Giving kindness does as much good as receiving it...Kind people are healthier and live longer. Piero Ferrucci More Quotes by Piero Ferrucci More Quotes From Piero Ferrucci There is no choice between being kind to others, and being kind to ourselves. It is the same thing. Piero Ferrucci be-kindchoiceskind Kindness, as we will see, has many facets. But its essence is as simple as can be. We will find that kindness is a way of making _less_ effort. It is the most economic attitude there is, because it saves us much energy that we might otherwise waste in suspicion, worry, resentment, manipulation, or unnecessary defense. It is an attitude that, by eliminating the inessential, brings us back to the simplicity of being. Piero Ferrucci simplekindnessattitude To act honestly- even at the risk of saying the unpleasant truth, or of saying no and causing distress to others- if done with intelligence and tact, is the kindest thing to do because it respects our own integrity and acknowledges in others the capacity to be competent and mature. Piero Ferrucci riskdoneintegrity Something similar happens on the other side of the equation: Giving kindness does us as much good as receiving it. . . . The true benefit of kindness is being kind. Perhaps more than any other factor, kindness gives meaning and value to our life, raises us above our troubles and our battles, and makes us feel good about ourselves. Piero Ferrucci feel-goodkindnessgiving Whether we are aware of it or not, every act of trust carries with it a shiver of fear. A favorable situation can become dangerous. Deep down we know that life is insecure and precarious. However, if we do trust, the shiver carries with it a philosophical optimism: Life, with all its traps and horrors, is good The bet is implicit in trust itself. If we could be sure of everyone and everything, trust would have no value - like money, if it were suddenly limitless, or sunshine, if there were always fine weather, or life, if we were to live forever Piero Ferrucci insecuresunshinephilosophical Being kind is the simplest way to become who we really are. Piero Ferrucci be-kindkindway In trusting, we let ourselves go. We know that all kinds of unexpected events may come our way. Our tension eases, our mind and our hearts open spontaneously to be possibilities. It is an ever new state of mind, in the present moment, because we have detached from all we know. But it is also a feeling as old as can be, because, before all betrayals and all disappointments, there was a time in which trusting another was the very substance of our life. Piero Ferrucci betrayaldisappointmentheart Awareness by itself is not enough: it must be joined by mastery. We need gradually to develop a steering ability to keep ourselves from slipping mechanically into this or that sub-personality. Thus we become able to identify with each part of our being as we wish. We can have more choice. It is the difference between being impotently transported by a roller coaster and, instead, driving a car and being able to choose which way to go and for what purpose to make the journey. Piero Ferrucci differencesjourneymotivational Eliminate something superfluous from your life. Break a habit. Do something that makes you feel insecure. Piero Ferrucci insecureadventurelife The word humility (also human) is derived from the Latin humus, meaning the soil. Perhaps this is not simply because it entails stooping and returning to earthly origins, but also because, as we are rooted in this earth of everyday life, we find in it all the vitality and fertility unnoticed by people who merely tramp on across the surface, drawn by distant landscapes. Piero Ferrucci humilitylatinpeople If kindness has falseness at its base, it is no longer kindness. It is labored courtesy. Piero Ferrucci falsenesscourtesykindness How often-even before we began-have we declared a task 'impossible'? And how often have we construed a picture of ourselves as being inadequate?...A great deal depends upon the thought patterns we choose and on the persistence with which we affirm them. Piero Ferrucci persistencepatternstasks We are used to thinking in terms of what we can teach our children. Maybe we need to ask ourselves what we may learn from them. Piero Ferrucci childrenneedsthinking The factors that contributed to my growth were many - finding someone who understood me, exploring the unconscious, awakening my latent love . . . but one star is brightest among all: the self. I found the source of livingness inside me, something I didn't even know existed. Piero Ferrucci growthstarsself If we live in the here and now, each moment is a surprise, every instant a new wonder. But it often fails to work this way. Onto the present we superimpose our expectations and opinions, based on the past or future. We meet someone, and we already anticipate what he/she will be like and what they will say. Piero Ferrucci expectationswaypast The transition from rebellion to acceptance has an extremely important consequence. . . in which we start seeing life as a training school, to teach us what we need to learn. Piero Ferrucci trainingacceptanceschool If we could be sure of everyone and everything, trust would have no value Piero Ferrucci valuesifs It's all really very simple. You don't have to choose between being kind to yourself and others. It's one and the same. Piero Ferrucci be-kindkindsimple We can proceed according to the planned itinerary, strenuously trying to make life conform to our needs, or we can adapt to whatever we meet and flow without effort. Piero Ferrucci effortmomtrying Inspiration comes whenever it wants, even at the most unlikely times and in the most inappropriate situations. Often it arrives bit by bit. Therefore it must be anchored, and this is where a most valuable item makes its appearance: the notebook. Piero Ferrucci notebookinspirationwant
