“The ego is our pain, but it is what we know and we resist moving out of it.  The effort it takes to grow out of painful patterns often feels more uncomfortable than remaining within them.  Personal growth can be so painful because it can make us ashamed and humiliated to face our own darkness.   But the goal of personal growth is the journey out of dark emotional patterns which cause us pain to those which cause us peace.”

American self-help author, speaker, and political activist

Marianne Williamson is an American self-help author, speaker, and political activist. She began her career as a spiritual leader at the Church of Today, a Unity church in Warren, Michigan, and later became widely known in the 1990s through her appearances on Oprah Winfrey's show. She wrote several self-help books, including A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles, published in 1992 and later a New York Times best seller. She was also known as Winfrey's spiritual advisor, and her work often circles around spirituality, healing, and personal transformation.