Toni Bernhard Quotes & Sayings

Life is suffering" is misleading for at least two reasons. First, the Buddha used an ancient Indian language similar to Sanskrit called Pali, and the word he used in Pali for the first noble truth, dukkha, is difficult to translate. Dukkha is too multifaceted and nuanced a term to be captured in the one-word translation "suffering." And second, the fact of dukkha in our lives doesn't mean that life is only dukkha. — Toni Bernhard

I believe that we belittle survivors by assuming that they will fail. — Toni Bernhard

People can be at their most vulnerable, but still tenacious at the same time. — Toni Bernhard

What is embarrassment? In general, embarrassment is an emotional response to an innocent mistake. The major reason that some of us are embarrassment-prone is that we've been conditioned to set unrealistically high expectations for ourselves and to judge ourselves negatively when we can't possibly meet those standards. A second reason that makes us susceptible to embarrassment is that we've been taught to take our cue in evaluating ourselves from what we assume (often erroneously) to be others' opinions of us. — Toni Bernhard

Behind every stressful thought is the desire for things to be other than they are. — Toni Bernhard

t can be eye-opening to think of some of the unrealistic expectations we hold ourselves to. These are the "shoulds" we set up in our lives which then become the breeding ground for embarrassment: I should never spill a drink; I should never lose my footing, even on slippery pavement; I should never misunderstand another person's behavior (the latter misunderstanding having constituted my "chrysalis crime.") — Toni Bernhard

You can argue with the way things are. You'll lose, but only 100% of the time. - BYRON KATIE — Toni Bernhard