Norman Cousins Quotes
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Death is not the greatest tragedy in life. The greatest tragedy is what dies inside us while we live. We need not fear death. We need fear only that we may exist without having sensed something of the possibilities that lie within human existence.
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The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness.
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Each patient carries his own doctor inside him.
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Hope, purpose and determination are not merely mental states. They have electrochemical connections that affect the immune system.
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Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.
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Don't defy the diagnosis, try to defy the verdict.
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Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.
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On the quality of life: #1. Realize that each human being has a built-in capacity for recuperation and repair. #2. Recognize that the quality of life is all-important. #3. Assume responsibility for the quality of your own life. #4. Nurture the regenerative and restorative forces within you. #5. Utilize laughter to create a mood in which the other positive emotions can be put to work for yourself and those around you. #6. Develop confidence and ability to feel love, hope and faith, and acquire a strong will to live.
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People are never more insecure than when they become obsessed with their fears at the expense of their dreams.
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Second only to freedom, learning is the most precious option on earth.
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He who keeps his cool best wins.
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Ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep.
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The main trouble with despair is that it is self-fulfilling. People who fear the worst tend to invite it. Heads that are down can't scan the horizon for new openings. Bursts of energy do not spring from a spirit of defeat. Ultimately, helplessness leads to hopelessness.
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Progress begins with the belief that what is necessary is possible.
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Drugs are not always necessary. Belief in recovery always is.
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The greatest force in the human body is the natural drive of the body to heal itself - but that force in not independent of the belief system. Everything begins with belief. What we believe is the most powerful option of all.
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You are younger today than you will ever be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow.
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Life is an adventure in forgiveness.
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Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.
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Laughter is a form of internal jogging. It moves your internal organs around. It enhances respiration. It is an igniter of great expectations.
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If something comes to life in others because of you, then you have made an approach to immortality.
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Never deny a diagnosis, but do deny the negative verdict that may go with it.
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All things are possible, once enough human beings realize that everything is at stake.
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The growth of the human mind is still high adventure, in many ways the highest adventure on earth.