The truth is that stress doesn't come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about these circumstances. Andrew Bernstein More Quotes by Andrew Bernstein More Quotes From Andrew Bernstein Many argue that Christianity is "different" from other religions - that it is primarily about love of one's fellow man. The Crusades, The Inquisition, Calvin's Geneva all prove that this is not the case. These events were pre-eminently about obedience to authority. Andrew Bernstein atheism fellow-man men The less you think counterfactually, the less you experience stress. Stress, in this light, isn't a bad thing. It's simply a warning system telling you that your mind has lost touch with what's real. Andrew Bernstein stress real thinking Here is the tragedy of theology in its distilled essence: The employment of high-powered human intellect, of genius, of profoundly rigorous logical deduction—studying nothing. In the Middle Ages, the great minds capable of transforming the world did not study the world; and so, for most of a millennium, as human beings screamed in agony—decaying from starvation, eaten by leprosy and plague, dying in droves in their twenties—the men of the mind, who could have provided their earthly salvation, abandoned them for otherworldly fantasies. Andrew Bernstein agony essence men A hero holds purposes appropriate to man and is, therefore, a thinker. Andrew Bernstein purpose hero men Statism – the subordination of the individual to the state - Andrew Bernstein oppression individual states For the first time in history, the rational and the good are fully armed in the battle against evil. Here we finally find the answer to our paradox; now we can understand the nature of the social power held by evil. Ultimately, the evil, the irrational, truly has no power. The evil men’s control of morality is transient; it lives on borrowed time made possible only by the errors of the good. In time, as more honest men grasp the truth, evil’s stranglehold will be easily broken. Andrew Bernstein errors evil men Even in this secular country, the threat posed by religious fundamentalists is never very far away. Every major religious text exhorts the same principles - that of unyielding obedience to a supernatural being, and renunciation of the intellect and personal aspirations. Andrew Bernstein supernatural-beings religious country You can't tell yourself that your stress is produced in your head and feel better. You still need to learn how to create a change. Andrew Bernstein stress feel-better needs When a friend is sick, I see the situation for what it is, not what it isn't, and I offer to help as much as she wants, not as much as I want. Andrew Bernstein sick want helping To believe that your husband, wife, parents, kids, boss, job, bank account, or body is even partly responsible for your emotions, to think that there are bullets 'out there' that you have to contend with, that there are stressful life events to overcome, is to miss something vital. Andrew Bernstein husband jobs believe The more you worry, the more you throw off the delicate balance of hormones required for health. Andrew Bernstein hormones balance worry The elusive truth is that there is nothing stress-producing in the physical world. Things simply are. Molecules move. Light and sound appear. Andrew Bernstein stress light moving Stress is never a given. There are people who get divorced amicably. There are people who pack up and move with no emotional toll. There is no stressor 'out there' in the world. We experience stress - or we don't - depending on what we believe. Andrew Bernstein stress believe moving People often say that stress is a motivator. What we're referring to when we say this is really better described as stimulation and engagement. Andrew Bernstein engagement stress people People around the world now complain about stressors everyday, and the word shows up throughout professional and lay literature. But in reality there is no such thing as a stressor. Why not? Because nothing has the inherent power to provoke stress. Andrew Bernstein stress reality people Find the beliefs that are strangling your feelings, challenge them for your sake as well as theirs, and see how it feels to love someone without a thought about the future, simply for who they are today. Andrew Bernstein challenges feelings today Some people are so used to experiencing stress that they don't remember what life was like without it. Andrew Bernstein stress remember people First, he must hold rational values, and to do this he must be a thinker. Andrew Bernstein first he rational values
