How many times do we pay for one mistake? The answer is thousands of times. The human
is the only animal on earth that pays a thousand times for the same mistake. The rest of the
animals pay once for every mistake they make. But not us. We have a powerful memory. We
make a mistake, we judge ourselves, we find ourselves guilty, and we punish ourselves. If
justice exists, then that was enough; we don’t need to do it again. But every time we
remember, we judge ourselves again, we are guilty again, and we punish ourselves again, and
again, and again.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Self-rejection is the biggest sin that you can commit.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Even if others lie to you, it is okay. They are lying to you because they are afraid. They are
afraid you will discover that they are not perfect. It is painful to take that social mask off. If
others say one thing, but do another, you are lying to yourself if you don’t listen to their
actions.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Real love is accepting other people the way they are without trying to change them. If we
try to change them, this means we don’t really like them.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer. If you look at your life you will
find many excuses to suffer, but a good reason to suffer you will not find… Happiness is a
choice, and so is suffering.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
To be alive is the biggest fear humans have. Death is not the biggest fear humans have; our
biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive – the risk to be alive and express what we really are.
Just being ourselves is the biggest fear of humans.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The word is the most powerful tool you have as a human; it is the tool of magic. But like a
sword with two edges, your sword can create the most beautiful dream, or your word can
destroy everything around you.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
True freedom has to do with the human spirit – it is the freedom to be who we really are.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
God is life. God is life in action. The best way to say, “I love you, God,” is to live your life
doing your best.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Once you forgive yourself, the self-rejection in your mind is over. Self-acceptance begins,
and the self-love will grow so strong that you will finally accept yourself just the way you
are. That’s the beginning of the free human. Forgiveness is the key.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
When we try to live in the past, how can we enjoy the present? When we dream of the
future, why must we carry the burden of the past? When are we going to live in the present?
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Be impeccable with your word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against
yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and
love.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Don’t take anything personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a protection of their own
reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you
won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Don’t make assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with
others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this
one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Always do your best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are
healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid
self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
It is always better to ask questions than to make an assumption, because assumptions set us
up for suffering.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Gossip is black magic at its very worst because it is pure poison.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
We talk to ourselves constantly and most of the time we say things like, “Oh, I look fat, I
look ugly. I’m getting old. I’m losing my hair. I’m stupid. I never understand anything. I will
never be good enough, and I’m never going to be perfect.” Do you see how we use the word
against ourselves? We must begin to understand what the word is and what the word does.
If you understand the first agreement, be impeccable with your word, you begin to see all
the changes that can happen in your life.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
You were born with the right to be happy. You were born with the right to love, to enjoy and
to share your love. You are alive, so take your life and enjoy it. Don’t resist life passing
through you, because that is God passing through you.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
We have millions of questions that need answers because there so many things that the
reasoning mind cannot explain. It is not important if the answer is correct; just the answer
itself makes us feel safe. This is why we make assumptions.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Be aware that even if you meant your words as honey, other people can turn what you said
into poison.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Taking things personally makes you easy prey for these predators, the black magicians. They
can hook you easily with one little opinion and feed you whatever poison they want, and
because you take it personally, you eat it up.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Being impeccable with your word is the correct use of your energy; it means to use your
energy in the direction of truth and love for yourself.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
A sin is anything you do which goes against yourself.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The human mind is like a fertile ground where seeds are continually being planted. The seeds
are opinions, ideas, and concepts. You plant a seed, a thought, and it grows. The word is like
a seed, and the human mind is so fertile! The only problem is that too often it is fertile for the
seeds of fear.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
If we see a child who is two or three, perhaps four years old, we find a free human. Why is
this human free? Because this human does whatever he or she wants to do… And if we
observe humans who are two years old, we find that most of the time these humans have a
big smile on their face and they’re having fun. They are exploring the world. They are not
afraid to play.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Wherever you go you will find people lying to you, and as your awareness grows, you will
notice that you also lie to yourself. Do not expect people to tell you the truth because they
also lie to themselves.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
You don’t need to justify your love, you don’t need to explain your love, you just need to
practice your love. Practice creates the master.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Awareness is something that is very important. And you say that it looks impossible to
become what we really are, to be authentic, to be ourselves again. But I will tell you that it
is much more difficult to try to be what we are not.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The more self-love we have, the less we will experience self-abuse. Self-abuse comes from
self-rejection, and self-rejection comes from having an image of what is means to be perfect
and never measuring up to that ideal.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Your reactions are the key to having a wonderful life. If you can learn to control your own
reactions, then you can change your routines, and you can change your life.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
And what is the right woman, the right man? Someone who wants to go in the same direction
as you do, someone who is compatible with your views and your values – emotionally,
physically, economically, spiritually.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Everything in existence is a manifestation of the one living being we call God. Everything is
God.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Your love will not change anybody. If others change, it’s because they want to change, not
because you can change them.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
These are the happiest moments of your life – when the real you comes out, when you don’t
care about the past and you don’t worry about the future. You are childlike.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Be skeptical, but learn to listen.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The way you see the world will depend upon the emotions you are feeling. When you are
angry, everything around you is wrong, nothing is right. You blame everything, including the
weather; whether it’s raining or the sun is shining, nothing pleases you. When you are sad,
everything around you is sad and makes you cry.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
If you can see yourself as an artist, and you can see that your life is your own creation, then
why not create the most beautiful story for yourself?
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Even the opinions you have about yourself are not necessarily true; therefore, you don’t
need to take whatever you hear in your own mind personally. The mind has the ability to talk
to itself, but it also has the ability to hear information that is available from other realms.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
You are the only one who can change your story, and you do this by changing your
relationship with yourself.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Be impeccable with your word… Use the word to share your love. Use white magic, beginning
with yourself. Tell yourself how wonderful you are, how great you are. Tell yourself how much
you love yourself.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Just to be, to take a risk and enjoy your life, is all that matters.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
We dishonor ourselves just to please other people. We even do harm to our physical bodies
just to be accepted by others. You see teenagers taking drugs just to avoid being rejected
by other teenagers. They are not aware that the problem is that they don’t accept
themselves. They reject themselves because they are not what they pretend to be.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Humans are born in truth, but we grow up believing in lies. One of the biggest lies in the story
of humanity is the lie of our imperfection.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Just do your best – in any circumstance in your life. It doesn’t matter if you are sick or tired,
if you always do your best there is no way you can judge yourself. And if you don’t judge
yourself there is no way you are going to suffer from guilt, blame, and self-punishment.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Don’t take anything personally because by taking things personally you set yourself up to
suffer for nothing.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
All the sadness and drama you have lived in your life was rooted in making assumptions and
taking things personally. Take a moment to consider the truth of this statement.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Every human is an artist. And this is the main art that we have: the creation of our story.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The best path to happiness is learning to change as rapidly as life does.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
To adopt the Four Agreements, you need to put repetition in action. Practicing the new
agreements in your life is how your best becomes better. Repetition makes the master.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
If someone is not treating you with love and respect, it is a gift if they walk away from you.
If that person doesn’t walk away, you will surely endure many years of suffering with him or
her. Walking away may hurt for a while, but your heart will eventually heal. Then you can
choose what you really want. You will find that you don’t need to trust others as much as
you need to trust yourself to make the right choices.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
True justice is paying only once for each mistake. True injustice is paying more than once for
each mistake.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Your life is the manifestation of your dream; it is an art. And you can change your life
anytime if you aren’t enjoying the dream.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
We search for everything we believe we don’t have, not knowing that everything we are
looking for is already inside us. We are born with it.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
You don’t need to change the world; you need to change yourself.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
The problem with most people is that they lose control of their emotions. It is the emotions
that control the behaviour of the human, not the human who controls the emotions.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
If you do your best in the search for personal freedom, in the search for self-love, you will
discover that it’s just a matter of time before you will find what you are looking for. It’s not
about daydreaming… You have to stand up and be a human.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Love for yourself is the key to loving other. Love begins with you.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
We make the assumption that everyone sees life the way we do. We assume that others
think the way we think, feel the way we feel, judge the way we judge, and abuse the way
we abuse. This is the biggest assumption that humans make.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
I don’t have the need to be accepted.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Action is about living fully. Inaction is the way we deny life. Inaction is sitting in front of the
television every day for years because you are afraid of expressing what you are. Expressing
what you are is taking action… Without action upon an idea, there will be no manifestation,
no results, and no reward.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
I will no longer allow anyone to manipulate my mind and control my life in the name of love.
– Don Miguel Ruiz
Making assumptions in our relationships is really asking for problems. Often we make the
assumption that our partners know what we think and that we don’t have to say what we
want, because they know us so well. If they don’t do what we assume they should do, we
feel hurt and say, “You should have known.”
– Don Miguel Ruiz
So much of the knowledge in our minds is based on lies and superstitions that come from
thousands of years ago. Humans create stories long before we are born, and we inherit those
stories, we adopt them, and we live in those stories.
– Don Miguel Ruiz