5 Quotes From “A Course In Miracles” That Will Set You Free

A miracle is simply a shift in perception

A course in miracles (ACIM) is a widely revered, fairly recent spiritual text. Simply put, it teaches its readers to replace fear with love.

Like so many others, I came to ACIM through Marianne Williamson’s best-selling book “A Return To Love”, in which she shares her reflections on the course and complements them with personal anecdotes.

Williamson’s book has become somewhat of a manifesto in new age culture. And ACIM has since gained a following that ranges from modern “spiritual gurus” like Gabrielle Bernstein to yoga teachers around the world.

While Williamson was thoroughly ridiculed throughout her entire presidential candidacy, I have to say I understand the hype around her teachings. Her book has helped many people, including myself, find their way from fear to love.

If this sounds too wishy-washy, and you don’t know what I mean when I say that, keep reading.

ACIM defines a miracle as simply “a shift in perception”. It offers a profoundly unique perspective on life. The original text is a whopping 1,333 pages and was allegedly “channeled” over the course of seven years by Helen Schucman, a psychology professor at Columbia University.

It’s a much more difficult read than Williamson’s “A Return To Love”, and I’m nowhere near finished. It also feels substantially more religious, which makes it even more difficult for some to digest. But as with all spiritual teachings — we take what resonates and leave behind what doesn’t.

I’ve always found it remarkable how words have the ability to shape us permanently. So below, I’m sharing five quotes from ACIM that deeply resonated, in the hopes that they will help you, too, find freedom.

1. “The ego analyzes, the spirit accepts”

Most of us are no strangers to the all-consuming chatter of the ego-mind. We all struggle with it to some extent, some maybe more than others.

If you find or know a human who has managed to stop overthinking, other than perhaps the Buddha or Eckart Tolle, please let me know.

The ego analyzes because it fights hard to avoid being present. It much rather reflects on (or grieves) the past, or plans (or fears) the future.

There’s not much we can do to change that, other than train our mind consistently through meditation. Meditation allows us to recognize the predicament more frequently, and with that, enables us to make the choice to not indulge. This is tremendously helpful for managing mental health struggles like anxiety or depression that are so common in our modern society. But improving the quality of our mind through meditation actually makes everyone happier, not just those who struggle to begin with.

Shifting towards acceptance and surrender are important steps to your well-being and healing, regardless of what it is that you need to heal. If we learn to consciously welcome acceptance when we catch ourselves analyzing, we move closer to spirit, one step at a time.

2. “Only what you have not given can lack in any situation”

There’s different ways to interpret these words. The way I read it is this:

We can create abundance ourselves, and we can do so by giving what it is that we want.

Let me explain.

If we want others to love us, the first step will be to find ways to truly love ourselves. If we want forgiveness from another person, it’s upon us to first forgive ourselves. If we want generosity in our life, we will receive it if we are generous ourselves.

So many of us have a scarcity mindset, whether it’s around relationships, money, time, or any other resource. But truth is that often times it’s simply the result of some limiting belief or shadow quality that we have not yet integrated into our personality yet.

And because of that, we experience the world around us as lacking.

Once we can see that the lack we perceive is created by our own perspective, rather than reality, we can begin to shift towards abundance. And we do that by giving what we think it is that we need.

3. “To spirit, getting is meaningless and giving is all”

This is building on #2. It’s a beautiful reminder of a simple but universal spiritual truth taught across many different traditions:

The key to happiness is to contribute to other people’s happiness.

Whether it’s through our relationships, our work, or our engagements outside work. If you take a look at truly content and happy people, they all share this quality, they are all givers in some form or another.

That’s not to say that getting is bad, human ambition is a necessary trait that has resulted in many wonderful worldly achievements. But if we only strive to get, without giving, we, as individuals, will unlikely feel truly fulfilled.

Because when we’re living a life completely governed by the ego (the force behind the wish to get something), we are often spiritually deprived. And that lack will always reveal itself in some form or another, and ultimately get in the way of our happiness.

4. “Great art strikes us with the shock of recognition”

The human condition is shared among all of us, and whether it’s our most euphoric feelings or our deepest fears and vulnerabilities, there are (many) other people who feel the same way.

But that’s not how we perceive it.

Especially with more difficult emotions and mental states, we usually think we’re the only ones suffering. It’s always the judgment or loneliness around our pain that creates our suffering.

But then there are moments when you come across a great piece of art: a poem, a song, a book, a quote, a photograph. Whatever it may be. Something that articulates a facet of the human condition that you have encountered in such a precise way.

Something that so uniquely resonates with you, that for a split second you forget your loneliness. And you are deeply touched as you realize that the human predicament is truly shared among all of us.

And there is a lot of comfort to be found in knowing that.

5. “Everything we do is either love or a call for love”

This is my #1 favorite quote, hands down.

Because these words reveal the true nature of compassion.

Read them again. Let them sink in.

If you believe these words, you will be able to find compassion for anyone and everyone.

Compassion is a mental state that is tremendously helpful (and necessary) for finding mental peace and happiness.

Realizing that other people’s actions — and our own — are more often than not a result of fear (the opposite of love) is freeing for many reasons:

If coming from another, it takes us out of the equation. Hurtful behaviors suddenly become exclusively about the other person and what they didn’t get (love), rather than about us and what we think we don’t deserve (also love).

If it's coming from ourselves, compassion can help us work through difficult emotions by removing the one thing that always blocks us: judgment. Rather than judging or shaming ourselves, we recognize that we acted out of a call for love. And in that realization, we find compassion for ourselves.

If you’ll only remember one quote from these, make this one your mantra.