“General Rule:Â If you have to justify your emotions or behavior, to yourself or others, they are almost always harmful.
“The urge to justify should be a trigger to heal the hurt that causes the anger. Justifying anger never heals the hurt that causes it.”
— Steven Stosny, Manual of the Core Value Workshop, p. 39-40.
“We can never feel taken advantage of or exploited in the experience of compassion, for compassion is its own reward. Even if it turns out that someone else’s defenses or weaknesses have motivated manipulation, we have the self-satisfaction of knowing that we acted out of compassion, which is always the right thing.”
— Steven Stosny, Manual of the Core Value Workshop, p. 36
“If you feel devalued by something your partner, child, or parent says or does, he or she probably feels devalued too. Devaluing him or her in return will only make it worse. Compassion will make it better.
“Compassion does not mean giving in. Giving in or ‘going along to avoid an argument’ virtually guarantees resentment. Resentment undermines and ruins attachment relationships.
“Most of the time resolution without resentment is possible with a sincere effort to understand one another. We become the angriest (the most hurt), not when disappointed for not getting what we want, but when feeling misunderstood or disregarded. With compassion, we never feel unimportant or disregarded or unlovable (although we may feel disappointed). This makes negotiation on all issues much easier. Compassion is absolutely necessary for resolution in the event of hurt feelings….
With compassion the goal is not to ‘win’ a dispute, but to find a solution in which all parties feel regarded, important, and valuable.”
— Steven Stosny, Manual of the Core Value Workshop, p. 37
“The comment, ‘You will never change,’ must delight the enemy trying to destroy your family.”
— Robert E. Steinkamp, The Prodigal’s Pen
“Attachment is like languages — you have to tolerate feeling not good at it in order to get better at it.”
— Steven Stosny, Compassion Power Boot Camp
“Shame never tells you you’re bad; it tells you that in your heart, you want to do better.”
— Steven Stosny, Compassion Power Boot Camp
“You do not want ‘obedience’ in your home, you want cooperation. When people feel valued, they cooperate. When they don’t feel valued, they resist what feels to them like submission. The keys to resentment-free cooperation are making behavior requests, instead of demands and, above all, tolerance of differences.
When a partner gives in to a demand, he’ll be resentful.”
— Steven Stosny, Compassion Power Boot Camp
“Forgiveness is made easy when we can identify with others and admit to our own imperfections and an equal capacity for wrongdoing.”
— Leo Buscaglia, Born for Love, p. 133
“The good news about appreciation is that its positive effects spread and multiply. Appreciating a sunset will make you appreciate your family more, and vice versa.”
— Steven Stosny, You Don’t Have to Take It Anymore, p. 81
“The trap of trying to control someone is that it makes you feel more powerless.”
— Steven Stosny, Compassion Power Boot Camp