Nathaniel Branden

"To accept struggle as part of life, to accept all of it, even the darkest moments of anguish, to be motivated by love rather than fear, by confidence rather than insecurity: these are the benchmarks of high self-esteem. The wish to avoid fear and pain is not the motive that drives the lives of highly evolved men and women: rather it is the life force within them, thrusting toward its unique form of expression--the actualization of personal values."
- Nathaniel Branden