Parker J. Palmer

People are always asking, "Is this person in front of me the same on the inside as he or she appears to…

— Parker J. Palmer

The academic bias against subjectivity not only forces our students to write poorly ("It is believed...," instead of, "I believe..."), it deforms…

— Parker J. Palmer

Every good teacher and every good parent has somehow learned to negotiate the paradox of freedom and discipline. We want our children…

— Parker J. Palmer

If my life is any example, the work that youth workers are doing is very, very important. It tends to get marginalized…

— Parker J. Palmer

Integrity requires that I discern what is integral to my selfhood, what fits and what does not-and that I choose life-giving ways…

— Parker J. Palmer

Teaching, like any truly human activity, emerges from one's inwardness, for better or worse. As I teach I project the condition of…

— Parker J. Palmer

“embracing one's wholeness makes life more demanding--because once you do that, you must live your whole life. One of the most painful…

— Parker J. Palmer

“To those who say that we need weights and measures in order to enforce accountability in education, my response is, yes, of…

— Parker J. Palmer

There is a tradition that the church represents, without which we wouldn't have the church, that's all about diving deep beneath the…

— Parker J. Palmer

“Teaching holds a mirror to the soul. If I am willing to look in that mirror and not run from what I…

— Parker J. Palmer

Our equal and opposite needs for solitude and community constitute a great paradox. When it is torn apart, both of these life-giving…

— Parker J. Palmer

... circles of trust ... are a rare form of community - one that supports rather than supplants the individual quest for…

— Parker J. Palmer

In a true community we will not choose our companions, for our choices are so often limited by self-serving motives. Instead, our…

— Parker J. Palmer

No scientist knows the world merely by holding it at arm's length: if we ever managed to build the objectivist wall between…

— Parker J. Palmer

In a culture of technique, we often confuse authority with power, but the two are not the same. Power works from the…

— Parker J. Palmer

Let’s not forget that American democracy started with ‘We the People’ agreeing to work hard to create ‘a more perfect union.’ We’ve…

— Parker J. Palmer

We continually make decisions in private which affect the commonweal, as the ecologists (to take but one example) have shown us. When…

— Parker J. Palmer

By surviving passages of doubt and depression on the vocational journey, I have become clear about at least one thing: self-care is…

— Parker J. Palmer

Like a wild animal, the soul is tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, and self-sufficient: it knows how to survive in hard places. I…

— Parker J. Palmer

Opposing what's wrong is a halfway measure at best. A rebel must also have a vision for something better, a strategy for…

— Parker J. Palmer

Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one's self. It is not about…

— Parker J. Palmer

Students want to know, "Are you painting by the numbers, or are you really present as a human being to what you…

— Parker J. Palmer

“Consciousness precedes being: consciousness, yours and mine, can form, deform, or reform our world. Our complicity in world making is a source…

— Parker J. Palmer