Oct 242004
- “Our Greatest Fear” has been incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech of 1994.
- Alice Walker said it this way: The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.
Our Greatest Fear
Marianne Williamson from her book A Return to Love
Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and 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 were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.