Lots of Quotes from Leo Buscaglia From wiki quotes - accessed
November 2013
A total immersion in life offers the best classroom for
learning to love.
As soon as the love relationship does not lead me to me,
as soon as I in a love relationship do not lead another
person to himself, this love, even if it seems to be the
most secure and ecstatic attachment I have ever
experienced, is not true love. For real love is dedicated
to continual becoming.
It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to
live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy
for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of
personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the
lonely.
One does not fall "in" or "out" of
love. One grows in love.
This loving person is a person who abhors waste
waste of time, waste of human potential. How much time we
waste. As if we were going to live forever.
Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile,
a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or
the smallest act of caring, all of which have the
potential to turn a life around.
We need not be afraid to touch, to feel, to show emotion.
The easiest thing in the world is to be what you are,
what you feel. The hardest thing to be is what other
people want you to be. Dont let them put you in
that position.
We need others. We need others to love and we need to be
loved by them. There is no doubt that without it, we too,
like the infant left alone, would cease to grow, cease to
develop, choose madness and even death.
To love oneself is to struggle to rediscover and maintain
your uniqueness. It is understanding and appreciating the
idea that you will be the only you to ever live upon this
earth, that when you die so will all of your fantastic
possibilities. It is the realization that even you are
not totally aware of the wonders which lie dormant within
yourself.
Speaking Of Love (1980)[edit]
Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.
Go around listen to how many times a day you say,
"I love" instead of, "I hate." Isn't
it interesting that children, as they learn the process
of language, always learn the word "no" years
before they learn the word "yes"? Ask linguists
where they hear it. Maybe if they heard more of "I
love, I love, I love" they'd hear it sooner and more
often.
DON'T MISS LOVE. It's an incredible gift. I love to think
that the day you're born, you're given the world as your
birthday present. It frightens me to think that so few
people even bother to open up the ribbon! Rip it open!
Tear off the top! It's just full of love and magic and
joy and wonder and pain and tears. All of the things that
are your gift for being human.
Who is the loving person? The loving person is the person
who loves him or herself. I say this so often, and people
say, "Oh yes, you're so right," but they don't
do it! You will never be able to love anyone else until
you love yourself. Even With your Fat Thighs!
The hardest battle youre ever going to fight is the
battle to be just you.
When I wrote my book, LOVE, it was really funny, because
my publisher said, "Oh, Leo, you're going to have to
change the name because I'm sure that someone has used
that name before." I said, "Why don't you send
it in and see what happens?" So we sent it in and I
got the "copyright" for LOVE! No one had ever
thought of a book called simply Love. L-O-V-E. Such a
good word. Such a limitless word. Such a limitless
concept.
Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.
Living, Loving, and Learning (1985)[edit]
People are not here to meet your expectations.
To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is
to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risks must
be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk
nothing.
I have a lot of things in my classes that I call
'voluntarily mandatory.' One of the things that is
voluntarily mandatory is that every student come to see
me in my office at least once. I cannot teach bodies. I
can only relate to people. And so I say, 'Come in, and we
will sit across from one another. I don't want to talk
about the texts or the class. We can do that another
time. I just want to know the last time you saw a unicorn
and do you still believe in primeval forests. And when
you come, I am going to touch you and if that
bothers you, take your tranquilizer.' It is amazing how
many are intimidated by someone who says, 'I want to
touch you.' I was raised in a large Italian family, as
most of you know, and everybody hugs everybody all the
time. On holidays everyone gets together, and it takes
forty-five minutes just to say hello and forty-five
minutes to say goodbye. Babies, parents, dogs
everyody's got to be loved! And so I have never suffered
that existential feeling of not being. If someone can hug
you and not go through you, you are. Try it sometime.
About two years ago a young lady came into my office, and
I knew immediately something was wrong. Her eyes were
kind of glazed, and her head was nodding, and I asked,
'What's the matter"' She replied, 'Oh, Dr.
Buscaglia, in order to get enough courage to come to see
you, I had to drink a whole bottle of Ripple! And I think
I am going to be sick!' Imagining... having to drink a
bottle of Ripple to summon up the courage to come to see
me. All I do is put my hands out and say, 'Hi.' I cover
their hands with mine and lead them into my office, and I
can see a look of panic on their faces, 'What's he going
to do to me?' I am not going to do anything to you! I
just want you to know that I cry, too, and I feel, too,
and I care, too, and I don't know everything, too, and
therefore, we can start with a common frame of reference
human being to human being. If anybody tries to
play the game of 'follow the guru' with me, they will be
lost, for they will learn that I am just as confused as
they are. The difference may be that I know it. A
Buddhist teacher once said to me, 'Why do you keep
moving? You are already there.' And all of a sudden it
occurred to me my goodness, I am!
Born For Love (1994)[edit]
It is when we ask for love less and begin giving it more
that the basis of human love is revealed to us.
A Magazine of People and Possibilities interview
(1998)[edit]
I had to ask, "What's the good of all our learning,
knowing how to read and write and spell if no one ever
teaches us the value of life, of our uniqueness, and
personal dignity?" So I started my Love Class.
Interview with Veronica M. Hay
You may have the "capacity" to love, but if
left undeveloped, you will never gain the
"ability."
I started my Love Class as a result of the suicide of one
of my most talented students. She showed no sign of her
despair. Then one day she took her life. I had to ask,
"What's the good of all our learning, knowing how to
read and write and spell if no one ever teaches us the
value of life, of our uniqueness, and personal
dignity?" So I started my Love Class. I taught it
free of salary and tuition just so students could have a
forum to consider the truly essential things. I really
didn't "teach" the class. I facilitated it
helping the students to discover their own magic.
We take love for granted. We assume we are all perfect
lovers and all we need do is wait and our love will grow
and blossom as readily as a flower in spring. Not so.
Love doesn't grow unless we do. It takes patience,
knowledge, experience, determination, and every positive
trait we possess. In addition, love is always changing
and unless we stay aware and change with it, it eludes
us.
We are all born with God-given, unique traits and skills.
But, as with all possibilities they will remain
unrealized unless they are developed, nurtured, and put
into practice. You may have the "capacity" to
love, but if left undeveloped, you will never gain the
"ability."
A life of love is one of continual growth, where the
doors and windows of experience are always open to the
wonder and magic that life offers. To love is to risk
living fully.
I don't believe in unconditional love. In fact, I think
it's unwise. My love has had a condition that if ever my
love keeps you from you, from your growing, and realizing
your personal potential, then I must step aside. No one
has the right to stand in the way of another's joy,
development, or unique perceptions.
We live in a small world. Not a leaf falls that doesn't
affect a myriad of things. When we reach out to someone
in love and the effect is made everyone,
everything which comes in contact with the person we've
effected is better for it. Of course, the converse is
true, too.
The essence of love is getting out of oneself and into
others. When we care less about our feelings, our rights,
our happiness, our security, etc., and begin to concern
ourselves with the feelings, rights, happiness, and
security of others, we will have found the true power of
love.
We can ask ourselves daily what we have done to make the
world a better place, to make someone smile, to help
someone to feel more secure, etc. It's the simple things
which have the greatest effect. We must never
underestimate the strength of a smile or act of kindness.
We are born for love, but it will die if not nurtured.
You can't imagine the joy I feel when I hear that
something I've said or done or written has helped others
to regain their sense of dignity, to motivate them to
develop their unique potential, to encourage them to
reach out to others in love.
I have learned that love is the most powerful force
available to us. When we have real love we have the
strength to perform miracles.
I'd like to be remembered for being a good, kind, loving,
gentle man who attempted to live wisely, and who cared a
lot.
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