Douglas Carlton Abrams > Quotes

“When you are grateful,' Brother Steindl-Rast explained, 'you are not fearful, and when you are not fearful, you are not violent. When you are grateful, you act out of a sense of enough and not out of a sense of scarcity, and you are willing to share. If you are grateful, you are enjoying the differences between people and respectful to all people. The grateful world is a world of joyful people. Grateful people are joyful people. A grateful world is a happy world.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

“A true lover must know how to receive as well as to give.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“Seduction and passion are simply life longing for life”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“To give love to one who needs it is a far greater pleasure than to receive it.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“Is it the beloved who evokes love, or the lover who has love to give?”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“Scientists have long known that our brains have evolved with a negative bias. It was no doubt advantageous for our survival to focus on what was wrong or dangerous. Gratitude cuts across this default mode of the mind. It allows us to see what is good and right and not just what is bad and wrong.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

“My horse's back was wet with life, and I rejoiced in the beauty of every creature that groans and sweats.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“There was more pleasure in one kiss from the man I loved than in thousand nights with a stranger.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Lost Diary of Don Juan: An Account of the True Arts of Passion and the Perilous Adventure of Love

“Think about where you are suffering in your life and then think about all the other people who are going through a similar situation. This perhaps is quite literally the birth of compassion, which means “suffering with.” The incredible thing, the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop pointed out, was that this “suffering with” others reminds us that we are not alone, and actually lessens our own pain. This recognition of our interdependence begins to soften our rigid sense of self, the boundaries that separate us from others.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

“I was attempting to do something I had never done before, and whenever we challenge ourselves, fear and doubt are inevitable. I am not sure we ever vanquish these voices. Whenever we are at the edge of our ability and experience, they always whisper in our ears, their worried words. I have come to see that these voices are actually trying to keep us safe as they warn us away from the unfamiliar and the unknown, but this does not make their daggers of self-doubt any less painful.”
― Douglas Carlton Abrams, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World