... the stranger is not a threat but an opportunity to grow in my view of reality, to grow in my own sense of possibility Parker J. Palmer More Quotes by Parker J. Palmer More Quotes From Parker J. Palmer Spirituality is not primarily about values and ethics, not about exhortations to do right or live well. The spiritual traditions are primarily about reality...an effort to penetrate the illusions of the external world and to name its underlying truth. Parker J. Palmer spiritual names reality In a culture of technique, we often confuse authority with power, but the two are not the same. Power works from the outside in, but authority works from the inside out. . . . I am painfully aware of the times in my own teaching when I lose touch with my inner teacher and therefore with my own authority. In those times I try to gain power by barricading myself behind the podium and my status while wielding the threat of grades. . . . Authority comes as I reclaim my identity and integrity, remembering my selfhood and my sense of vocation. Parker J. Palmer teaching teacher integrity The highest form of love is the love that allows for intimacy without the annihilation of difference. Parker J. Palmer intimacy differences love Wholeness does not mean perfection: it means embracing brokenness as an integral part of life. Knowing this gives me hope that human wholeness - mine, yours, ours - need not be a utopian dream, if we can use devastation as a seedbed for new life Parker J. Palmer knowing dream mean Each time a door closes, the rest of the world opens up. Parker J. Palmer doors world We think it's about little techniques and tricks, but techniques only take you so far. We need teachers who care about kids, who care about what they teach, and who can communicate with kids. Parker J. Palmer education teacher kids Everybody is on a lifelong journey toward trying to live more deeply. There is nobody who can say, "Well, I've got that one checked off my to-do list." We have to be honest with ourselves about where we are on this journey and about the difficulty of living in our own identities and integrity. Parker J. Palmer journey trying integrity I want to learn how to hold the paradoxical poles of my identity together, to embrace the profoundly opposite truths that my sense of self is deeply dependent on others dancing with me and that I still have a sense of self when no one wants to dance. Parker J. Palmer dancing self opposites Opposing what's wrong is a halfway measure at best. A rebel must also have a vision for something better, a strategy for moving toward that vision and a capacity to rally and join with others in achieving it. If the anger that drives rebellion is not transformed into the hope that inspires movement communities, it will do more harm than good. Parker J. Palmer community inspire moving People are always asking, "Is this person in front of me the same on the inside as he or she appears to be on the outside? Is there congruence between what's within that person and the words and actions I'm viewing and hearing externally?" Children ask that about their parents; students ask it about their teachers; parishioners ask it about their pastors and priests; employees ask it about their bosses; and in a democracy, citizens ask it about their political leaders. Parker J. Palmer teacher children people Humility is the only lens though which great things can be seen--and once we have seen them, humility is the only posture possible. Parker J. Palmer posture lenses humility A scholar is committed to building on knowledge that others have gathered, correcting it, confirming it, enlarging it. Parker J. Palmer scholar building committed We listen for guidance everywhere except from within. Parker J. Palmer guidance When someone says 'I'm so disillusioned', I say 'Congratulations! You've lost another illusion.' Parker J. Palmer illusion congratulations lost In a true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our companions will be given to us by grace. Often they will be persons who will upset our settled view of self and world. In fact, we might define true community as the place where the person you least want to live with always lives Parker J. Palmer choices self views Afraid that our inner light will be extinguished or our inner darkness exposed, we hide our true identities from each other. In the process, we become separated from our own souls. We end up living divided lives, so far removed from the truth we hold within that we cannot know the 'integrity that comes from being what you are. Parker J. Palmer true-identity light integrity How easily we get trapped in that which is not essential - in looking good, winning at competition, gathering power and wealth - when simply being alive is the gift beyond measure. Parker J. Palmer gratitude competition winning It's more important to be in right relationship than it is to be right. Parker J. Palmer important What do I want to let go of and what do I want to give myself to? Parker J. Palmer want letting-go giving Mentoring is a mutuality that requires more than meeting the right teacher: the teacher must meet the right student. Parker J. Palmer mentoring teaching teacher
