It sounded, I told him, as if he had never learned to balance projecting goals into the future with appreciating and living in the present.. To the extent that our goal is to "prove" ourselves or ward off the fear of failure, this balance is difficult to achieve. We are too driven. Not joy but anxiety is our motor. But if our aim is self-expression rather than self-justification, the balance tends to come more naturally. We will still need to think about its daily implementation, but the anxiety of wounded self-esteem will not make the task nearly impossible. Nathaniel Branden
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  2. In youth, it was a way I had, To do my best to please. And change, with every passing lad To suit his theories. But now I know the things I know And do the things I do, And if you do not like me... - Dorothy Parker
  3. You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and... - Sharon Salzberg
  4. That's what real love amounts to - letting a person be what he really is. Most people love you for who you pretend to be. To keep their love, you keep pretending - performing. You get to love your pretence. <span style="margin:15px; display:block"></span>It's true, we're... - Jim Morrison
  5. It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being. - John Joseph Powell
More Quotes By Nathaniel Branden
  1. I am responsible for my own existence and happiness.
  2. All positive interactions with other human beings involve, to some degree, the experience of visibility-- that is, the experience of being seen and understood.
  3. Fear and pain should be treated as signals not to close our eyes but to open them wider.
  4. Self-discipline is the ability to organize your behavior over time in the service of specific goals.
  5. The challenge for people today--and it is not and easy one--is to maintain high personal standards even while feeling that one is living in a moral sewer.
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