Deena Metzger Quotes

#1. Without compassion, we will never know anyone or anything, not even our own story. Too much judgment, too many ideas and attitudes will stand in the way of the fundamental principle that we are similar to, connected with, and part of everything else.

Deena Metzger

#2. The gods come to us in the forms we recognize.

Deena Metzger

#3. A sacred illness is one that educates us and alters us from the inside out, provides experiences and therefore knowledge that we could not possibly achieve in any other way, and aligns us with a life path that is, ultimately, of benefit to ourselves and those around us.

Deena Metzger

#4. This is our grace: To be a note
In the exact chord that animates creation.

Deena Metzger

#5. For those who are intrigued by the multiplicity of reality and the unique possibilities of their own vision, the creative is the path they must pursue.

Deena Metzger

#6. Creating art and creating ourselves are the same act; art, world, ourselves - these are continuous with one another.

Deena Metzger

#7. There are mythic patterns under all of our lives. Each one of us, often unbeknownst to ourselves, is engaged in a drama of soul that is not reserved only for gods, heroes, and saints. Story is one bridge between the human realm and the divine.

Deena Metzger

#8. Write against patterns. Go against the devils. Write what you never write. Lie. Validate what you don't validate. Indulge what you don't like. Wallow in it. Write the opposite of what you always write, think, speak. Do everything against the grain!

Deena Metzger

#9. Eighty percent of language lies to us.

Deena Metzger

#10. To be willing to live within the imagination is to commit oneself to the gathering together of the pieces that might begin to form a self. To avoid this territory is to avoid the encounters that might validate, inform, or enhance one's experience.

Deena Metzger

#11. When Stories nestle in the body, soul comes forth.

Deena Metzger

#12. Beauty appears when something is completely and absolutely and openly itself.

Deena Metzger

#13. Some people fear seeing or feeling anything about which there is no general agreement. For others, it is thrilling to be aware of innuendo, shading, complexity.

Deena Metzger

#14. It's what we do for each other that heals.

Deena Metzger

#15. I'll tell you how to get up in the morning ... watch for the dawn.

Deena Metzger

#16. Stories heal us because we become whole through them. In the process of writing, of discovering our story, we restore those parts of ourselves that have been scattered, hidden, suppressed, denied, distorted, forbidden, and we come to understand that stories heal.

Deena Metzger

#17. The world of public discourse - political, social, diplomatic, commercial - has so corrupted language that we are rightly more suspicious of the meaning of words than we are convinced of their veracity. Language has been turned on its head.

Deena Metzger

#18. For those who do not wish to step away from consensus, the creative is useless at best; at worst, it is dangerous.

Deena Metzger

#19. To follow Story is to understand the path of healing. Each of our stories is a universe. Each one of us is living a story. To discover its shape and essence is essential to soul making.

Deena Metzger