The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

by Miguel Ruiz

In your whole life nobody has ever abused you more than you have abused yourself. And the limit of your self-abuse is exactly the limit that you will tolerate from someone else. If someone abuses you a little more than you abuse yourself, you will probably walk away from that person. But if someone abuses you a little less than you abuse yourself, you will probably stay in the relationship and tolerate it endlessly.

A sin is anything that you do which goes against yourself. Everything you feel or believe or say that goes against yourself is a sin. You go against yourself when you judge or blame yourself for anything. Being without sin is exactly the opposite. Being impeccable is not going against yourself. When you are impeccable, you take responsibility for your actions, but you do not judge or blame yourself.

Your opinion is nothing but your point of view.

It is not necessarily true. Your opinion comes from your beliefs, your own ego, and your own dream. We create all this poison and spread it to others just so we can feel right about our own point of view.

Personal importance, or taking things personally, is the maximum expression of selfishness because we make the assumption that everything is about “me.”

If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you. If that person doesn’t walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or her. Walking away may hurt for a while, but your heart will eventually heal. Then you can choose what you really want. You will find that you don’t need to trust others as much as you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.

You are never responsible for the actions of others; you are only responsible for you. When you truly understand this, and refuse to take things personally, you can hardly be hurt by the careless comments or actions of others.

Real love is accepting other people the way they are without trying to change them.

Third Agreement: Don’t make assumptions.

THE FOURTH AGREEMENT Always Do Your Best

Doing your best is a great habit to have.

Taking a shower is a ritual for me, and with that action I tell my body how much I love it.

If you live in a past dream, you don’t enjoy what is happening right now because you will always wish it to be different than it is.

You were born with the right to be happy. You were born with the right to love, to enjoy and to share your love. You are alive, so take your life and enjoy it.

Do not be concerned about the future; keep your attention on today, and stay in the present moment. Just live one day at a time.

That is the real meaning of a warrior. The warrior is one who rebels against the invasion of the parasite.

The way you see the world will depend upon the emotions you are feeling.

“I am awake, I see the sun. I am going to give my gratitude to the sun and to everything and everyone, because I am still alive. One more day to be myself.”