The Tao Made Easy Quotes

“The Tao, which is the Force, is fully present, alive, and unassailable by the illusions that cloud our vision as we plod through a world of shadows and distortions.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“When you express your true delight, you make the world a better place.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“When you are excited about reaching a goal, you are connected to the source of life. Many people judge or dismiss passion as being self-indulgent, but authentic passion moves us to fulfill our soul’s mission, attract abundance and success, and serve humanity.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Therefore the wise are guided by what they feel and not by what they see, Letting go of that and choosing this. —12”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“You cannot afford to allow your happiness to depend on any external situation. You must find the source of your happiness within you. Then nothing in the outside world will be able to remove your peace.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Man’s [or woman’s] rejection is God’s protection.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“What was, was. What is, is. Be true to what is, rather than clinging to an old form. Then you will create new meaningful relationships that match who you are and what you want.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“our history is not our destiny. At any moment we are free to make new choices and create a new destiny.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“You are good not for what you do, but for who you are. When you recognize your deep inherent value, you make wise decisions that lead to greater good for you and everyone involved. Lao Tse would say, “Trust what you are, and all that you do will bless the world.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“You should look within for your answers. Your life is not determined by the stars. It is determined by your state of mind and the choices you make. Regardless of how the stars are configured, you are in charge of your journey. Make healthy choices, and even if adversity comes, the Tao will show you how to use it for your benefit.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Be grateful, then, that you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, or fed up with what is not feeding you. Toleration of dysfunction only keeps it in force. Refuse to put up with what is not working, and you will find your way to your perfect place in the Great Design.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“If we allowed ourselves to face and feel the pain in our lives, it would serve its function to get our attention to recognize that we have stepped away from the Tao and we need to get back on course. It is said, “Love how much you hate it.” If you are doing something you find repulsive, or you have had a bad experience, use your disgust as a motivator to change direction. When you are sick of it enough you will do something about it. A Course in Miracles tells us, Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“The spiritual path is not a learning curve. It is a refresher course. You were born knowing. Then you were educated out of knowing. Now you need to be reeducated into remembering. The journey of enlightenment is not one of doing. It is of undoing. You must undo the debilitating illusions that have been laid over your majestic self. The goal of living is to become what you already are.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“If I have even just a little sense, I will walk on the main road and my only fear will be of straying from it.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. —ALBERT SCHWEITZER”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Life is not happening to you. Life is responding to you. —AUTHOR UNKNOWN”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Give yourself space to be what you are. Give others space to be what they are. Then everything will make itself clear.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. —HOWARD THURMAN”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Lighten up and do what makes you happy.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Eventually each of us comes to the point where we realize that how we were taught to live is not the way we were born to live. Mega-successful British playwright Tom Stoppard wrote, “It’s the best possible time to be alive, when almost everything you thought you knew is wrong!” At a crucial instant each of us starts trusting our inner guidance more than others’ opinions or directives. Facing this crossroad can be frightening, as it may call us to make changes in our life that others might not approve of. You may even have to reinvent yourself. Yet it is liberating to recognize that you have more choices and freedom than you realized. Such a moment marks the beginning of your true spiritual path.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“It takes courage to leave behind the world you have been taught is so important, and instead claim what is right for you. Ultimately we must, as Walt Whitman urged, “Dismiss whatever insults your soul.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Nothing in the world is permanent, including hard times. Hang in there, be kind to yourself, stay connected to your spiritual source, and you will emerge with unexpected gifts. That’s a promise.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“The human psyche is a strange creation. We believe that the known is always preferable to the unknown, even if the known sucks.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“When a relationship has served its purpose, there is no use to try to hang onto it.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“self-mastery is the goal of life, and controlling, bullying, or needing to fix others is a distraction from our true purpose.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Sometimes you can change the environment. Always you can change your mind. If you can change your environment from a sense of positive vision, you will succeed. Remember to work toward what you want rather than against what you resist.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Forced change is not true change;”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“When a step is aligned with your well-being and that of everyone involved, universal intelligence will make it happen. The Tao has your back.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“I think that what you are most passionate about is the strongest magnet to bring you reward on many levels.” When we release what was, then what is or what could be has space to be born. Children are the happiest people on the planet because they are not dragging the baggage of a long heavy past around with them. If they trip and fall or get upset, they get over it quickly. Nor are they pondering or planning what comes next. The now moment provides them with all the entertainment and fulfillment they need. At some point we all got hung up on time and we abandoned the current moment. We have distracted ourselves with what is not here. Yet the now moment is always available for us to reclaim our soul. At any instant we can step back into heaven. Lao Tse would urge us to pitch our tent right here, the only place life truly lives.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World

“Likewise, in many relationships there is a period of ripeness during which we connect and uplift each other’s lives. When that phase is complete, it is time to move on. Attempting to hold on will only create frustration and delay the next golden intersection. As much as we would like to hold on to sweet situations forever, we must let go when they have run their course. This is the way of the Tao. Lest you grow wistful because golden intersections do not last forever, take comfort in knowing that (1) you can still love and appreciate the person and the time you shared even if you are no longer together; (2) there is always another (often better) golden intersection coming to replace the one that ended; and (3) some golden relationships do last a lifetime and perhaps many lifetimes. The Great Way, Lao Tse would assure us, is never devoid of gold.”
― Alan Cohen, The Tao Made Easy: Timeless Wisdom to Navigate a Changing World