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, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
You playing small doesn’t serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest
the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us,
it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear
Our presence automatically
liberates others.
Nelson Mandela 1994 inaugural speech