Williamson’s philosophy of placing the individual at the center of the world appeals to our sense of grandeur, winning us over. Her simple gospel of love and peace resonates in a world torn by strife.
Marianne Williamson launched her second run for the White House last month and is already getting some traction. The bestselling author and pop spiritual guru is at about 10% among primary Democratic voters, but remains a long shot to beat President Joe Biden. In 2020 she dropped out in favor of Bernie Sanders.
Williamson isn’t reneging on her pre-politics persona. ‘Spirituality and Politics’, the title of her talk at Yale University on April 11, made it clear.
At the 2020 Democratic presidential debate stage also, she revealed her core self. In her closing argument, she addressed President Trump directly, “I am going to harness love for political purposes. I will meet you on that field. And, sir, love will win.”
Author of 15 books, four of which topped the New York Times bestsellers list, Marianne Williamson, born a Jew, has been a well-known leader in spiritual and religiously progressive circles. A Return to Love, her first book, won her a spot on the Oprah Winfrey Show. The book was influenced by the New Age classic, A Course in Miracles, which Williamson called a “self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy.”
Her simple gospel of love and peace took her from small prayer circles to auditoriums seating thousands. Deciphering her success secret, a one-time aide, Don Thomson, was quoted as saying, “She’s a real combination of the mystical and the popular self-help wisdom.”
Here is the most well-known quote by her, wrongly attributed by many to Nelson Mandela:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.”
Here are more inspiring thoughts from Williamson:
“Joy is what happens when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things are. Joy is what happens when we see that God’s plan is perfect and we’re already staring in a perfect show.”
“Children are happy because they don’t have a file in their minds called ‘All the Things That Could Go Wrong’.”
“The lack of a vibrant spiritual conversation is to the detriment of American democracy, because spirituality means the path of the heart.”
“Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.”
“My religion is Judaism, my spirituality is universal.”
“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone. It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose. It doesn’t have to. It is different. And there’s room in the garden for every flower. You didn’t have to struggle to make your face different than anyone else’s on earth. It just is. You are unique because you were created that way.”
“In every community, there is work to be done.
In every nation, there are wounds to heal.
In every heart, there is the power to do it.”
“Just like a sunbeam can’t separate itself from the sun, and a wave can’t separate itself from the ocean, we can’t separate ourselves from one another. We are all part of a vast sea of love, one indivisible divine mind.”
“Rather than accepting that we are the loving beings that He created, we have arrogantly thought that we could create ourselves, and then create God. Because we are angry and judgmental, we have projected those characteristics onto Him. We have made up a God in our image. But God remains who He is and always has been: the energy, the thought of unconditional love.”
“What we do not claim remains invisible. That is why the process of personal transformation — the true work of spiritual growth, whether couched in religious terms or not — is the only antidote to the pernicious effects of society’s backlash against genuine female empowerment.”
“The regime of oppression is almost over; its life force is waning, and only its ghost remains. Don’t tarry too long to mourn its effects; celebrate and rejoice in the new. The past is over. Wipe the dirt off your feet.”
Photo courtesy: Marianne Williamson’s Official 2024 campaign website.