The Courage to Be Yourself Quotes

“Expecting people to read your mind hardly ever gets you what you desire.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Because we fear other people's reactions and don't know how to respond, we allow them to violate our limits and boundaries.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“If I could identify one core problem about the world, it's that we've been taught to distrust ourselves. SHAKTI GAWAIN”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“We aren't to blame for our fears, but it is up to us to decide how we'll handle them. We are responsible for choosing ways that lead us toward making the most of this gift of life.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“We all need to feel understood and connected to ourselves and to others.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“In order to stop giving ourselves away and have fair and open relationships with others, we must learn how to communicate our limits and boundaries honestly and effectively.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Lack of forgiveness gives others power over us. Withholding forgiveness simply allows another person to have control over our well-being.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“To most women, friendship is not a luxury; it is an essential part of their being.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“When we become response-able—that is, when we learn to choose our responses freely and consciously—we are free to build a life of continuing growth and increasing happiness.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Be with people who truly care for you and are positive, optimistic, and happy.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“To help instill positive energy, read only materials that feed your soul and uplift your thoughts.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“As our inner language becomes self-loving and healthy, our feelings will surge ahead, eager to enjoy the journey.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“If your thinking isn't leading your life toward healthy attitudes and positive feelings, you can choose to change the station.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Being able to choose to act differently, even while feeling the old way, may be the most liberating growth you can accomplish.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“However, if criticism and humility aren't balanced with appreciation for things we do well and our willingness to learn, we can become critical, judgmental, and stress-filled.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Unresolved grief is created when we don't allow ourselves to work through feelings as they arise. If we deny having painful feelings or put them on a shelf, they don't simply evaporate. Rather, unresolved feelings gnaw at our energy, prey on our emotions, and generally debilitate us.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“An angry frontal attack puts even the most invulnerable person on the defensive.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Anger, if not allowed to fester and grow out of proportion, is healthy, like a smoke alarm that if heeded can prevent all sorts of damage.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“We get off the guilt train by reminding ourselves that we are not responsible for other people's happiness.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Teasing is veiled hostility and is almost never funny, unless the teasee has openly agreed to relate that way.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“We need to accept our anger, fear, or whatever undisclosed feelings we have, no matter how socially unacceptable they seem.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Pace yourself in your work and commitments. Nobody is indispensable. And when you get sick, honor your body by giving it the rest and medical attention that it's asking for.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Often illness is an expression of feelings repressed.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Hiding our fears behind compulsive behavior of any kind severely limits our ability to be ourselves.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Your fatigue is telling you it's time to lighten the inner load.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Remember, feelings are neither right nor wrong—they just are. When you can accept your feelings, you'll be able to risk being outwardly honest. If you criticize and judge yourself for your feelings, you'll close down, hide, and relate less honestly to both yourself and others.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“Being aware of our feelings sounds easy, but it's not because many of us spend our entire lives pushing feelings aside as we try to please others.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“The first and most basic step for any change or growth, no matter how small, is to know what we feel, how we think, and how we would like to alter our lives.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“If you have lost touch with your dreams and desires, a good way to retrieve them is to remember what you dreamed of doing and being as a kid.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem

“It's so important to break the pattern of looking outside ourselves for self-esteem.”
― Sue Patton Thoele, The Courage to Be Yourself: A Woman's Guide to Emotional Strength and Self-Esteem