Les Parrott III > Quotes

“spirit of gratitude acknowledges that others, including our spouse, friends, and God, gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives. Gratitude is a relationship-strengthening spirit. It’s more than a feeling. It’s an attitude, a habit, a choice, a motive, a way of life.3 Perhaps that’s why Cicero, the Roman philosopher, said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“When we empty ourselves of our self-centered desires, when we surrender our desire to get our way, we are filled with grace. Each act of kindness improves our relationships. Each act of self-giving love expands our life.”
― Les Parrott III, Love Like That: 5 Relationship Secrets from Jesus

“The sun only shines, just as God only loves. It is the nature of the sun to shine, to offer warmth and light. And it is the nature of God to love. We are free to get away from the sun, we can lock ourselves in a dark room, but we do not keep the sun from shining just because we put ourselves in a place where it cannot reach us. So it is with God’s love. We can reject it, but God keeps on loving us. No matter what our choices, God still loves. And because God loves us, a relationship with God is possible.”
― Les and Leslie Parrott, Real Relationships: From Bad to Better and Good to Great

“  Better a dry crust eaten in peace than a house filled with feasting—and conflict. Proverbs 17:1”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. e. e. cummings”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“When feel-good happiness becomes more important than value-based happiness, hedonism rears its head. And narcissism isn’t far behind. Feeling good becomes the ultimate goal. Toughing it out and self-sacrifice are avoided at all costs. Self-seeking indulgence becomes the name of the game.”
― Les Parrott III, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“So here’s the question: Are you willing to put yourself second in order to put another person first? Are you willing to be changed? I want to say it again: once you empathize with another, you become a different person—maybe slightly, maybe significantly. But be assured, you change. You don’t look at that person—whether it be a friend, your spouse, your child, a coworker, or a total stranger—the same way again. Every act of accurate empathy is like a little carving from a sculptor’s chisel, causing you to have a slightly new perspective. It can’t be helped. When you imagine what life must be like in the other person’s skin, you change. Empathy shapes you. It fashions a heart that is more closely aligned with Jesus.”
― Les Parrott III, Love Like That: 5 Relationship Secrets from Jesus

“By definition, the addict replaces normal human relationships with compulsive behavior that is out of control. The spouse who is married to an addict feels the loss, tries to deny it exists, and typically becomes angry. In spite of their despair—or perhaps because of it—they go to extreme lengths to preserve the exterior world of their addicted spouse and their once-happy home.”
― Les Parrott III, The Complete Guide to Marriage Mentoring: Connecting Couples to Build Better Marriages

“Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with. Peter Marshall”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. Mother Teresa”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“Make no mistake about it: emotional intimacy in marriage is one of the single most important wellsprings of happiness a couple can ever find.”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“Her Journal Tonight, my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. Conversation wasn’t flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn’t say much. I asked him what was wrong. He said, “Nothing.” I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn’t upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly and kept driving. When we got home, he just sat there quietly and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About fifteen minutes later he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep. I don’t know what to do. His Journal Rough day. Boat wouldn’t start, can’t figure out why.”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.”
― Les Parrott III, 25 Ways to a Happier Marriage

“Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody. Samuel Pepys”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say. Ralph Waldo Emerson”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God’s holy ordinance . . . In your love you see only the heaven of your happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility toward the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is something more than personal—it is a status, an office . . . that joins you together in the sight of God. Have”
― Les Parrott III, 25 Ways to a Happier Marriage

“Let”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“Grief and addiction have something in common: denial. The loss of a stable marriage because of addictive involvement generates despair, anger, and loneliness. And because the loss is not as tangible as other losses (the addict is still present), losing a loved one to addiction has the potential of keeping one stuck indefinitely in the early stages of grief—guaranteed to be the undoing of any relationship.”
― Les Parrott III, The Complete Guide to Marriage Mentoring: Connecting Couples to Build Better Marriages

“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations. Michael J. Fox”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said. Peter F. Drucker”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“Human infants," writes psychologist Martin Seligman, "begin life more helpless than infants of any other species. In the course of the next decade or two, some acquire a sense of mastery over their surroundings; others acquire a profound sense of helplessness.”
― Les Parrott III, The Control Freak

“True”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“God gave us the power to imagine the future but gave us no power to control it.”
― Les Parrott III, The Control Freak

“Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you. H. Jackson Brown Jr.”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family. Anthony Brandt”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
― Parrott Les, Making Happy: The Art and Science of a Happy Marriage

“To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you have to be in their lives today. Anonymous”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal

“The first duty of love is to listen. Paul Tillich”
― Les Parrott III, The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal