Anthony de Mello Quotes

I am convinced that only when a man is prepared to die is he also prepared to live.

Everything is fraught with fear: Renunciation alone is fearless.

I have no fear of death. More important, I don't fear life.

Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.

People living deeply have no fear of death.

Saints are ordinary people who do what they do for the love of Jesus, say what they must say without fear, love their neighbor even when they are cursed by him, and live without regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow.

No matter how many times I tell you this, you're still thinking, thinking, judging, judging, coming to conclusions, trying to work out your life. You have to let go. Totally, absolutely, completely. You have to let go so completely that you will feel no body, no mind, no pain, nothing.

As you identify less and less with the “me”, you will be more at ease with everybody and with everything. Do you know why? Because you are no longer afraid of being hurt or not liked. You no longer desire to impress anyone. Can you imagine the relief when you don't have to impress anybody anymore? Oh, what a relief. Happiness at last!

Man lives freely only by his readiness to die.

If you are always frightened for yourself you can't act, and then life loses its purpose. You just have to tell yourself that, when you get right down to it, you don't matter all that much.

You can never begin to live until you dare to die.

If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer. Every moment is the most important moment of your life. No future time is better than now to let down your guard and love.

Life is nothing unless death has been faced down.

There is nothing scary about life if you are not attached to results.

The game is not about becoming somebody, it's about becoming nobody.

I let go of all desire for the common good, and the good becomes as common as the grass.

Men are never really willing to die except for the sake of freedom: therefore they do not believe in dying completely.

Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.

Do not calculate what I have done, for I shall accept no recompense. Calculate the public advantage, the welfare and liberty of my country, and believe that I shall refuse no burden, no danger, provided that, at the hour of tranquillity, I may return to private life, for there now remains but one step for my ambition - that of arriving at zero.

Love without attachment is light.

Part of the American dream is to live long and die young. Only those Americans who are willing to die for their country are fit to live.

I'm of the mind that life is a risk, every time you leave your house it's a risk, and I see no reason to go through life with my hands tied behind my back for any reason. I'd be foolish to let something stop me from doing what I love to do.

Once you accept your own death, all of a sudden you're free to live. You no longer care about your reputation. You no longer care except so far as your life can be used tactically to promote a cause you believe in.

It's getting too late in my life to care about the small things. It's getting too late to not be brave, to not live my life fully, to not try to be an artist. Trivial things like how nice your hotel room is, or if you have to be naked for a while, they fade away.

My owner is life and that's what I fight for.