Quotes

Peter’s Pearls aka Quotes

-Marijuana / Drug War-

“in the war on drugs, unlike any war in American History, unlike any modern civilized war of the past two centuries in this war on drugs they are not stopping the battle and allowing the Red Cross on the field. In fact, they are shooting directly at the sick and at those who are trying to help them..and they are shooting to kill." ~ Peter McWilliams, before the Libertarian Party, July 4, 1998
"Nausea is an unsolved problem of medicine and marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science." ~ Peter McWilliams, speech given before Libertarian party, July 4, 1998 {25:28-25:34}
“'I am the representative of all the sick people and what they are doing to me is only the worst case right now, but there will be others. I am living on borrowed time anyway. I owe this part of my life to luck and modern medical science. But I can't imagine what the rest of it will be like if they won't let me use medical marijuana.''

~ Peter McWilliams, Interview: US Prosecutes Cancer Patient Over Marijuana

Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe

"Marijuana (yes, the part that gets you high) is the best medicine for reducing nausea in people being treated for chemotherapy or other medications." ~ Peter McWilliams “Ain’t Nobody’s Business if You Do” {page 625}
"Marijuana (yes, the part that gets you high) is the best medicine for reducing nausea in people being treated with chemotherapy or other medications. Marijuana is also an excellent treatment for glaucoma. Marijuana has also been proven effective in treating asthma, epilepsy, MS, back pain & muscle spasms, arthritis, cystic fibrosis, rheumatism, emphysema, migraines, in reducing tumors-&yhg-as should come as no surprise to anyone who has ever smoked marijuana-in enhancing one's appetite"~Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {Page 625}
"Marijuana is the finest anti-nausea medication known to science, and our leaders have lied about this consistently. Arresting people for medical marijuana is the most hideous example of government influence in the private lives of individuals. It's an outrage within an outrage within an outrage" ~ Peter McWilliams {Speech given to Libertarian Party, 1998}
"I feel that I am entitled to take medicinal marijuana. In general, I believe that everyone who has a doctor's prescription is entitled to take marijuana. I, however, do not believe that my day in court should be taken from me, and that's essentially what's happening." ~Peter McWilliams
"We have a problem with drugs? Let's declare war on drugs! We have a problem with crime? Let's declare war on crime! We have a problem with violence? Let's declare war on violence! The deeply ingrained American attitude that we can solve any problem w/enough force creates, feeds, & rewards the epidemic of violence we are currently experiencing." ~Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {p.363}
"..Because when medical marijuana is fully accepted for what it is, we will see a phenomenon that makes Viagra's phenomenon seem limp." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Inside Looking Out" Speech before the Libertarian Party, -July 4, 1998- {55:34-46}
“If you want peace with others, don't fight them. Go your own way. Live your own life. If some walk with you, fine. If you walk alone for awhile, fine. If you don't like what's going on somewhere, leave. Maintain a portable paradise within yourself." ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 451}
“If we’re not enjoying what we’ve got...and even if we do get ‘more,’ we won’t enjoy that, either.” ~Peter McWilliams {WEALTH 101 page 129}
"As with most consensual crimes, this prohibition of hemp is both silly and sinister." ~Peter McWilliams "Aint Nobody's Business if You Do" {Page 628}

-on Depression-

‎"The part of us that feels anger and depression is the same part that feels peace and love. If you refuse to feel the anger and the pain of a loss, you will not be able to feel anything else until that area heals. In other words, stay out of your own way. Let yourself feel bad if you want to feel bad. Feel joy, too. Healing is taking place. Give yourself the gift of healing." ~Peter McWilliams, “LIFE 101” {page 155}
"You are no more at fault for having depression than if you had asthma, diabetes, heart disease, or any other illness." ~ Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D., and Peter McWilliams "How to Heal Depression" {page 14}
"..Since depression is a genetic biological illness, like diabetes, or low thyroid, it wasn't lack of character, laziness, or something I could *snap out of*-it would be like trying to snap out of a toothache." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 234}
‎"One of the most common outcomes of a depressive illness is a mistreated body. Now is the time to treat your body well. The more you learn to treat yourself well now, the less treatment you'll need down the road." ~ Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D. -and- Peter McWilliams, "How to Heal Depression"
"Depression is an illness that robs one of the meaning of life. Heal the illness. As the depression heals, enthusiasm, well-being, and a sense of life's purpose will return." ~ Peter McWilliams -and- Harold H. Bloomfield, MD, co-authors, "How to Heal Depression" {pg 12}
"As powerful as the power of positive thoughts are, depression *biologically interferes* with the brain's ability to maintain a positive thought for any period of time. Like the farmer who casts his seed upon the rocks, all the positive thoughts in the world presented to the depressed mind will not bear fruit." ~ Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D. -and- our Peter McWilliams, "How to Heal Depression" {page 38}
"Normal for me..*was* depression. I've had a long-term, low-grade depression since I was 3. This depressed state was my benchmark for 'normal'. I would have major depressive episodes-lasting from 6 mos. to more than a year. When the 2 of these played.. havoc together on me, I had what is known in psychiatric circles as a 'double depression' (a fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy" ~Peter, McWilliams, DO IT! {p. 433}
‎"There are many misconceptions about depression-mostly negative. Unfortunately, because depressed people think negatively about depression and its treatment, they don't get help, which allows the depression to worsen, which leads to more negative thinking, which produces a vicious cycle of suffering." ~Peter McWilliams on Depression, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought," page 323
"..we are trained as children to get good grades, get a good job, get a good spouse, get children, get ahead. In all this getting we get something else: anxiety and depression." ~ Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101 {page 99}
"Overly positive, horrendously cheerful people can make a depressed person even more depressed. In fact, perhaps the *least* helpful thing one can say to a depressed person is, "Cheer up!" ~Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D. -and- Peter McWilliams, "How to Heal Depression" {page 38}
"That's what depression had wrought inside me: one, vast, barren rock garden-without the garden"~ Peter McWilliams {on his own depression he suffered & conquered, LIFE 101, page 231}
"In a nutshell: Medical research has shown that Hypericum {St. John's Wort} is an effective treatment for depression-as successful as prescription anti-depressions in a majority of patients." ~Harold Bloomfield, M.D.; Mikael Nordfors, M.D.; and Peter McWilliams, "Hypericum & Depression" {pg. 59}

you came

and made

my house

our home.

you left

making

our home

my asylum.
~ Peter McWilliams, "Come Love with Me and Be My Life" {page 180}

"The ongoing successful treatment of my depression is the single most important positive step I have taken in my life, hence my enthusiasm for the subject."

~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 243}

-on living-

"While alive, live." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101
“It's your life. Live it with people who are alive. It tends to be contagious.”~ Peter McWilliams
"Beneath the surface turmoil: ~you are good ~you are whole ~you are beautiful just because you are." ~ Harold Bloomfield, M.D., Melba Colgrove, Ph.D. -and- Peter McWilliams, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {page 32}
"Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it's a wiggle." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101," lesson -37-
"Life, it turns out, is not a struggle; it's a wiggle." ~Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101"

-on life and death-

Peter McWilliams, about the afterlife: "..If anything survives us--it's the loving--and the part that laughs" ~1992, Oprah Winfrey Interview, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love"
"Life is a precious possession. As with all our possessions, how we use, manage, and eventually say good-bye to our life is our own business, not the law's." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {Page 441}
"This is a lifetime of good-byes. In our time, we will say good-bye to cherished people, things, and ideas. Eventually, we say good-bye to life itself with our death. Learn to say a good good-bye. Allow yourself to mourn each loss. As with a physical wound, the body has its own schedule for healing. It will tell you when it has healed." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101

"Your word is one of the most precious things you own. Do not give it lightly. Once given, do everything in your power not to break it. A broken word, like a broken cup, cannot hold much for very long."~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 319}
‎"What do we have control over? The space within the skin of our body. We can work to make that environment as loving, joyful, peaceful and delightful as we like. ~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {418}
‎"The only thing you can take charge of is the space within your skin." ~ ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 { 109}

"You are powerful. Sorry. Hate to be the bearer of bad news. You are. You can continue arm wrestling with yourself, or you can use both arms, your whole heart, and all your strength to wrestle with greatness. The choice is yours." ~ Peter McWilliams DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts {pg 241}

‎"Approach life with acceptance, patience, flowing, giving, grace, effortlessness, simplicity, allowing, acquiescing, permitting, forgiving." ~ Peter McWilliams
Don't become so obsessed with the goal that the process is not enjoyable." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {206}

-on Fear-

‎"Because people are afraid of fear, they give up acre after acre of their own life." ~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 29}
"The only difference between 'fear' and 'excitement' is what we label it." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101
"The only difference between *fear* and *excitement* is what we label it. The two are pretty much the same physiological/emotional reaction. With fear, we put a negative spin on it: "oh no!" With excitement, we give it some positive english: "Oh, boy!" ~Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101," lesson -81-
"Put another way: fear is interest paid on a debt you may not owe." ~Peter McWilliams, DO IT!
"Running from fear only strengthens fear-you are demonstrating that fear has power over you. Fear must be faced and gone through." ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought," page 76
"I'd have a nervous breakdown/ only / I've been through / this too many / times to be / nervous" ~ Peter McWilliams, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {p 45}
"Write 10 times: 'Fear is my friend. Fear is the energy to do my best in a new situation.' You don’t have to believe it; just write it.” Peter McWilliams, exercise from the workbook “Focus on the Positive”
"Do we indulge our heart, or cater to our fear?" ~ ~Peter McWilliams , "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 23}
"..Fear is the energy to do your best in a new situation. The feeling of fear (anxiety, nervousness, shyness, or any of its other aliases) is really *preparation energy.* It's getting you ready to excel, to succeed, to do your best and to learn the most." ~Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101 {Page 253}
"Fear is something to be moved through, not something to be turned from." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 82}

-on Acceptance-

"Acceptance is such an important part of happiness, contentment, health, and growth that some people have called it the 'first law of personal growth.' "

~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 417}

"Approach life with acceptance, patience, flowing, giving, grace, effortlessness, simplicity, allowing, acquiescing, permitting, forgiving"

~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 237}

"Acceptance is not approval, consent, permission, authorization, sanction, concurrence, agreement, compliance, sympathy, endorsement, confirmation, support, ratification, assistance, advocating, backing, maintaining, authenticating, reinforcing, cultivating, encouraging, furthering, promoting, aiding, abetting or even *liking* what is. Acceptance is saying, "It is was it is, & what is is what is." ~Peter McWilliams
‎"Be easier on yourself, on everyone, on everything. Suspend your judgments on the way things should be, must be, and ought to be. Suspending judgments gives you greater ease. Consider ease the antidote for disease." ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 237}
"you accept me / for what I am --- even though you / don't know what / I am. / for this I / give you love--- even though I / don't know what / Love is." ~ Peter McWilliams, "I love therefore I am." ~

-the Comfort Zone-

"To the degree we're not living our dreams, our comfort zone has more control over us than we have over ourselves." ~ Peter McWilliams, "DO IT, Let's Get Off Our Buts " {page 79}

"That's the result of honoring the comfort zone too much, too often: a sense of deadness; a feeling of being trapped in a life not of our desiring, doing things not of our own choosing, spending time with people we don't like. The answer? Do it. Feel the discomfort, and do it anyway. *Physically move* to accomplish those things you choose. Learn to love it all." ~ Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {p 233}
‎"To avoid situations in which you *might* make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all" ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 194}
"And *comfort zones are most often expanded through discomfort* "~ Peter McWilliams, DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts {page 287}
"When people don't understand that being uncomfortable is part of the process of achievement, they use the discomfort as a reason not to do. They don't get what they want. We must learn to tolerate discomfort in order to grow."~ Peter McWilliams, "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {Page 287}
"A primary reason people don't do new things Is because they want to be able to do them perfectly--first time. It's completely irrational, impractical, not workable--and yet, it's how most people run their lives."~Peter McWilliams ("Do It!")

-on Gratefulness-

‎"An interesting way is to be grateful for what you already have. To focus on the moment here and now and say, "What is it about my life right now, that I enjoy? What is it about this moment? What am I happy with right now? Not what do I want to be happy with next week or in an hour or next year but what *right now* do i have to be grateful for, do I have to be thankful for?"~ Peter McWilliams, NewsLine Interview
"When you start noticing even a small portion of all there is to be grateful for, you'll find there is no room for lack, hurt, or want. The attitude of gratitude: the great, full feeling." ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 420}
"If you can't find something positive about your environment, look again-with 'fresh eyes.' Try another point of view. Be creative. What good are you taking for granted? If you can't find anything, hold your breath. Within a few minutes, you'll *really* appreciate breathing." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 137}
"Some people say, 'I hate my life. I hate everything about my life. I need to change.' What these people need to change is their *attitude* of ingratitude. They need to learn to appreciate and be grateful for the life they already have, *then* work on changing it." ~Peter McWilliams, "Wealth 101" (page 129)
"AIDS has come upon us with cruel abandon. It has forced us to confront and deal with the frailty of our being and the reality of death. It has forced us into a realization that we must cherish every moment of the glorious experience of this thing we call life. We are learning to value our own lives of our loved ones as if any moment may be the last." ~ Peter McWilliams
"Most of what's around us we take for granted. We ignore it. Appreciation-spending time looking for the good-helps us overcome one of the primary limitations to enjoying the wealth we already have: ignoreance." ~ Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101 {Page 189}

-Negative Thoughts-

"For many, negative thinking is a habit, which over time, becomes an addiction... A lot of people suffer from this disease because negative thinking is addictive to each of the Big Three -- the mind, the body, and the emotions. If one doesn't get you, the others are waiting in the wings." ~Peter McWilliams, “You Can’t Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought”
"And neither shall we learn to war with ourselves any more." ~ Peter McWilliams, "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 87}

-Negative Situations-

"Take a good, honest look at your life. Decide which things, situations and people you tend to think most negatively about. Get rid of them..The one about which you thought, 'If I could only get rid of ___, but I don't dare.' That one. Dare. Throw it out, send them packing, walk away. In other words, change." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {p 145}

-Pain-

“When we've learned the lesson the pain was sent to teach, it generally goes. How do we know we've learned the lesson? When the pain is gone. If it remains, there's probably more to learn-and to do." ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 505}
"If the pain is chronic, you've probably ignored lesser pains that could have given you the same information. When we need to change something, the messages telling us to get moving are like an alarm clock that keeps getting louder and louder until we finally wake up." ~ Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 505}

‎"Pain (any pain-emotional, physical, mental) has a message. Once we get the pain's message, and follow its advice, the pain goes away."

~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable Life 101, -lesson 83-

-Gay Rights-

‎"All gays want is the same access to housing, education and employment as everyone else. Nothing special, just the same Bill of Rights protections every one is entitled to - even unpopular everyones." ~ ~Peter McWilliams, commentary: "Justice for all? Board must act to end long history of discrimination” 6.12.96

‎“Contrary to popular belief, a good number of transvestites-both male and female-are also heterosexual. Just because they want to get dressed up like the opposite sex does not necessarily mean they want to go to bed with the same sex. Some have successful heterosexual marriages & enjoy the most delightful shopping experiences." ~Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do"
"I ask you, in the name of her, that Lady Liberty, there...you know, I'm gay but that woman TURNS ME ON!" ~ Peter McWilliams, "Inside Looking Out" Speech before the Libertarian Party, July 4, 1998 {60:42-60:49}
"I'm a gay Libertarian. I'm one of those 'laisse fairies.'* "

~ Peter McWilliams, speech at the Libertarian Convention, July 4, 1998

‎"You might not enjoy everything that happens in life, but you can enjoy the fact that no matter what happens, 'there's a lesson in here someplace.' " ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 127}
"Gays seem to be at the bottom of the pecking order: no matter how far down the pecking order another group is, its members still feel superior to and have no problem picking on gays." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do" / Part III

-Health-

"Health is more than just the lack of illness-health is aliveness, energy, joy." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101" -138-
"It's your body: use it or lose it. Providing you give it sufficient rest, your body thrives on activity. Don't let your body stop you from doing what you want. Get up and do it anyway." ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 115}
"Many of the alternative methods of obtaining, maintaining, and enhancing health should be, if not encouraged, at least not forbidden by the FDA." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {page 333-334)
‎"If you take good care of the moment, the years will take care of themselves."

~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {pg. 141}

"A life-threatening illness can be a strengthener, not necessarily to the body, but certainly to the character and to the spirit."

~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 411}

‎"Some illnesses, traditional medical science can cure with a bottle of pills. I take the pills. Other illnesses have traditional medical science stumped, but for the natural healer, they are no problem. In those cases, I visit the alternative practitioner."

~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 304}

-on Happiness-

"Happiness requires courage, stamina, persistence, fortitude, perseverance, bravery, boldness, valor, vigor, concentration, solidity, substance, backbone, grit, guts, moxie, nerve, pluck, resilience, spunk, tenacity, tolerance, will power, chutzpah, and a good thesaurus." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 423}
“Desire happiness, aspire to gratitude, long for health, crave compassion, seek satisfaction, lust after God, however & whatever you perceive God to be, want to love yourself, others & everything around you more and more each day" ~ Peter McWilliams, “You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" on CD..
"Laughter is essential to our equilibrium, to our well-being, to our aliveness. If we're not well, laughter helps us get well. If we are well, laughter helps us stay that way." ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {p.247-248}
"Make a list of the things you enjoy doing. Do them often. Actively pursuing happiness is pursuing health" ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 251}
"Whatever makes you happy~as long as it doesn't hurt you or someone else~do it. Schedule pleasurable activities into your life with the same dedication, precision and priority you give less-than-pleasurable ones." ~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 251}

‎ -on Love-

            This poem
              is a kiss
             for your mind.
            ~ Peter McWilliams, "Come Love with Me and Be My Life”

"Everyone sighs at / sunsets and roses. /I sigh at /sunsets and roses /and you." ~Peter McWilliams, "Come Love with Me and Be My Life: The Complete Romantic Poetry of Peter McWilliams” {pg.104}
"I am not against romantic love; I merely challenge the notion that, unless we are successfully living within a romantic relationship, the rest of our life is for naught. That's just naught true." ~ Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {page 138}
Peter, on romantic love: "It's an addiction, however, our society not only tolerates, but *encourages.* According to cultural norms, addiction to heroin, cocaine, or alcohol is bad. Addiction to the thrill of falling in love is good. In fact, *not* being addicted to love is bad. Further, being 'in love' is reason enough to do almost anything-from murder to abandoning one's career." ~Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {p. 9}

"The trouble is, in our culture, we're all herded into the 'marriage/family' & somehow no matter how well our career is going, no matter how much social change you make, no matter how much we're on our spiritual or religious path & it's working, if we're not married or at least in a committed relationship, somehow we're incomplete. & that's a myth in our culture that is NOT true!" ~Peter McWilliams (interview)
"Another cultural myth is that we are somehow *incomplete* if we do not reproduce... Today, however, one of the great problems of the world is overpopulation. Let those who really *want* to reproduce reproduce. Those who want to leave their legacy in another way can feel free to do so." ~ Peter McWilliams "DO IT!" {p 185}
"to love / is to be / vulnerable. / to love you anymore / is to be / dumb." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Hard Stuff: Love" {Leo Press}
"If you were arrested for being kind to yourself..would there be enough evidence to convict you?" ~ Peter McWilliams, {the first question he asks us, in his book, LOVE 101}
"I marry you / because / familiarity / breeds / consent."

~ Peter McWilliams, "I Marry You Because..." {page 103}

"All those uncomfortable emotions that may be keeping us *from* loving ourselves are, in fact, available as energy *for* loving ourselves. Yum yum." ~ Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {page 237}

-Love Go Wrong-

‎"why must I / always fall for / chicken shits / on ego trips?"

~ Peter McWilliams, "I Love Therefore I am"

"to love / is to be / vulnerable. / to love you anymore / is to be / dumb." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Hard Stuff: Love" {Leo Press}
‎"it is as though you were dead. ~ there is nothing to be done. ~ only accept it... ~ and hurt." ~Peter McWilliams, poetry from "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {Page 19}
"..If a marriage does not work it's not because people *fail.* It's because people grow in different directions and it's time for them to take a new path. If there's a conflict and being together is still important, then it's important to work out that conflict." ~ Peter McWilliams, TV Interview, "The Company" (1995)
"Hurt feelings can remind us how much we care. We never have hurt feelings unless something we care about is threatened, refused, or taken from us. If we return to *what* we care about and *that* we care, we put our attention on the caring-we can feel the depth of our love and compassion." ~Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {page 236}
"I don't know / whether I'm being / tested or / forgotten."

~ Peter McWilliams, "Come Love with Me and Be My Life" {p. 127}

"the layers I have put around your going are thin. ~ I walk softly through life, adding thickness each day. ~ a thought or a feeling ~ of you cracks the surface. ~ a call to you ~ shatters it all. ~ I spend that night in death ~ and spin the first layer of life ~ with the sunrise"

~ Peter McWilliams, "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {Page 59}

"I'm past the point of going quietly insane. ~ I'm getting quite noisy about it. ~ The neighbors must think I am mad. ~ The neighbors, for once, think right." ~Peter McWilliams, poem, from "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {Page 67}

‎"I am missing you / far better than / I ever loved you."

~ Peter McWilliams, poetry from "How to Survive the Loss of Love" {Page 75}

‎"The part of us that feels the anger and depression is the same part that feels peace and love. If you refuse to feel the anger and the pain of a loss, you will not be able to feel anything else until that area heals."

~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 155

"missing your love / with God's so / close at hand. / It seems somehow / a sacrilege... / but I think He understands." ~Peter McWilliams, poetry from "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {page 47}
"first / I have to get / out / of love with you. second / I have to remember / don't fall / until you see / the whites / of their / lies ~"Peter McWilliams, poetry from "How to Survive the Loss of the Love" {page 33}
"all I need is / someone to / talk to / about / you / but / you / are the / only person / I can really / talk to. / trapped." ~Peter McWilliams, poetry from "How to Survive the Loss of a Love" {page 97}

-in the Moment-

"If you take good care of the moment, the years will take care of themselves."

~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {pg. 141}

"For now, know that you are who you are, there's no one to blame for it, and who you already are is enough to get what you want."

~ Peter McWilliams, "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 65}

"The irony is when people finally 'give up' and do appreciate the moment, they often realize that life can be a wonderful place. They see it wasn't life itself, but their *reaction* to life that was causing the disease."

~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 127}

"..What we have is based on moment-to-moment choices of what we *do*. In each of those moments, we choose. We either take a risk and move toward what we want, or we play it safe and choose comfort. Most of the people, most of the time, choose comfort. In the end, people either have excuses or experiences; reasons or results; buts or brilliance.." ~Peter McWilliams "Do It" {p. 353}
‎"We have the same opportunities for greatness. They happen every day, every minute. Do we learn a lesson, or blame the teacher? The teacher could be a flat tire, a broken agreement, or undelivered milk. Do we look into the mirror and change ourselves or do we break it? Do we pursue our Dream, or have all the reasonable reasons why not?" ~Peter McWilliams "DO IT! Let's Get Off our Buts" {Page 393}
"Be gentle with yourself and others. Don't become so obsessed with the goal that the *process* is not enjoyable. Send the light of your own loving ahead of you. When you get there, the loving will have prepared a place for you. Be kind, gentle and enjoy the journey" ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 206}
"..The next time we're involved in a frustrating situation, all we have to do is take a deep breath and tell ourselves, "Relax. This is funny." If we're going to laugh at it later-and we will, we will-we might as well laugh at it now. If it'll be funny then, it's funny now." ~ Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101 {page 349}

-on work-

"One must, however, not just work hard. One must work smart. As the saying goes, the efficient person gets the job done right, the effective person gets the right job done." ~Peter McWilliams, "Do It! Let's Get Off our Buts"

"If we think of work as a way of manifesting our love, then whatever job we do can be fulfilling."

~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 159}

-”Ain’t Nobody’s Quotes-”

"It's not the government's job to protect us from our own actions (and whoever said the government is equipped to do so when the government can't seem to buy a toilet seat for less than $600?), then the job returns to where it always has been: with us."~Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {page 6}

“Pettiness seems to go hand in hand with vindictiveness. The smaller the person, the larger the need for revenge. This may account for the fact that some consensual crimes have stiffer penalties than do most crimes with innocent victims." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {page 315}
"I'm going to take a clear, unequivocal, unambiguous position on God, religion, reincarnation, atheism, agnosticism and all that. My clear, unambiguous, and unequivocal position is this: I am clearly, unambiguously, unequivocally *not* taking a position." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Portable LIFE 101"
"Ultimately, censorship comes down to taste. What offends me may enlighten you. Do you want me deciding-based on my taste-what you should or should not be exposed to?" ~ Peter McWilliams "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {pg 359}

"As with most consensual crimes, this prohibition of hemp is both silly and sinister." ~Peter McWilliams "Aint Nobody's Business if You Do" {Page 628}
"Prison is a crash course in the darker side of life. Few survive it without becoming a different person: more cynical, jaded, fearful, angry. It's hard to trust again, hard to believe, easy to hate a system that destroyed your life behind the pompous pretense of 'saving you from yourself,' 'for your own good.' " ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {p 212}
"There are some who want to call the experiment off, who want to roll back America to those happy, carefree, God-fearing pre-Constitutional times. Then *their* God would rule. By force of law. Let's not let them." ~Peter McWilliams "Aint Nobody's Business if You Do" {Page 116}
"The Constitution guarantees..not only can we freely practice the religion of our choice, but also that the government will not impose religion upon us. ..Arguments in favor of maintaining laws against consensual activities have a religious foundation. The gov't is then asked to enforce these religious beliefs by arresting the nonbelievers & putting them in jail"~ Peter McWilliams "Ain't Nobody's Business.." {Page 9}
"Drugs, gambling, and prostitution are the Big Three underground 'moneymakers' in consensual crime. There would be, however, significant boosts to the economy if the stigma attached to the other consensual crimes were eliminated through legalization." ~ Peter McWilliams, "Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do" {page 159}

-Wealth-

"Unlike money, wealth is not just what you have. Wealth is what you can do without."

~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101" -146-

"Wealth is enjoying what we already have, not getting more of what we think will make us happy.' ~ Peter McWilliams

‎"..The next time we're involved in a frustrating situation, all we have to do is take a deep breath and tell ourselves, "Relax. This is funny." If we're going to laugh at it later-and we will, we will-we might as well laugh at it now. If it'll be funny then, it's funny now." ~ Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101 {page 349}

Peter's Prescription for Weight Loss: "Weight is fat; fat is stored energy; therefore weight is an excess of stored energy. Think, then, about using the weight, not losing the weight." ~Peter McWilliams, "Wealth 101" (page 259)

-Dreams, Goals & Purpose...

"The willingness opens the doors to knowledge, direction, and achievement. Be willing to know, be willing to do, be willing to create. Be willing to follow your Dream."

~ Peter McWilliams, "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 365}

"In order to *get* what you want, it's very helpful to *know* what you want. If you don't know where you want to go, you probably won't get there." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101"

"Do what you love, and the necessary *resources* will follow." ~Peter McWilliams, 'DO IT, Let's Get Off Our Buts' {page 247}
‎"My suggestion: keep your goals away from the trolls." ~ Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {page 319}
"When thought and action are combined, the results are powerful-among the most powerful forces on earth. The combination of successful communication-the sharing of thoughts-and physical action can, literally, move mountains." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 303}
"The world has any number of good people right now, with the dream deep in their hearts to make changes for the better. The problem is not they're doing *nothing*; the problem is that they're doing *something else.* ~Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {Page 253}
‎"If we aren't actively pursuing what we want, we don't really want it." ~Peter McWilliams, WEALTH 101

-etc.-

‎"That the people around you will feel better when you stop resenting them is a secondary benefit. That *you* will feel better when you're not resenting others is the primary gain." Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 401}
‎"Life is, if nothing else, a persistent teacher. It will repeat a lesson over and over until it is learned. How does life know we learned? When we change our behavior." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 85}
‎"You are a marvelous, wonderful, worthwhile person - just because you are. That's the point of view I'll be taking. Please join for a while - an hour, a week, a lifetime - at that viewing point." ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 5}
‎"When life seems truly excremental, we can moan and groan, or we can-even in the midst of anger, terror, confusion, and pain-tell ourselves, 'There must be a lesson in here someplace!' " ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 { Page 19}
‎"by the way, if you have no comments, questions, criticisms, obscene letters or dead chickens, you can STILL write to Versemonger and ask for YOUR *free* Versemonger Press Catalogue. It's free." ~ Peter McWilliams, funny promo in the back of "The Chicken Died While Kicking. The Chicken, Dead, Kept Kicking poems on society" ~Peter McWilliams {1968}
‎"You *are* a good person. You do a lot of good things. And sometimes you don't. Does that alter the fact that you're good? Not at all. It merely confirms the fact that you're a *human being.* " ~ Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {p. 389}
‎"You are worthy of all the good that comes your way. How do I know? If you weren't worthy, it wouldn't come your way." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable LIFE 101" {lesson 134}
‎"The amount of power freed by telling yourself you no longer choose to put energy into something can be remarkable. Be prepared for the extra energy. Be prepared, as well, to channel that newly liberated energy toward your Dream. THe way to begin that is through *commitment.* ~ Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {page 301}
‎"..Whatever we find 'true' about the people and things around us, is also true about ourselves. When we evaluate anything outside ourselves, what we are doing is looking into a mirror-the mirror reflects back to us information about ourselves."

~Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {p. 83}

‎"Hurt feelings and anger-like fear, guilt and unworthiness-are there as energy to be used *toward* your goal, not as reasons to stop."

~Peter McWilliams, "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 104}

‎"it's not just cults we have to worry about: the number of people & organizations around us *quite consciously* trying to program us is astonishing. It's so all-pervasive, we seldom notice it: advertising, politicians, a good deal of the media, gov't, special interest groups, religions-the list seems endless" ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 102 {p 7}
‎"And neither shall we learn to war with ourselves anymore." ~Peter McWilliams "DO IT! Let's Get Off Our Buts" {page 87} -Happy New Year Everyone-
‎"The most obvious beneficiary of the personal computer is the small businessperson. Finally, the benefits (and alas, headaches) of the computer age are available to even the smallest of small businesses." ~Peter McWilliams "The Personal Computer Book" {pg 83 / 1982}
‎"Thank heavens for photography. It nicely balances, on one hand, my love of beauty and fascination for things mechanical with, on the other, my impatience and complete inability to draw" ~ Peter McWilliams, Introduction, "Portraits" (his book of photographs)
‎"Guilt is the anger we feel toward ourselves when we think we do something 'wrong.' The trouble is, most of us haven't explored what *we* think is truly 'right' and 'wrong' in years-maybe ever." ~Peter McWilliams "DO IT, Let's Get Off Our Buts" {Page 37}
‎"Your word is one of the most precious things you own. Do not give it lightly. Once given, do everything in your power not to break it. A broken word, like a broken cup, cannot hold much for very long." ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 319}
‎"Honestly-you're a pretty decent human being, aren't you? Of course you are. How do I know? Nasty, wicked people don't read books such as this. If they do, they certainly don't get as far as page 442." ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {Page 442}
‎"Forgiveness is simply a matter of declaring yourself forgiven. That can surface worthiness issues faster than almost anything I know. Tell yourself you are worthy enough to be forgiven. You are. And even if you don't *feel* worthy of forgiveness, forgive yourself anyway. Prove your unworthiness wrong again. And then forgive it." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {Page 525
‎"Without thoughts, things that involve any sort of human action simply don't happen. Where we are is the result of a lifetime of thinking-both positive and negative." ~Peter McWilliams "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" { Page 39}
‎"When life seems truly excremental, we can moan and groan, or we can-even in the midst of anger, terror, confusion, and pain-tell ourselves, 'There must be a lesson in here someplace!' " ~ Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 { Page 19}
‎"It's not what happens to us, but how we respond what happens to us, that creates the quality of our life" ~Peter McWilliams, 'Wealth 101' {Page 337}
‎"To use a disk, the whole envelope goes into a *disk drive* and disappears. With a quality disk drive and God on your side, it will come out again. If your disk drive is hungry, it may eat the diskette, and this is known as a *crash.* I don't want to scare you..but every so often these things happen. Computers are no perfect than the rest of us"~Peter McWilliams, "Word Processing on the KayPro," {1983, page 29}
‎"The sooner you're patient, the easier your life will become. Really. When you're patient, you can relax and enjoy the ride. Life has its own timing. Although perfect, life often disagrees with our timetables." ~Peter McWilliams, LIFE 101 {page 429}
‎"Fill your life with people who applaud your positive thoughts, feelings, and actions; who encourage you toward more and better; who know how to praise the good and beautiful." ~Peter McWilliams, "You Can't Afford the Luxury of a Negative Thought" {page 257}
‎"When we're no longer running from what we call loneliness, we can begin to appreciate the joy of being alone~solitude." ~Peter McWilliams, LOVE 101 {Page 194}
‎"Three basic rules of life: 1/ Don't hurt yourself and don't hurt others. 2/Take care of yourself so you can help take care of others. 3/Use everything for your upliftment, learning and growth." ~ Peter McWilliams, "LIFE 101" {Page 103-105}
‎"It's not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us, that creates the quality of our life"~Peter McWilliams, "Wealth 101" {page 337}
‎"Courage, contrary to popular belief, is not the absence of fear. Courage is the wisdom to act in spite of fear."~ Peter McWilliams ("Do It! Let's Get Off our Buts")
‎"As far as I can tell, the only thing you can take charge of is *the space within your skin.* That's it. Everything (and, especially, everyone) else does not belong to what you can take charge of." ~Peter McWilliams, "Life 101," page 109
‎"Programs that are easy to learn are called *user friendly.* I'm not sure what programs that are not easy to learn are called, but I've run into a few user unfriendly ones, and a couple that have been downright hostile" ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Personal Computer Book," page 61
Peter's Prescription for Weight Loss: "Weight is fat; fat is stored energy; therefore weight is an excess of stored energy. Think, then, about using the weight, not losing the weight." ~Peter McWilliams, "Wealth 101" (page 259)
‎"If you want peace, stop fighting with your thoughts. When you're not against yourself or others, you are at peace. Peace." ~ Peter McWilliams, "The Portable Life 101," -lesson 170-
‎"Courage, contrary to popular belief, is not the absence of fear. Courage is the wisdom to act in spite of fear." ~Peter McWilliams, ("Do It! Let's Get Off our Buts")
“Every time we give our word, it counts. For the most part, most people give it entirely too often. Our word is a precious commodity and should be treated as such.” ~Peter McWilliams, “Do It! Let’s Get Off Our Buts”