Nathaniel Branden

An emotion is both a mental and a physical event.

— Nathaniel Branden

Doing more of what doesn't work doesn't work.

— Nathaniel Branden

Freedom is still the most radical idea of all.

— Nathaniel Branden

Integrity means congruence. Words and behavior match.

— Nathaniel Branden

Respect starts with ourselves.

— Nathaniel Branden

Do not marry the enemy of your excitement.

— Nathaniel Branden

“We must become what we wish to teach.”

— Nathaniel Branden

The world belongs to those who persevere.

— Nathaniel Branden

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.

— Nathaniel Branden

For "I" to become "we" and yet remain "I," is one of the great challenges of marriage.

— Nathaniel Branden

Fear and pain should be treated as signals not to close our eyes but to open them wider.

— Nathaniel Branden

Our motive is not to prove our self-worth, but to live up to our possibilities.

— Nathaniel Branden

We tend to feel most comfortable, "most at home", with people whose self esteem level resembles our own.

— Nathaniel Branden

Either you will make your life work, or your life will not work.

— Nathaniel Branden

It is painful to face the self we know we have never had the integrity to honor and assert.

— Nathaniel Branden

I have to respect other's opinions even if I don't agree with them.

— Nathaniel Branden

Self-respecting men and women think about the consequences of their actions-and are willing to take responsibility for them.

— Nathaniel Branden

If you choose not to live self-responsibly, you count on others to make up your default. No one abjures self-responsibility on a…

— Nathaniel Branden

Most of us are taught from an early age to pay far more attention to signals coming from other people than from…

— Nathaniel Branden

There is only one reality - the reality knowable to reason. And if man does not choose to perceive it, there is…

— Nathaniel Branden

If we attach more importance to what other people believe than to what we know to be true - if we value…

— Nathaniel Branden

The greater a child’s terror, and the earlier it is experienced, the harder it becomes to develop a strong and healthy sense…

— Nathaniel Branden

“The opposite of self-assertiveness is self-abnegation--abandoning or submerging your personal values, judgment, and interests. Some people tell themselves this is a virtue.…

— Nathaniel Branden

High self esteem people can surely be knocked down by an excess of troubles, but they are quickerto pick themselves up again.

— Nathaniel Branden

In any culture, subculture, or family in which belief is valued above thought, and self-surrender is valued above self-expression, and conformity is…

— Nathaniel Branden

Your choices have psychological consequences. The way you choose to deal with reality, truth, facts - your choice to honor or dishonor…

— Nathaniel Branden

It is a mistake to look at someone who is self assertive and say, "It's easy for her, she has good self-esteem."…

— Nathaniel Branden

“Most people do not erode their self-esteem over big issues but over small ones, little acts of betrayal and hypocrisy forgotten (repressed)…

— Nathaniel Branden

If you are an adult, you are responsible for your life and well-being. No one owes you the fulfillment of your needs…

— Nathaniel Branden

“Conscious individuals know that if they wish to advance in their careers they cannot rest on yesterday’s knowledge and skills. An overattachment…

— Nathaniel Branden

“Some people stand and move as if they have no right to the space they occupy. They wonder why others often fail…

— Nathaniel Branden

Suppose you feel you cannot accept some fact about yourself. Then own your refusal to accept. Own the block. Embrace it fully.…

— Nathaniel Branden

I believe that earning your living doing something you enjoy is one of the very best ways to nourish yourself. But even…

— Nathaniel Branden

“A person who is brilliantly talented and successful at work but irrational and irresponsible in his or her private life may want…

— Nathaniel Branden

If you do not feel deserving of happiness, consciously or subconsciously, or if you have accepted the idea that happiness is somehow…

— Nathaniel Branden

The more you surrender to the fear of someone's disapproval, the more you lose face in your own eyes, and the more…

— Nathaniel Branden

Stressing the practice of living purposefully as essential to fully realized self-esteem is not equivalent to measuring an individual's worth by his…

— Nathaniel Branden

“I think that we approach the problem of romantic love all wrong when we start with the questions: why do so many…

— Nathaniel Branden

Whether your focus is on preserving and strengthening family ties in a world of increasingly unstable relationships, gaining access to a decent…

— Nathaniel Branden

Innovators and creators are persons who can to a higher degree than average accept the condition of aloneness. They are more willing…

— Nathaniel Branden