Natalie Goldberg

Our job as writers is to listen, to come home to the four corners of the earth.

Women need space and silence. We too quickly give away our energy. There's something about holding that richness.

Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down.

There's no such thing as a writer's block. If you're having trouble writing, well, pick up the pen and write. No matter what, keep that hand moving. Writing is really a physical activity.

Failure is what we're all running from, we're always running toward success with failure at our back.

When you are present, the world is truly alive.

Whether you're keeping a journal or writing as a meditation, it's the same thing. What's important is you're having a relationship with your mind.

I feel that 'The Great Failure' is really a book written out of great love and a willingness to face all of who a human being is.

When you bring the darkness to the table, it doesn't rule you or hurt other people, but when we keep it secret, it's dangerous.

Life is not orderly. No matter how we try to make life so, right in the middle of it we die, lose a leg, fall in love, drop a jar of applesauce.

I consider writing practice a true Zen practice because it all comes back at you. You can't fool anyone because it's on the page.

Women are wonderful, but they get so caught up about their body. We need to unhook from worrying so much. When I don't feel good, I look in the mirror and think I look fat and miserable. But when I feel good and whole, I'm not worried about my body because I'm living in it. It doesn't become an object.