would it be like to let go of wanting things to be other than they are?

The happiness we seek cannot be found through grasping, trying to hold on to things. It cannot be found through getting serious and uptight about wanting things to go in the direction we think will bring happiness. We are always taking hold of the wrong end of the stick. The point is that the happiness we seek is already here and it will be found through relaxation and letting go rather than through struggle.

To remember non-attachment is to remember what freedom is all about. If we get attached, even to a beautiful state of being, we are caught, and ultimately we will suffer. We work to observe anything that comes our way, experience it while it is here, and be able to let go of it.

My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.

Acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality it brings something entirely new into this world. That peace, a subtle energy vibration, is consciousness.

When the soul is understood and attended to, we can be liberated from hurry, preoccupation, unsatisfied desires, and chronic discontent.

If you try to hold on to something you don't have anymore, you can't be happy in the moment.

I don't have any big regrets.

When you relinquish the desire to control your future, you can have more happiness.

Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted.

The secret of happiness is to admire without desiring. And that is not happiness.

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

People create their own questions because they are afraid to look straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, don't sit looking at it - walk.

I don't let things go unless I'm ready for them to go.

When you stop thinking about yourself all the time, a certain sense of repose overtakes you.

There are still things I want to do but they're not necessary for me to do. I'm not clinging to anything that I can't open my hands and let go.

This is like one thing that I've tried to do, and I think successfully, that when you realize that nothing really belongs to you, you begin to appreciate having an understanding of just where your head is at, and you feel so much better.

I'm very happy with my life. I am what I am. I don't worry about anything that I can't control. That's a really good lesson in life.