Louise Erdrich Quotes

The secret of zen is just two words: not... always... so.

Ultimately spiritual awareness unfolds when you're flexible, when you're spontaneous, when you're detached, when you're easy on yourself and easy on others.

No expectations. Ask nothing, expect nothing and accept everything, and life is very well.

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

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

The Dalai Lama was once asked for his favorite chant, and he said it was better not to have a favorite anything, which I think is a great thought.

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

One thing I like about Zen. It doesn't believe in achievement.

I keep my hands empty for the sake of what I have had in them.

Man must do his part and detach himself from created things.

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.

You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.

There are so many surprises in my life; I don't take anything for granted. I enjoy every experience that comes; I don't think too far ahead.

I'm just dealing with what's happening, with what is. Joy, happiness, good, bad, all those terms are meaningless to me.

I think there comes a time when you start dropping expectations. Because the world doesn't owe you anything, and you don't owe the world anything in return. Things, feelings, are a very simple transaction. If you get it, be grateful. If you don't, be alright with it.

I just see what's in front of me. That's what I'm happy with.

The key is to be Zen-like and be happy with what one has.

My motto is never to hold on to anything. I accept and then let go: not just the negatives, but the praise, too. Or it'll get to my head.

I honestly believe true happiness lies in lowered expectations. In opening the door to let the air in.

I've had to learn that not everything is so serious.

Taoism taught me to focus on the process and not to be attached to preconceived ideas of what I thought the outcome should be.

Be content with what thou hast received, and smooth thy frowning forehead, for the door of choice is not open either to thee or me.

No matter how many times I tell you this, you're still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, coming to conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely. You have to let go so completely that you will feel no body, no mind, no pain, nothing.

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?

Without our stories, we are not only able to act clearly and fearlessly, we are also a friend, a listener. We are people living happy lives. We are appreciation and gratitude that have become as natural as breath itself. Happiness is the natural state for someone who knows that there's nothing to know and that we already have everything we need, right here now.