“ The academic bias against subjectivity not only forces our students to write poorly ("It is believed...," instead of, "I believe..."), it deforms their thinking about themselves and their world. In a… Parker J. Palmer
“ How easily we get trapped in that which is not essential - in looking good, winning at competition, gathering power and wealth - when simply being alive is the gift beyond measure. Parker J. Palmer
“ Spirituality is not primarily about values and ethics, not about exhortations to do right or live well. The spiritual traditions are primarily about reality...an effort to penetrate the illusions of t… Parker J. Palmer
“ Each time I walk into a classroom, I can choose the place within myself from which my teaching will come, just as I can choose the place within my students toward which my teaching will be aimed. I ne… Parker J. Palmer
“ We are whiplashed between an arrogant overestimation of ourselves and a servile underestimation of ourselves. Parker J. Palmer
“ The message of such silence is simple: "we the people" will no longer conspire in supporting the illusions that help corrupt leaders maintain control. By withholding our cheers and falling into silenc… Parker J. Palmer
“ Alice Kaplan is a teacher of French language and literature, and she has done this kind of remembering in a book called French Lessons. Why do people want to adopt another culture? she asks as she sum… Parker J. Palmer
“ The writer Anne Lamott says, You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.28 Parker J. Palmer
“ But if I am to let my life speak things I want to hear, things I would gladly tell others, I must also let it speak things I do not want to hear and would never tell anyone else! My life is not only a… Parker J. Palmer
“ Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. I learned about these qualities during my bouts with depression. In t… Parker J. Palmer
“ I value ethical standards, of course. But in a culture like ours – which devalues or dismisses the reality and power of the inner life – ethics too often becomes an external code of conduct, an object… Parker J. Palmer
“ Our strongest gifts are usually those we are barely aware of possessing. They are a part of our God-given nature, with us from the moment we drew first breath, and we are no more conscious of having t… Parker J. Palmer
“ We are exploring together. We are cultivating a garden together, backs to the sun. The question is a hoe in our hands and we are digging beneath the hard and crusty surface to the rich humus of our li… Parker J. Palmer
“ When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless—a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other’s… Parker J. Palmer
“ Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one’s self.A Hidden Wholeness: The Journey Toward an Undivided Life Parker J. Palmer
“ In true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our companions will be given to us by grace. Often they will be persons who… Parker J. Palmer
“ Deep caring about each other's fate does seem to be on the decline, but I do not believe that New Age narcissism is much to blame. The external causes of our moral indifference are a fragmented mass s… Parker J. Palmer
“ I am blessed to live in a democracy, not a totalitarian state. But the democracy I cherish is constantly threatened by a brand of politics that clothes avarice and the arrogance of power in patriotic… Parker J. Palmer
“ The human self also has a nature, limits as well as potentials. If you seek vocation without understanding the material you are working with, what you build with your life will be ungainly and may wel… Parker J. Palmer
“ Vocation at its deepest level is, 'This is something I can't not do, for reasons I'm unable to explain to anyone else and don't fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling. Parker J. Palmer
