"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 frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?[…] Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do […] it’s in everyone. As we let our own light shine we give others the permission to do the same; as we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
-Nelson Mandela
kelli
I like this quote. It seems very Earth friendly to me. It says that when we do what we think is good we know it is bad for the earth.
ssiebold3248
um i think this is one person opinion but it also hass alot of truth in it
Elena
I think that this quote is saying that as individuals we can all suceed in the world. If were not good at a specific thing we are probably better at something else.
Brittany
I have heard this message in many other ways. Things like: your positive energy spreads to people around you. It is a good one; the concept that your actions and attitudes can effect others is huge.
Josh Hinseth-Rohr
My dad basically lives either by this quote or one almost exactly like it. He’s always talking to me about not being afraid to be successful. So yea, I kind of like to think I’m pretty familiar with this idea or way of thinking.
T-WAT aka Tristan Watson
It’s strange that we even repress our own virtues, yet it is the truth. Mandela says “Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.” But, in this day and age, it is not a necessity to do so. Realizing this and doing something about it is a powerful step in the right direction.
Shanti
This is not the first time I have read this quote… and like Nelson Mandela himself it’s wisdom and depth are far beyond most people’s comprehension.It is a great reminder that the engery you put out is the energy people around you will feel and that we cannot be afriad to make a difference.
Alexi Copeland
this quote doesnt make sense to me. whoever wrote it has their priorities mixed up.
Michael King
A valid summation, that represents the typical fears and social inhibitions of a vast majority of individuals in western society. The tendancy towards secrecy and mistrust manifests itself inwardly in exactly the same way as it does outwardly. What I feel the author has failed to account for in providing this motivation is the bitter reality that everyone’s light shines a different hue, and some perhaps even most of these illuminations are either too dim or too limited in spectrum to privide any relavent increase to the global human perspective.
adam katz
“There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.”
my favorite line. it made a lot of sense to me, but probably on a smaller scale than he intended it for.
gus
It kind of makes you think how nervous and self conscious people can feel when they are around others.
Amy Kelley-Hubbard
If this is what I think it means, its a good thing to notice that are fears are the things we do that tend to be powerfull and somthing we dont know how we did it.
Sami Boylan
I feel no skepticism towards the theory proposed in the quote, it is perfectly acceptable. However, I do feel as if because we live under the shadows of ourselves and have done so for so long, that their will be dire consequences to the ones who choose to rise above their fears. A few things could happen:
1) These people will do so about the wrong manner, creating more of a radical ego renovation than a personal ‘enlightening’.
2) These people will be brought down by other people’s perspectives on this transformation–this most likely being that they will see that you are forcing yourself through a radical ego renovation.
3) These people may be seen as better people than others. They may be worshiped even, by those who recognize their inferiority to the ‘enlightened person’. They may be inspiring to others. But even Gods are never invincible. These people will most likely be brought down by another’s ‘enlightening’, or even by the people they inspire.
So, judging by my own personal observations of our modern society I conclude with this statement: Those who shine above others may be seen as people of Higher Power. But like I said, even Gods are never invincible, and by law of physics, what goes up, must come down. Such is the way we are. Our deepest fear will forever be that we powerful beyond measure.