Robert A. Johnson Quotes

“Love is not a doing but a state of being - a relatedness, a connectedness to another mortal, an identification with her or him that simply flows within me and through me, independent of my intentions or my efforts.”

— Robert A. Johnson

Every person must live the inner life in one form or another. Consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, the inner world will claim us and exact its dues. If we go to that realm consciously, it is by our inner work: our prayers, meditations, dream work, ceremonies, and Active Imagination. If we try to ignore the inner world, as most of us do, the unconscious will find its way into our lives through pathology: our psychosomatic symptoms, compulsions, depressions, and neuroses.

— Robert A. Johnson

“The difference in a teacher and a mentor is that a mentor is interested in our soul.”

— Robert A. Johnson

“The place where light and dark begin to touch is where miracles arise.”

— Robert A. Johnson

“The object of life is not happiness, but to serve God or the Grail. All of the Grail quests are to serve God. If one understands this and drops his idiotic notion that the meaning of life is personal happiness, then one will find that elusive quality immediately at hand.”

— Robert A. Johnson

“The essential ingredients for relationship are affection and commitment.”

— Robert A. Johnson

The real relatedness between two people is experienced in the small tasks they do together: the quiet conversation when the day's upheavels are at rest, the soft word of understanding, the daily companionship, the encouragement offered in a difficult moment, the small gift when least expected, the spontaneous gesture of love.

— Robert A. Johnson

“To suffer one's confusion is the first step in healing.”

— Robert A. Johnson

There is a popular heresy abroad today which states that if a little is good, more is better. Following this dictum creates a life which is never fulfilling. Even while you are engaged in one rich experience you are looking about for another. There is no contentment because future plans are always intruding on the present.

— Robert A. Johnson

“The only hope for healing is to offer a better form of ecstasy, to upgrade so the addict will give up the stupid one.”

— Robert A. Johnson

“For many years of my life I thought one came down with a mood just as one comes down with a cold. But slowly I learned that moods are a product of purposeful unconsciousness and can be rectified by the very consciousness one worked so hard to evade.”

— Robert A. Johnson

“Someone observed darkly that it is always two A.M. when one is in the 'dark night of the soul.”

— Robert A. Johnson