12 Quotes & Sayings By David Richo

David Richo is an American writer, speaker, and therapist. He has published over 20 books on the subject of spirituality, including The Secret of the Universe, The Road Less Traveled, and The Way of The Superior Man. Richo was the director of the Los Angeles-based Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality until his retirement in 2014. He also runs a private practice in Beverly Hills Read more

His clients have included Kevin Sorbo, Peter Jennings, Vanna White, Carl Reiner, Alicia Silverstone, John Tesh, Christiane Northrup, Terri Guillemets, Christopher Reeve, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez and Matt LeBlanc.

1
The more invested I am in my own ideas about reality, the more those experiences will feel like victimizations rather than the ups and downs of relating. Actually, I believe that the less I conceptualize things that way, the more likely it is that people will want to stay by me, because they will not feel burdened, consciously or unconsciously, by my projections, judgments, entitlements, or unrealistic expectations. David Richo
Our wounds are often the openings into the best and...
2
Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us. David Richo
When we feel unsafe with someone and still stay with...
3
When we feel unsafe with someone and still stay with him, we damage our ability to discern trustworthiness in those we will meet in the future. David Richo
4
The opposite of interpersonal trust is not mistrust. It is despair. This is because we have given up on believing that trustworthiness and fulfillment are possible from others. We have lost our hope in our fellow humans. David Richo
The foundation of adult trust is not
5
The foundation of adult trust is not "You will never hurt me." It is "I trust myself with whatever you do. David Richo
6
Trust in someone means that we no longer have to protect ourselves. We believe we will not be hurt or harmed by the other, at least not deliberately. We trust his or her good intentions, though we know we might be hurt by the way circumstances play out between us. We might say that hurt happens; it’s a given of life. Harm is inflicted; it’s a choice some people make. David Richo
7
Our identity is like a kaleidoscope. With each turn we reset it not to a former or final state but to a new one that reflects the here-and-now positions of the pieces we have to work with. The design is always new because the shifts are continual. That is what makes kaleidoscopes, and us, so appealing and beautiful. David Richo
8
In a true you-and- I relationship, we are present mindfully, nonintrusively, the way we are present with things in nature. We do not tell a birch tree it should be more like an elm. We face it with no agenda, only an appreciation that becomes participation: 'I love looking at this birch' becomes 'I am this birch' and then 'I and this birch are opening to a mystery that transcends and holds us both. David Richo
9
In the hero stories, the call to go on a journey takes the form of a loss, an error, a wound, an unexplainable longing, or a sense of a mission. When any of these happens to us, we are being summoned to make a transition. It will always mean leaving something behind, ... The paradox here is that loss is a path to gain. David Richo
10
Humility means accepting reality with no attempt to outsmart it. David Richo
11
Our tears are precious, necessary, and part of what make us such endearing creatures. David Richo