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If we do not believe in ourselves- neither in our efficacy nor in our goodness- the universe is a frightening place.

Nathaniel Branden

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Nathaniel Branden
Age: 84 †
Born: 1930
Born: April 9
Died: 2014
Died: December 3
Academic
Non-Fiction Writer
Psychologist
Psychotherapist
Universe
Place
Believe
Efficacy
Frightening
Goodness
Neither

More quotes by Nathaniel Branden

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Feel deeply to think clearly.
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Integrity is congruence between what you know, what you profess, and what you do.
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The reputation you have with yourself - your self-esteem - is the single most important factor for a fulfilling life.
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An emotion is both a mental and a physical event.
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The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
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Integrity is the integration of ideals, convictions, standards, beliefs-and behavior. When our behavior is congruent with our professed values, when ideals and practice match up, we have integrity.
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When we bury our feelings, we also bury ourselves. It means we exist in a state of alienation. We rarely know it, but we are lonely for ourselves.
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Respect starts with ourselves.
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To exist without purpose is to be at the mercy of the chance encounter, the chance invitation, the chance phone call, the chance event- always being controlled by forces external to oneself.
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If we do have realistic confidence in our mind and value, if we feel secure within ourselves, we tend to experience the world as open to us and to respond appropriately to challenges and opportunities.
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It is painful to face the self we know we have never had the integrity to honor and assert.
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The ultimate test of our integrity is not how we deal with those whom we agree but how we deal with those who we do not agree.
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Our motive is not to prove our self-worth, but to live up to our possibilities.
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Fear and pain should be treated as signals not to close our eyes but to open them wider.
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It is naive to think that self-assertiveness is easy. To live self-assertively--which means to live authentically--is an act of high courage. That is why so many people spend the better part of their lives in hiding--from others and also from themselves.
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The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body. The child's primary business is learning. It is also the primary entertainment. To retain that orientation into adulthood, so that consciousness is not a burden but a joy, is the mark of the successfully developed human being.
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As you grow in self-esteem, your face, manner, way of talking and moving will tend naturally to project the pleasure you take in being alive.
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If we attach more importance to what other people believe than to what we know to be true - if we value belonging over being - we will not attain authenticity.
Nathaniel Branden
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Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from within. We are encouraged to ignore our own needs and wants and to concentrate on living up to others expectations.
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The world belongs to those who persevere.
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