“Find the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them and you have found a lover for life.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

Dr. Leo Buscaglia

Leo Buscaglia, a man whose work I truly love and value, spent his entire life living in love. Through his presence, his books, his talks, and all his work, he inspired and empowered people from all over the world to love more.

He knew that love is life and life is love and that the more love we welcome into our hearts, the more life we’ll add to our lives. And he wanted the whole world to be immersed in love. He wanted us all to live a more fulfilling life. And today I will share with you some my favorite Leo Buscaglia quotes and life lessons in the hope that they will open your heart so you can give and receive a lot more love.

40 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from the Great Dr. Leo Buscaglia

1. A total immersion in life offers the best classroom for learning to love.

“What we call the secret of happiness is no more a secret than our willingness to choose life.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Love is not some complex, mystical abstraction. It is something accessible and human that we learn through our everyday experience, as often at times of failure as in moments of ecstasy.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Love is life. And if you miss love, you miss life.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

2. Just living is not enough.

“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.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

3. Change has the power to uplift, to heal, to stimulate…

“Change. It has the power to uplift, to heal, to stimulate, surprise, open new doors, bring fresh experience and create excitement in life. Certainly it is worth the risk.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

4. The greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

“The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing, and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

5. Success often lies just on the other side of failure.

“We seem to gain wisdom more readily through our failures than through our successes. We always think of failure as the antithesis of success, but it isn’t. Success often lies just the other side of failure.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

6. Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.

“Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

7. When we cling to pain we end up punishing ourselves.

“We need to learn to let go as easily as we grasp and we will find our hands full and our minds empty.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

8. You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you.

“There are two big forces at work, external and internal. We have very little control over external forces such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, disasters, illness and pain. What really matters is the internal force. How do I respond to those disasters? Over that I have complete control.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Man is happiest when he is creating. In fact, the highest state of which man is capable lies in the creative act.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

→7 Tremendous Effects of Having a Positive Attitude

9. Love is the ability and willingness to allow those you care for to be themselves.

“A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself — to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me, but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

→6 Things You Should Know about True Love

10. We never lose the people we love, even to death.

“I know for certain that we never lose the people we love, even to death. They continue to participate in every act, thought and decision we make. Their love leaves an indelible imprint in our memories. We find comfort in knowing that our lives have been enriched by having shared their love.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

11. The easiest thing to be in the world is you.

“The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“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.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

→On Having the Courage to Disappoint Your Family to Be True to Yourself

12. Love yourself.

“Love yourself—accept yourself—forgive yourself—and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

→5 Things You Can Do To Love Yourself More

13. Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow.

“Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

→6 Techniques to Stop Worrying

14. True love is dedicated to continual becoming.

“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.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

15. There are not kinds of love, love is love.

“There are not kinds of love, love is love; there are only degrees of love. Love is trusting, accepting and believing, without guarantee. Love is patient and waits, but it’s an active waiting, not a passive one. For it is continually offering itself in a mutual revealing, a mutual sharing,

Love is spontaneous and craves expression through joy, through beauty, through truth, even through tears. Love lives in the moment; it’s neither lost in yesterday nor does it crave for tomorrow. Love is Now!” ~  Leo Buscaglia

16. You can be what you want to be.

“I believe that you control your destiny, that you can be what you want to be. You can also stop and say, ‘No, I won’t do it, I won’t behave his way anymore. I’m lonely and I need people around me, maybe I have to change my methods of behaving,’ and then you do it.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

17. Your talent is God’s gift to you.

“Your talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

18. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity.

“What love we’ve given, we’ll have forever. What love we fail to give, will be lost for all eternity.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

19. Without love, we too, like the infant left alone, would cease to grow and develop.

“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.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

20. You don’t love to be loved; you love to love.

“Love is always bestowed as a gift – freely, willingly and without expectation. We don’t love to be loved; we love to love.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“Love is always open arms. If you close your arms about love you will find that you are left holding only yourself.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

21. Life is a continuous spiritual practice.

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

22. The opposite of love is not hate – it’s apathy.

“I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate – it’s apathy. It’s not giving a damn.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

23. Make no one your idol. They will never live up to your expectations.

“Never idealize others. They will never live up to your expectations.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

24. Life is here and now.

“Life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized.”

25. There is great joy in the simple things.

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things… I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

26. The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world.

“The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents.

Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give. 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 a potential to turn a life around. It’s overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

27. There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along.

“There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

28. You make your own life and no one else makes it for you.

“I exist, I am, I am here, I am becoming, I make my own life and no one else makes it for me. I must face my own shortcomings, mistakes, transgressions. No one can suffer my non-being as I do, but tomorrow is another day, and I must decide to leave my bed and live again. And if I fail, I don’t have the comfort of blaming you or life or God. ” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

29. Each of us is responsible for creating an environment of warmth and consideration for those we love

“Each of us is responsible for creating an environment of warmth and consideration for those we love. I have always tried to define a good day not in terms of one in which all things were made right and comfortable for me but rather, as a day in which I have been able to make another’s day more loving and special for them. We must treat each other with dignity. Not because we merit it but because we grow best in thoughtfulness.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

30. Don’t spend your precious time asking ‘Why isn’t the world a better place?’

“Don’t spend your precious time asking ‘Why isn’t the world a better place?’ It will only be time wasted. The question to ask is, ‘How can I make it better?’ To that there is an answer.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

31. Our only salvation is in knowledge, in learning. Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“I have been a teacher myself all my life. I have an intense passion to share with people. Our only salvation is in knowledge, in learning.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

32. Aged love is like aged wine.

“Relish love in your old age! Aged love is like aged wine; it becomes more satisfying, more refreshing, more valuable, more appreciated and more intoxicating!” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

33. “Love creates an “us” without destroying the “me”.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

34. “No one gets out of this world alive.

“No one gets out of this world alive, so the time to live, learn, care, share, celebrate, and love is now.” -Leo Buscaglia

35. Don’t ever believe that you are going to be peaceful-life.

Don’t ever believe that you are going to be peaceful-life is not like that. When you are changing all the time, you’ve got to continue to keep adjusting to change, which means that you are going to be constantly facing new obstacles.

That’s the joy of living.

And once you are involved in the process of becoming, there is no stopping. You’re doomed! You’re gone! But what a fantastic journey! Every day is new. Every flower is new. Every face is new. Everything in the world is new, every morning of your life. Stop seeing it as a drag!” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

36. Make the compassionate choice.

“When we make the compassionate choice, we enhance the dignity of each individual, which is the very essence of loving them.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“It’s amazing – you may not realize it, but so much of what you are not is blind the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them, and you have found a lover for life because you are literally standing in your own way of becoming. And what I’m pleading with you about is, get the hell out of your own way.” -Leo Buscaglia

37. Get out of your own way.

“It’s amazing – you may not realize it, but so much of what you are not is blind the person who will love you because of your differences and not in spite of them, and you have found a lover for life because you are literally standing in your own way of becoming. And what I’m pleading with you about is, get the hell out of your own way.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

38. When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way.

“When you love someone you do not love them all the time, in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love, of relationships.

We leap at the flow of the tide and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible, in life as in love, is in growth, in fluidity – in freedom.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

39. “Learn to bend. It’s better than breaking.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

40. To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.

“To laugh is to risk appearing a fool. To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement. To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. 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.” Dr. Leo Buscaglia

BONUS: Other Famous Leo Buscaglia Quotes

“Time has no meaning in itself unless we choose to give it significance.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another’s, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Live nutty. Just occasionally. Just once in a while. And see what happens. It brightens up the day.” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“In life and in love, there is only that moment, the NOW. The only reality we know is what we experience this very second. Reality is not what has passed or what has yet to come into being. Grabbing hold of this simple idea makes life magical because it brings love alive.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness, to teach him how to develop that uniqueness, and then to show him how to share it because that’s the only reason for having anything.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“You have choice. You can select joy over despair. You can select happiness over tears. You can select action over apathy. You can select growth over stagnation. You can select you. And you can select life. And it’s time that people tell you you’re not at the mercy of forces greater than yourself. You are, indeed, the greatest force for you.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

“Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, ‘Did you bring joy?’ The second was, ‘Did you find joy?” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Live now. When you are eating, eat. When you are loving, love. when you are talking with someone, talk. When you are looking at a flower, look. Catch the beauty of the moment!” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

“Those who think they know it all have no way of finding out they don’t..” ~ Dr. Leo Buscaglia

~love, Luminita💫

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Luminita D. Saviuc

Luminita is the Founder and Editor in Chief of PurposeFairy.com and also the author of 15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy: An Inspiring Guide to Discovering Effortless Joy. For more details check out the 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy Book Page.

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