Bronnie Ware Quotes

“A Buddhist story is that a man came shouting angrily at Buddha, who remained unaffected by him. When questioned by others as to how he remained calm and unaffected, Buddha answered with a question. “If someone gives you a gift and you choose not to receive it, to whom then does the gift belong?” Of course it stays with the giver.”

“All our pain and joy manifest in the body in one way or another.”

“Don’t work too hard. Try to maintain balance. Don’t make work your whole life.”

“Don’t worry about the little stuff. None of it matters. Only love matters. If you remember this, that love is always present; it will be a good life.”

“Finding the courage to act or surrender will never be as painful as lying on a deathbed with regrets.”

“Gratitude for every day along the way is the key to acknowledging and enjoying happiness now. Not when the results come in or when you retire, or when this or that happens.”

“Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.”

“I remembered the importance of surrender, of letting go and allowing nature to weave its magic.”

“I was never going to be able to control another and had no desire to. People change because they want to and when they are ready.”

“I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.”

“I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.”

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

“If we are able to face our own inevitable death with honest acceptance, before we have reached that time, then we shift our priorities well before it is too late. This gives us the opportunity to then put our energies into directions of true value. Once we acknowledge that limited time is remaining, although we don’t know if that is years, weeks or hours, we are less driven by ego or by what other people think of us. Instead, we are more driven by what our hearts truly want. This acknowledgment of our inevitable, approaching death, offers us the opportunity to find greater purpose and satisfaction in the time we have remaining.”

“It is easy to think that happiness depends on something falling into place, when it is the other way around. Things falls into place when happiness is already found.”

“It is much easier to be strong in faith when you are smiling. So it would automatically lift my mood and reassure me that I would indeed find more reasons to smile again.”

“It was still going to take courage to live the way I wanted, but this new awareness of choosing the right environment would at least make the journey easier.”

“It’s not just about staying in touch with your friends. It is about giving yourself the gift of their company too.”

“Laughter is a very underrated tool for healing.”

“Learning from what happened then allowed me to forgive myself, and that is the greatest forgiveness of all.”

“Life doesn’t owe us anything. We only owe ourselves, to make the most of the life we are living, of the time we have left, and to live in gratitude.”

“Life is over so quickly. It is possible to reach the end with no regrets. It takes some bravery to live it right, to honour the life you are here to live but the choice is yours. Appreciate the time you have left by valuing all of the gifts in your life and that includes especially, your own, amazing self.”

“Live true to your own heart, darling. Don’t ever worry what others think.”

“Living regret-free is not something achievable in a flash. It is created by an ongoing day-to-day process of conscious decisions, loving actions to ourselves, and a whole bucket full of courage.”

“Loneliness isn’t a lack of people. It is a lack of understanding and acceptance.”

“Money is so misunderstood. It keeps people in the wrong jobs forever because they think they won't be able to make money doing what they love. When it can really be the other way around. If you totally love what you do, you can become more open to the flow of money because you are more absorbed in your work and ara happier as a person.”

“No one owes us anything. We only owe ourselves to get off our backsides, count our blessings, and face our challenges. When you live from that perspective, the gifts pour forth.”

“People play the victim forever but who are they kidding? They are only robbing themselves. Life doesn’t owe you anything. Neither does anyone else. Only you owe yourself. So the best way to make the most out of life is to appreciate the gift of it, and choose not to be a victim.”

“Playing the victim is a toxic waste of time that not only repels other people, but also robs the victim of ever knowing true happiness.”

“Smile and know that this time will pass and good will follow.”

“Smile and Know, Thank and Know, became my mantra as I went about my days smiling and knowing when I could. As I did so, I was walking in complete faith, which left me naturally wanting to thank as well.”