We can spend our entire life betraying ourself and choosing fitting in over standing alone. But once we've stood up for ourself and our beliefs, the bar is higher. A wild heart fights fitting in and grieves betrayal.

Betraying who you love is like betraying yourself!

When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself

Why did you betray your own heart Cathy? I have not one word of comfort. You deserve this. You have killed yourself. ... You loved me - then what right had you to leave me? Because ... nothing God or satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will, did it. I have not broken your heart - you have broken it; and in breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me that I am strong. Do I want to live? What kind of living will it be when you - oh God! would you like to live with your soul in the grave? [...] I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer - but yours! How can I?

If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself. Also, you will have betrayed your community in failing to make your contribution.

The worst thing thou has to fear is the treachery of thine own heart.

If you do not express your own original ideas, if you do not listen to your own being, you will have betrayed yourself.

Betrayal is an important word with this guidepost. When we value being cool and in control over granting ourselves the freedom to unleash the passionate, goofy, heartfelt, and soulful expressions of who we are, we betray ourselves. When we consistently betray ourselves, we can expect to do the same to the people we love. When we don’t give ourselves permission to be free, we rarely tolerate that freedom in others. We put them down, make fun of them, ridicule their behaviors, and sometimes shame them. We can do this intentionally or unconsciously. Either way the message is, “Geez, man.

[About giving in during a struggle session:] To betray yourself or others is to give away some part of what makes you truly human. It is to dehumanize yourself. It is to cut off a piece of your soul, and that is the part of you that honors others, that makes relationships trustworthy and loyal. That's the part that makes you trustworthy instead of craven. So when you fail, you make yourself less trustworthy. If you betray somebody, everybody else see you betray somebody for your own skin. You're craven and you damage all of your relationships. You become less trustworthy as a person. It's the part of you that makes you loyal. [...] They make you give that away. They don't take it from you. Pay attention. They make you give it away. So that you debase and demoralize yourself. So that you cut yourself off from your social circles. So that you undermine your worthiness. And that demorizes others who are disappointed in you when they see it happen. You make yourself less trustworthy, less loyal, less human, so that you can escape a psychological pressure that they are putting on you.

You have your duty and your heart. To chose one means the other must suffer.

It would have to be one of those dangerous pieces of advice that people dish out all over the place. A particularly popular one is: Follow your heart. What if the person’s heart is leading them into a dungeon of doom? What if the person’s heart is filled with foolishness? ‘Follow your heart’ is not just unwise counsel; it is a recipe for anarchy. Imagine a world where each of us followed our heart to wherever it led us, without caring for the people around us or the laws of the land.

To live a life of truth one has to suffer, but must suffer cheerfully

"Everybody said, "Follow your heart". I did, it got broken"

If you lend me your ears, I shall doubtless take your hearts too. That I may not lead you into any wrong, let me warn you of this. Never violate the sacredness of your individual self-respect. Be true to your own mind and conscience, your heart and your soul. So only can you be true to God.