Albert Ellis

"The loudest voice in your head should be your own."

"Gratitude transforms what you have into enough."

"The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own; you do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the President. You realize that you control your own destiny."

"People don't get disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of them."

"You have but one life and it is the only life you have in this world. This one life—here and now—is the life you must work with, plan with, and change with."

"The neurotic is like someone which the average person on the street is like too! We're all quite crazy in some of our ways."

"Demanding perfection from yourself will only lead to self-defeating thoughts and behaviors."

"When you change the way you think about things, the things you think about change."

"Self-esteem comes from competence in dealing with life's challenges, not from empty praise."

"I would have liked to have had a better life, but I could have had a much worse one too."

"The more you demand certainty and perfection in life, the more anxious and depressed you will become."

"Human beings tend to construct illogical philosophies of life, leading to needless misery."

"You can indeed change your life by changing your attitudes of mind."

"Humans are not disturbed by adversity itself, but by their judgments about adversity."

"The greatest gains in life come from managing your thoughts rather than your circumstances."

"Unconditional self-acceptance is the foundation of mental health, not self-rating based on performance."

"Stop shoulding all over yourself and embrace realistic preferences instead."

"Love is something you do, not something you fall into without responsibility."

"Most people are not truly living; they are merely surviving with habitual thoughts."

"Your mind is more powerful than any external event in shaping your emotional life."

"The pursuit of happiness through avoidance of difficulty is ultimately futile."

"Creativity flourishes when you free yourself from perfectionist demands."

"Humans have remarkable ability to reconstruct their philosophical foundations."

"Education should teach people how to think rationally, not just what to think."

"Procrastination is often rooted in irrational fears about task performance."

"The willingness to tolerate discomfort is essential for personal growth."

"Friendship requires two people committed to mutual growth, not dependency."

"Your worth as a human being is not contingent on your achievements."

"Anxiety often stems from overestimating threats and underestimating your coping abilities."

"Personal fulfillment comes from engaging fully with life's challenges."