Quotes from Byron Katie

When you ask "Is it true?" for example, you may not really want to know. It could be that you'd rather stay with your statement than dive into the unknown. Blocking means rushing the process and answering with your conscious mind before the gentler polarity of mind (I call it "the heart") can answer.

Your story is your identity, and you'd do almost anything to prove that it's true. Inquiry into self is the only thing that has the power to penetrate such ancient concepts. Even

We don't hear what someone said; we imagine what they meant.

He is just like everyone else, except that he no longer believes that in this moment things should be different than they are. Therefore in all circumstances he remains at ease in the world, is efficient without the slightest effort, keeps his lightness of heart whatever happens, and, without intending to, acts with kindness toward himself and everyone else. He is who you are once you meet your mind with understanding.

When you stay out of your family's business, they notice that you have your stuff together and that you're happy, so they start to follow. You've taught them everything they know, and now they begin to learn again. And that's what happened with my children; they just don't see a lot of problems anymore, because in the presence of someone who doesn't have a problem, they can't hold on to one.

Flirtation, seduction, falling in love, and the whole romantic realm take place in a dreamy, trancelike state, alternating between hope and fear. One minute you think you may be rejected; the next minute you're excited about succeeding.

And that goes not only for mothers but for every human being you haven't forgiven yet. Every human being, every cat, dog, tree, thing—to be separate from anyone or anything goes against your heart. The only time those people or things are not okay is when you believe they're not.

Every no I say is a yes to myself. It feels right to me. People don't have to guess what I want or don't want, and I don't need to pretend. When you're honest about your yeses and noes, it's easy to live a kind life. People come and go in my life when I tell the truth, and they would come and go if I didn't tell the truth. I have nothing to gain one way, and everything to gain the other way. I don't leave myself guessing or guilty.

Heaven: "This is wonderful. I could stay here forever." Hell: "This is not quite perfect.

The unquestioned mind is the world of suffering.

You move totally away from reality when you believe that there is a legitimate reason to suffer.

In reality, the pain we feel about a past event is created in the present

If I believe I need something I don't have I'm insane.

Whatever happens is the best thing that could happen.

Whatever you get is what you need.

Hurt feelings or discomfort of any kind cannot be caused by another person. No one outside you can hurt you. That's not possible. Only when you believe a story about them can you be hurt. So you're the one who's hurting yourself. This is very good news, because it means that you don't have to get someone else to stop hurting you or to change in any way. You're the one who can stop hurting you. You're the only one.

You can argue with reality all you want, or you can stop arguing long enough to understand it and be free.

If you realized how beautiful you are, you would fall at your own feet.

The basic realization that other people can't possibly be your problem, that it's your thoughts about them that are the problem—this realization is huge. This one insight will shake your whole world, from top to bottom

How do I know I don't need what I want? I don't have it.

Problems can exist only in a past or future.

Everyone is a mirror image of yourself— your own thinking coming back at you.

I'm supposed to sleep at three o'clock in the morning"—is that true? I don't think so: I'm wide awake. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I get very excited. What could be better than sleep? Waking! I love lying in bed in the middle of the night with my eyes wide open, because that's what I'm doing. There's no thought that I should be doing anything else. I love all my thoughts.

Atheist, agnostic, Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, pagan—we all have one thing in common: we want happiness and peace.