Wisdom for the Soul - Acceptance

ACCEPTANCE

Open yourself to the Tao, then trust your natural responses; and everything will fall into place.
Laozi
570-490 BCE, Chinese Philosopher, Founder of Daoism

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
Laozi

Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.
Aesop
fl. c. 550 BCE, Khemetic Fabulist

He who submits to fate without complaint is wise.
Euripides
c. 485-406 BCE, Greek Dramatist, Poet

The greatest devotion, greater than learning and praying, consists in accepting the world exactly as it happens to be.
Hasidic Saying

Flow with whatever is happening and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate.
Zhuangzi
c. 369-c 286 BCE, Chinese Daoist Master, Philosopher, Comedian

Let us follow our destiny, ebb and flow. Whatever may happen, we master fortune by accepting it.
Virgil
70-19 BCE, Roman Poet

Don't be surprised,
Don' be startled;
All things will arrange themselves.
Don't cause a disturbance,
Don't exert pressure;
All things will clarify themselves.
Huai-nan-tzu
1st Century BCE, Chinese Chan Master

Better to accept whatever happens.
Horace
65-8 BCE, Roman Lyric Poet, Satirist
Odes

The fates lead him who will – him who won't, they drag.
Seneca
c 4 BCE-65 CE, Roman Philosopher, Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, Rhetorician, Statesman

Make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it naturally happens.
Epictetus
50-120, Greek Stoic Philosopher

Adapt yourself to the life you have been given; and truly love the people with whom destiny has surrounded you.
Marcus Aurelius
121-180, Roman Emperor, Stoic Philosopher
The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius , Mark Forstater, tr., 2000

Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get.
Spanish Saying

Every morning a new arrival �
A joy, a depression, a meanness �
Welcome and entertain them all!
Rumi
1207-1273, Afghani-Turkish Sufi Mystic, Poet

Things without remedy, should be without regard; what is done, is done.
William Shakespeare
1564-1616, English Poet, Dramatist, Actor

What cannot be altered, must be borne, not blamed.
Thomas Fuller
1608-1661, English Cleric, Antiquary

Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.
Spinoza
1632-1677, Dutch Philosopher, Theologian

Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not � We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.
John Henry Newman
1801-1890, English Cardinal, Theologian, Poet

For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
1807-1882, American Poet, Writer

Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.
George Eliot
1819-1880, English Writer, Poet

Do not despise your situation; in it you must act, suffer and conquer. From every point on earth we are equally near to heaven and to the infinite.
Henri Amiel
1821-1881, Swiss Philosopher, Writer

Be willing to have it so; acceptance of what has happened is the first step in overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
William James
1842-1910, American Psychologist, Philosopher

Things cannot always go your way. Learn to accept in silence the minor aggravations, cultivate the gift of taciturnity and consume your own smoke with an extra draught of hard work, so that those about you may not be annoyed with the dust and soot of your complaints.
William Osler
1849-1919, Canadian Physician

We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we find it, including the thorns.
Orison Marden
1850-1924, American Writer

I wish they would only take me as I am.
Vincent Van Gogh
1853-1890, Dutch Painter
Dear Theo: An Autobiography of Vincent Van Gogh

Life is not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it, as it is, is the only way of being happy.
Jennie Churchill
1854-1921, American/English Editor, Dramatist

The spirit of rejection finds its support in the consciousness of separateness; the spirit of acceptance finds its base in the consciousness of unity.
Rabindranath Tagore
1861-1941, Indian Poet, Dramatist, Essayist, 1913 Nobel Laureate
Letters to a Friend

Always fall in with what you're asked to accept. Take what is given, and make it over your way. My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever's going. Not against: with.
Robert Frost
1874-1963, American Poet

We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
Carl Jung
1875-1961, Swiss Psychologist, Theorist
Psychological Reflections , 1953

Each day of human life contains joy and anger, pain and pleasure, darkness and light, growth and decay. Each moment is etched with nature's grand design – do not try to deny or oppose the cosmic order of things.
Morihei Ueshiba
1883-1969, Japanese Martial Artist, Founder of Aikido
The Art of Peace , John Stevens, tr., 1992

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give.
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884-1962, American First Lady, Stateswoman, Humanitarian

Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change.
Katherine Mansfield
1888-1923, New Zealander Writer

First ask yourself: What is the worst thing that can happen? Then prepare to accept it. Then proceed to improve on the worst.
Dale Carnegie
1888-1955, American Writer, Trainer

When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means – we have everything to gain.
Carnegie

I don't know whether I am getting very wise or very silly, but the only comment I seem to be able to make about anything is, "All is well," or "So be it." � There is no such thing as a definite conclusion. Everything must be followed by a question mark.
Katharine Hathaway
1890-1942, American Writer
The Journals and Letters of the Little Locksmith , 1946

Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
Henry Miller
1891-1980, American Writer

Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.
Lin Yutang
1895-1976, Chinese Writer, Dramatist, Translator
The Importance of Living , 1937

The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.
Carl Rogers
1902-1987, American Psychotherapist

The most important point is to accept yourself and stand on your two feet.
Shunryu Suzuki
1905-1971, Japanese Zen Master

Tek wa yu get tel yu get wa yu waant.
Take what you get till you get what you want.
Jamaican Saying

The secret to success is to learn to accept the impossible, to do without the indispensable, and to bear the intolerable.
Nelson Mandela
1918-, South African Liberator, President, 1993 Nobel Laureate

If a problem has no solution, it may not be a problem, but a fact, not to be solved, but to be coped with over time.
Shimon Peres
1923-, Israeli Prime Minister
in The Wall Street Journal , 2001 February 7

Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others, but by simply accepting them as they are. True acceptance is always without demands and expectations.
Gerald Jampolsky
1925-, American Writer
Love is Letting Go of Fear , 1979

If we cannot get what we love, we must love what is within our reach.
French Saying

When we really love and accept and approve of ourselves exactly as we are, then everything in life works.
Louise Hay
1926-, American Writer, Educator

Don't try to force anything. Let life be a deep let-go. See God opening millions of flowers every day without forcing the buds.
'Osho' Rajneesh
1931-1990, Indian Guru
Dying for Enlightenment , 1979

A serene acceptance of what is promotes health, but by keeping the mind clear it also puts a person in a better position to change things that need changing.
Bernie Siegel
1932-, American Physician, Writer
Love, Medicine & Miracles , 1986

Life works when you choose what you've got.
Werner Erhard
1935-, American Founder of EST

Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult - then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
M. Scott Peck
1936-, American Psychiatrist, Writer
The Road Less Travelled , 1978

It just ain't possible to explain some things. It's interesting to wonder on them and do some speculation, but the main thing is you have to accept it – take it for what it is, and get on with your growing.
Jim Dodge
1945-, American Writer

There are people who live lives little different than the beasts, and I don't mean that badly. I mean that they accept whatever happens day to day without struggle or question or regret. To them things just are, like the earth and sky and seasons.
Celeste de Blasis
1946-, American Writer

Accept what comes to you totally and completely so that you can appreciate it, learn from it, and then let it go.
Deepak Chopra
1947-, Indian/American Physician, Writer
Journey Into Healing: Awakening the Wisdom Within You , 1994

Life is accepting what is and working from that.
Gloria Naylor
1950-, African-American Writer

Most of my major disappointments have turned out to be blessings in disguise. So whenever anything bad does happen to me, I kind of sit back and feel, well, if I give this enough time, it'll turn out that this was good, so I shouldn't worry about it too much.
William Gaines
1971-, African-American Football Player

Almost any event will put on a new face when received with cheerful acceptance, and no questions asked.
Henry Haskins
American Writer
Meditations in Wall Street

It doesn't matter what we do until we accept ourselves. Once we accept ourselves, it doesn't matter what we do.
Charly Heavnrich

Accept everything about yourself – I mean everything. You are you and that is the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.
Clark Moustakas
American Scholar

Acceptance is not submission; it is acknowledgement of the facts of a situation. Then deciding what you're going to do about it.
Kathleen Theisen

True freedom lies in the realization and calm acceptance of the fact that there may very well be no perfect answer.
Allen McGinnis

There is no limit to truths. We should be prepared to master all of them. In being prepared to accept any and all truths � just as it comes, without trying to change it to suit our needs, we become free of the anxiety that comes from the urge to change and control. By master I mean receive with our full minds, open and without resistance. It doesn't mean that you know everything. Rather, it means that you may not know anything at all in a situation, but you have become so open to the infinite possibilities that you can approach and accept anything. Even pain. We have to be just as willing to touch and acknowledge the pain as we are to feel the joy. Why? Because one doesn't exist without the other.
Angel Kyodo Williams
African-American Zen Priest
Being Black: Zen and the Art of Living with Fearlessness and Grace , 2000

ACCEPTANCE

This cross-index may help identify and delineate more closely subjective realities often hard to pin down.

Related states elucidate shades of meaning and amplify nuances of feeling
Syntonic elements foster and enhance well-being
Dystonic factors are contraindicated and should be minimized.

Related States & Conditions

Affirmation/Approval | Appreciation | Compassion/Empathy/Kindness | Congruence/Resonance | Equanimity, Love-Agape, Oneness/Unity/Wholeness, Openness/Receptivity, Reciprocity/Reflection, Tolerance, Understanding

Syntonic

Connection/Interbeing/Interdependence | Detachment | Engagement/Integration/Involvement, Flexibility/Flow/Flux, Forgiveness, Friendship, Humor/Laughter, Learning, Listening, Optimism/Positivism, Patience, Preparation/Readiness, Respect, Synthesis, Trust

Dystonic