Hugh Prather
Hugh Prather
Hugh Edmondson Prather IIIwas an American self-help writer, lay minister, and counselor, most famous for his first book, Notes to Myself, which was first published in 1970 by Real People Press, and later reprinted by Bantam Books. It has sold over 5 million copies, and has been translated into ten languages...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth23 January 1938
CountryUnited States of America
heart bitterness painful
There is nothing more painful than walking around with bitterness in your heart.
ocean water mind
If the ocean was pure mind and I was a wave, I would be in terror if Itried to distinguish myself fromthe water that produced me.What is a wave without water, and what is a mind without God?
immature needs foolish
You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely. You are only young once, then you need another reason to act foolish. You are the only authority on what is best for you.
book hands self
Books seek us out. They slip themselves into our hands just at the time we are ready for a new self-concept.
prayer
My prayer is: I will be what I will be, I will do what I will do.
self findings persist
When we persist in looking for and finding what there is to value within our self, we discover a pure and loving being.
looks attention pay
Sometimes when I generalize, I am saying, 'Let's pretend I am God,' and of course the other person argues that point endlessly. But I notice that if the other person takes a stand for himself and states his thoughts as his thoughts, I pay more attention to what he is saying and look deeper in myself.
swimming past offering
The ego, as a collection of our past experiences, is continually offering miserable lines of thought. It's as if there were a stream with little fish swimming by, and when we hook one of them there is a judgment. The ego is constantly judging everybody and everything. It has its constant little chit chat about things that can happen in the future, things about the past, too, and these are the little fish that swim by. And what we learn to do-this is why it takes work-is to not reach out and grab a fish.
fun humor kids
True humor is fun - it does not put down, kid, or mock. It makes people feel wonderful, not separate, different, and cut off. True humor has beneath it the understanding that we are all in this together.
perfectionism
Perfectionism is slow death.
looks
We become what we look at most.
effort results unpredictable
Because the results are unpredictable, no effort of mine is doomed to failure.
time mean self
I can not 'make my mark' for all time - those concepts are mutually exclusive. 'Lasting effect' is a self-contradictory term. Meaning does not exist in the future and neither do I. Nothing will have meaning 'ultimately.' Nothing will even mean tomorrow what it did today. Meaning changes with the context. My meaningfulness is here. It is enough that I am of value to someone today. It is enough that I make a difference now.
love-is strive
Don't strive for love, be it.