Quotes About Self-awareness

Because in prayer I expand my sense of how I have offended God. And I thereby lower my sense of how much others have offended me. Prayer is changing me.

When I embrace God for who He is and I understand who I am—when I know God's place, I can know my place—then things start to fall into place.

When John O'Malley was a Jesuit novice, an older priest told him three things to remember when living in community: First, you're not God. Second, this isn't heaven. Third, don't be an ass.

Religion can provide a check to my tendency to think that I am the center of the universe, that I know better than anyone about God, and that God speaks most clearly through me.

Merton wrote, "Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: the false self." With his typical insight, Merton identifies the false self as the person that we wish to present to the world, and the person we want the whole world to revolve around: Thus

The second step in the examen is asking for the grace to "know my sins," to see where you have turned away from the deepest part of yourself, the part that calls you to God. Where did you act contrary to your better judgment or to God's voice inside you, to the divine spark within?

Twice a day, or at least once, make your particular examens. Be careful never to omit them. So live as to make more account of your own good conscience than you do of those of others; for he who is not good in regard to himself, how can he be good in regard to others?

Some of the best advice from Jesuits on human relationships comes in earthy ways. When John O'Malley was a Jesuit novice, an older priest told him three things to remember when living in community: First, you're not God. Second, this isn't heaven. Third, don't be an ass. Had I followed those guidelines earlier, I could have saved myself years of self-induced heartache.

Desire is a primary way that God leads people to discover who they are and what they are meant to do.

A Deep Sense of Humor Let me have too deep a sense of humor ever to be proud. Let me know my absurdity before I act absurdly. Let me realize that when I am humble I am most human, most truthful, and most worthy of your serious consideration. —Daniel Lord, S.J. (1888–1955)

There I was, "striving to be something I would never want to be.

Dragons know nothing of human hearts. The loveliest woman never sees her own beauty with her eyes until she sees it with her heart.

Geniuses don't become geniuses until they find the right moron to compare themselves to.

What Dougie had actually said was You shouldn't get too up your own arse about being a dad. You get a wee man or a wee lassie to play with for a bit and the next thing you know there's this superfluous person knocking about who doesn't seem to know much about you, but it's all your fault.

The issue is whether we are ever willing to drop the veil and openly acknowledge, if only to ourselves, that we have freely chosen to face the world through a mask.

Tell them what they already know. There's a good chance the interviewer already has a few ideas about your weaknesses and is keen to have those ideas confirmed or contextualized.

How often feelings are circular. How embarrassing to be embarrassed. How annoying to be annoyed.

Beware of knowing your virtues; you may lose them. Beware of knowing your vices; you may forgive them.

The best way to know your faults is to notice which ones you accuse others of.

Embarrassment is the greatest teacher, but since its lessons are exactly those we have tried hardest to conceal from ourselves, it may teach us, also, to perfect our self-deception.

My best critic is me, too late.

One must be humble enough to recognize one's limitations, to know when further knowledge is needed.

Man, know thyself, and thou wilt know the universe and the gods. —INSCRIPTION AT THE TEMPLE OF DELPHI

There is no bore we dread being left alone with so much as our own minds.