Alessandro Colao

Our Deepest Fear
by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles (See note below about Nelson Mandela)

“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 does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were 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 are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Note About Nelson Mandela
This quote is often found on the Internet incorrectly credited to Nelson Mandela from his Inauguration Speech, 1994, especially the last sentence of that quote, “As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson is a world-renowned spiritual teacher, author, and political activist who gained massive recognition through her 1992 mega-bestseller, A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of “A Course in Miracles“. [1, 2, 3, 4]

The book served as a gateway for millions of readers to understand the dense, psychological-spiritual framework of the 1976 text A Course in Miracles (ACIM). It spent 39 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was famously championed by Oprah Winfrey. [1]