Fear Expunged

Sometimes you read quotations that really move you. A line or a phrase that you can really relate to and take inspiration from. Words are sometimes sufficient to better people or instill courage in them. I've heard one quotation used frequently in several movies and speeches but never quite knew its origin. A few minutes on google and I found it. I find this quote to be very inspiring.

The following paragraph is taken from the book, A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson. It was also quoted by Nelson Mandela in 1994 during his inaugaral speech as the first democratically elected President of South Africa.


Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous ?

Actually who are you not to be ?

You are a child of god. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were all born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us. It's not just in some of us; It's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automaticaly liberates others.


Believe in yourself and in your abilities. You are a gift to this world. A light to dispel all darkness and show others the way. And with the passing of time, I believe that by being true to yourself and by trusting your values and intrinsic greatness, your incandescence will affect all whose lives you touch, for the better. That is what I believe and perhaps someday you will share my belief.