George Saunders Quotes

The author isn't altogether certain that there is any such thing as exaggeration. Our brains permit us to use such a wee fraction of their resources that, in a sense, everything we experience is a reduction. We employ drugs, yoga techniques and poetics - and a thousand more clumsy methods - in an effort just to bring things back up to normal.

The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.

The mind controls everything; it really does.

The most valuable real estate in the world lies between the president's ears.

Much of our brainpower goes unused, and many people could benefit greatly from optimizing their mental assets.

If we could find a way to totally empower half of the brains in America, imagine how much more productive we could be.

The individual is the brain, not the heart.

Spirit is the life, the mind the builder the physical the result

Medication is of course important but do not conclude that a pill dissolving in your stomach is necessarily more powerful than a healing thought in your mind.

One of the ideas that runs through this book [Lincoln in the Bardo] is this Buddhist notion that the mind is incredibly powerful; not the brain but the mind.

To promote the healing response, you must get past all the grosser levels of the body - cells, tissues, organs and systems -- and arrive at a junction point between mind and matter, the point where consciousness actually starts to have an effect.

The single most powerful asset we all have is our mind. If it is trained well, it can create enormous wealth in what seems to be an instant.

Our intellect, our awareness, and our consciousness is the most powerful form of life on this planet.

Now here is a key: you want to make it real and present in the realm of your consciousness. You don't say "I'm going to do such and such" - it already has happened. Now, is consciousness real? It exists and it is very powerful. The idea is to have this mesh between your consciousness - your visualization - and the so-called material world.

Life happens from within. How aware you are of it, decides the quality of your body, your mind, and your experience of life.

Be aware of the words that go into your mind, both conscious and unconscious, because words and ideas can be great tools for your mind to use in coming to appropriate decisions. Remember that a statement spoken in spiritual consciousness can contain great spiritual power. Speaking powerful words of love changes things and outer circumstances as well as consciousness itself.

A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless.

You can indeed be aware of your body, but you can also be aware of your mind - you can right now notice all the thoughts and ideas and images floating in front of the mind's inward eye. You can, in other words, experience your mind, be aware of your mind. And it's very important to experience your mind directly, cleanly, intensely, because only by bringing awareness to the mind can you begin to transcend the mind and be free of its limitations.

The finer the instrument, the greater the power. The mind is much finer and more powerful than the body.

...consciousness can keep only a few images in full clarity at one time, and even this clarity fluctuates.

If you consciously let your body take care of you, it will become your greatest ally and trusted partner.

My view is that our minds are incredibly powerful animals that are, during life, kept somewhat in check by the load of our bodies. Once that load is gone (or so some ancient texts teach us) the mind is like a horse off the tether. So the habits we get into here might have something to do with what happens to us afterwards. An exciting but harrowing idea, given the everyday state of my mind. But also hopeful, since that's something a person can work with.

When you get into your car, after you close the door, pause for a few seconds and observe the flow of your breath. Become aware of a silent but powerful sense of presence.

I don't believe that consciousness is generated by the brain. I believe that the brain is more of a reciever of consciousness.

My biggest resource is my mind.