Quotes from David J. Lieberman

When we rise above our temptations and resist them, we exercise self-control. And that's when we experience true freedom and emotional health.

We can find reasons to dislike anyone. But it's what you focus on and appreciate in a person that cultivates a positive relationship.

Freedom is the crux of self-respect. It is difficult to feel good about ourselves when we are unnaturally dependent on someone or something.

The next time you make a snap judgment about a situation, take a few moments to understand an opposing viewpoint.

Studies show that when we vocalize an opinion, whether or not we believe it to be true, in time we usually come to support it.

Sometimes people who adamantly assert an opinion or view don't even hold it themselves.

The guilty are uncomfortable with silence.

When a person gives, he loves the object of his giving more -- and so love is planted and grows.

True freedom is not about being able to do whatever we feel like doing; rather, it is about being able to do what we truly want to do, in spite of what we feel like doing at the moment.

Our focus is our reality. What we choose to focus on becomes our world. It produces our thoughts, values, attitudes, and beliefs.

Whenever you are questioning a person's desire for something, consider what he does, not necessarily what he says.

The pursuit of comfort is basically the avoidance of life and not only denies us genuine pleasure but also short-circuits the entirety of our well-being.

Psychologist and marketing guru Ernest Dichter, known as the "father of motivational research," explains that when human beings become fearful, most will regress to soothing, even infantile, behaviors and animalistic drives to distract themselves from, and channel, their anxiety.

Forgiveness doesn't mean that we deny the hurt, forget that it happened, or recuse the offender of responsibility or accountability; it means that we're not going to destroy our potential, to harm us anymore. At its core, forgiveness is a choice to give up our role as a victim.

We need to love ourselves in order to feel good about who we are. This love is called self-esteem.

Learn the best psychological strategy to help keep any employee or customer from ever leaving you.

But wait a minute! Doesn't misery love company? Actually it does. Miserable people like to be around others who are just as annoyed with life as they are. But this quality does not make them like these people more. Someone who feels miserable enjoys

The ego corrupts our mindset in five ways: (a) It chooses what we focus on, (b) it makes what we see all about us, (c) it concludes that all negative experiences are due to a deficiency within ourselves, (d) it magnifies the relevance of our focus, and (e) it causes us to believe that we can think our way out of a situation that is beyond our control or understand something that is unknowable.

commiserating and complaining with another miserable individual, but the minute he's in a good mood he will abandon the toxic, annoying person. He seeks solace with somebody who feels as he does, but when he no longer feels that way he will instantly leave this relationship. This is because he never liked the person (at least not for this similarity); he enjoyed only the shared attitude.

The lower our self-esteem in general—and how much the uncomfortable truth affects our self-image in particular—the more fearful we become.

If you give out of fear or guilt, your self-esteem is not enriched; indeed, it is only diminished. You aren't really giving; the other person is taking. You are being taken advantage of, with your consent.

Take a simple scenario: a child does not listen to a parent. • Guilt (Maybe I've done a poor job parenting.) • Disrespect (How dare he not listen to me!) • Rejection (He doesn't love me.) • Embarrassment (If others are around, what do they think of me?) • Fear (What's going to become of him? What will become of our relationship?) • Injustice (After all I've done for him.)

you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy and angry all of the days of your life."9

Whenever you are questioning a person's desire for something, consider what he does, not necessarily what he says.