Marsha Linehan

"Building resilience is building the capacity to bend without breaking."

"You deserve a life that feels worth living."

"Dialectical thinking dissolves false either-or choices."

"The goal is not to fix yourself but to accept yourself while growing."

"Your feelings make sense even when you don't understand why."

"Mindfulness is the radical act of being present with what is."

"Building a life worth living is the best form of self-care."

"You are capable of change, starting right now."

"The dialectic teaches acceptance without resignation."

"The fact that you are aware you are struggling is actually a sign of health."

"You must learn to validate yourself, because the world won't always do it for you."

"Acceptance and change - they go hand in hand. You cannot accept without changing, and you cannot change without accepting."

"Distress tolerance is not the same as change. Sometimes we need to just survive the moment."

"Love is not a feeling. It is an action, a practice, a commitment."

"The goal is not to eliminate all pain, but to build a life worth living."

"Radical acceptance doesn't mean you like what happened. It means you stop fighting reality."

"You are not broken. You are in pain, which is different."

"Mindfulness is about being present, fully alive, without judgment."

"Suicide is a response to overwhelming pain. If we can reduce the pain, we can reduce suicide."

"Emotions are valid even when they don't make logical sense. Validity is not approval."

"Your behavior has a function. Find the function, and you can change the behavior."

"Linehan's paradox: Change happens when you fully accept what is."

"Shame is the feeling that we are fundamentally flawed as a person. That's not always true."

"Skills without motivation won't work. Motivation without skills won't work. You need both."

"The dialectic is this: I must change AND I am acceptable as I am."

"Suffering is often a sign you're asking too much of yourself."

"Validation means communicating that someone's behavior makes sense given their history and current circumstances."

"Black and white thinking is the enemy of progress. Life exists in shades of gray."

"Impulsivity can be replaced with the pause - learning to slow down and choose your response."

"Relationships require that we practice vulnerability and acceptance simultaneously."