Pema Chodron Quotes

There's so much of our psychological makeup which is impermissible for us to explore because it's inappropriate or perverse or scary. I'm interested in exploring that in myself. I try to be honest with myself about everything that I feel. I'm not saying I'm able to do that all the time, but it's something I'm interested in.

Books should make somebody look at how they feel, be honest with themselves.

From early childhood, I was interested in understanding how the world worked, and assumed I would be some kind of physical scientist or chemist. But the truth was, I didn't know there was another kind of world, the inner world, that was just as interesting, if not more relevant, than what was going on in the outside world.

I liked the fact that I was forced to get inside of my emotions and to really try to figure out a lot of what I was going through.

My life day in and day out is accessing my emotions and bringing them to the forefront.

I wasn't paying enough attention to what my heart was telling me. When I paid attention and got the message, I could move forward and heal.

Great fiction shows us not how to conduct our behavior but how to feel. Eventually, it may show us how to face our feelings and face our actions and to have new inklings about what they mean. A good novel of any year can initiate us into our own new experience.

Real transformation requires real honesty. If you want to move forward - get real with yourself.

I love books, and all the best ones are people analysing their own emotions. You can learn from that.

I work on myself daily to be a better person. When I react in a negative way to somebody, I sit back and think about why I did it, so I'm always working on myself, and my music is the same.

I just want to live each moment, but it's kind of hard to do that when you are asked to analyze yourself constantly. But it's also good in that you are forced to think about things that you don't ordinarily think about. I think it's strange.

I really explored self-awareness and emotions through 'Green Lantern.' It might sound goofy, but I do believe that emotions have power. We're all driven by something, and most of that is emotional reaction. For me, it was about recognizing my self-awareness.

I don't investigate things by writing about them, but let them build up inside of me.

People talk about this 'bucket list': 'I need to go to this country, I need to skydive.' Whereas I need to think as much as I can, to feel as much as I can, to be conscious and observe and understand me and the people around me as much as I can.

I don't think we spend enough time in reflection and introspection. We don't know who we are as individuals in this culture anymore.

There's something very touching to me about someone almost communicating to themselves in some way - trying to come to some deeper understanding of yourself and having compassion for yourself.

Boredom or discontent is useful to me when I acknowledge it and see clearly my assumption that there's something else I would rather be doing.

Especially since I started studying acting, I feel like I'm always super-aware of my emotions and my feelings and what's going on with me at every moment. I definitely think I wasn't very present prior to that.

I've always been pretty in touch with what I'm feeling.

I listen to myself, listen to my heart.

If you do not go within, you without

Everyone should go inward, get curious about themselves, and investigate their shadows. It's one of the most important gifts we can give humanity. It's one of our most vital causes.

There are moments when the inner life actually 'pays,' when years of self-scrutiny, conducted for no ulterior motive, are suddenly of practical use.

We have to try to cure our faults by attention and not by will.

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.