Latest Elizabeth Lesser Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• Forgiveness doesn't mean being a wimp. It doesn't mean being weak. It doesn't mean having no principles and no values. Sometimes we have to stand firm for what we believe and make really hard decisions.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Believe, Mean, Decision

  Source: www.npr.org

• When the fire is over, always, in the ashes, our opportunities to repair, to move forward without vengeance being required - that's kind of the way us humans seem to live. We make massive mistakes. We do stupid things. We do things to survive. And then there's an opportunity to learn from them and move forward with grace. And forgiveness and that gracefulness are very connected.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Mistake, Stupid, Moving

  Source: www.npr.org

• We can be the one to take the first courageous step toward the other and to do something or to try to do something other than rejection or attack. We can do this with our siblings and our mates and our friends and our colleagues. We can do this with the disconnection and the discord all around us.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Sibling, Rejection, Trying

  Source: www.npr.org

• It is very, very rare where a slight that turns into a grudge that is in need of forgiveness is only about one of the parties. In most of our day-to-day situations - with colleagues at work, with your partner, with your children, with your friends - most of the time, if you really got down with each other and put aside your pride and your defensiveness and you had those hard conversations, you'd find a place where both people had something to ask for forgiveness from the other and to forgive the other.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Children, Party, Pride

  Source: www.npr.org

• But when I learned about the dangers of rejection or attack, I thought, it's time to change this. What if we faced any pain we had caused each other and, instead of rejection or attack, could we listen? Could we forgive? Could we merge?

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Pain, Rejection, What If

  "Elizabeth Lesser: Why Is It So Hard To Ask For - And Offer - Forgiveness?". "TED Radio Hour" with Guy Raz, wglt.org. May 12, 2017.

• What do you want in your life? What do you want in your relationships? And if you say, I'd like them to be harmonious; I'd like them to be free; I'd like not to be in a state of blame all the time or shame. If you answer like that, then I would say, look at what's unforgiven. Look at where you know you did wrong and you would like to go to that person and say - I'm sorry. Can we start over? If you want to have a happier life, I would say, practice forgiveness.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Sorry, Starting Over, Blame

  Source: www.npr.org

• Talking to each other instead of talking about each other is not some kind of nicey-nice (ph) idea. It's the difference between societies falling apart and societies getting something wonderful done.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Nice, Fall, Ideas

  Source: www.npr.org

• I know that if we allow ourselves into the gridlock of tribalism, we're in trouble.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Trouble, Tribalism, Gridlock

  Source: www.npr.org

• I'm not naive. I know how hard it is to get along.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Knows, Hard, Know How

  Source: www.npr.org

• I think it's better that people actually are saying what they feel. Especially, people are saying, I'm not heard. I don't have a voice in America.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Thinking, Voice, America

  Source: www.npr.org

• I actually don't think we're more divided than we were. I think it's more evident. It's more evident because of the internet.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Thinking, Internet, Divided

  Source: www.npr.org

• I actually don't think we're more divided than we were.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Thinking, Divided

  Source: www.npr.org

• We need each other's ideas. Now, I'm not talking about racist ideas or misogynistic ideas or cruel or criminal ideas. I'm talking about most of us who have very varied experiences, needs and ideas. It's really about believing that it's an important part of healing America.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Believe, Healing, Talking

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour", www.npr.org. December 16, 2016.

• Diversity is good. We need each other's ideas.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Ideas, Diversity, Needs

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour", www.npr.org. December 16, 2016.

• We'll never change everyone's minds. We're not supposed to.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Mind, Never Change

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour", www.npr.org. December 16, 2016.

• Anyone whose lifestyle may frighten you or whose point of view makes smoke come out of your ears.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Views, May, Ears

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour" with Guy Raz, ualrpublicradio.org. December 16, 2016.

• I'm calling my initiative take the other to lunch. If you are a Republican, you can take a Democrat to lunch or if you're a Democrat, think of it as taking a Republican to lunch because there is no shortage of the other right in your own neighborhood, maybe that person who worships at the mosque or the church or the synagogue down the street or someone from the other side of the abortion conflict - or maybe your brother-in-law who doesn't believe in global warming.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Brother, Believe, Thinking

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour" with Guy Raz, wbaa.org. December 16, 2016.

• I'm deeply disturbed by the ways in which all of our cultures are demonizing the other. This is why I'm launching a new initiative, and it's to help all of us, myself included, to counteract the tendency to otherize.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Way, Culture, Helping

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour" with Guy Raz, wvxu.org. December 16, 2016.

• It's rare that you have a conflict and two people or two groups who are equally mature in their desire or capacity to get there. That doesn't mean it can't happen. What it means is that one person has to take the lead, has to be bigger. I call that kind of person the new first responder.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Mean, Two, People

  "Should We Take "The Other" To Lunch?". "TED Radio Hour" with Guy Raz, www.npr.org. December 16, 2016.

• The person who takes the first step in a conflict toward the other, those are brave people.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  People, Brave, Firsts

  Source: www.npr.org

• We don't need any more teachers. We don't. We need friends.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Teacher, Needs, Friend In Need

  Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com. August 4, 2013.

• Rumi called his teacher "the friend." And that's what we need. We need friends.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Teacher, Needs, Friend In Need

  Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com. August 4, 2013.

• It is such a teaching in itself for us, all of us, every moment when we're with anyone.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Teaching, Moments

  Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com. August 4, 2013.

• I believe that educating people to awaken into full consciousness is the most important thing we can do.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Believe, People, Important

  Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com.

• I'm very committed to my family and my town. My biggest local commitment are my children, my husband, my home and my grandchildren.

  Elizabeth Lesser

  Children, Husband, Commitment

  Interview with Maranda Pleasant, www.marandapleasantmedia.com. August 4, 2013.