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Marianne Williamson^[1] is a spiritual teacher, author and lecturer. She has published ten books, including four New York Times #1 bestsellers. She is also the founder of Project Angel Food, a meals-on-wheels program that serves homebound people with AIDS in the Los Angeles area, and co-founder of The Peace Alliance, a grass roots campaign supporting legislation to establish a United States Department of Peace. [2] She serves on the Board of Directors of the RESULTS organization, which works to end poverty in the United States and around the world; and has taught the “Sister Giant" seminars, supporting women in running for political office and aligning their politics with their spiritual values.

Her first book, A RETURN TO LOVE, is of The New Spirituality genre. A paragraph from that book begins, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."

Her other books include THE AGE OF MIRACLES, EVERYDAY GRACE, A WOMAN'S WORTH, ILLUMINATA, HEALING THE SOUL OF AMERICA, A COURSE IN WEIGHT LOSS, and THE GIFT OF CHANGE. Her latest publication is THE LAW OF DIVINE COMPENSATION: On Work, Money and Miracles.

She has been a guest on television programs such as Oprah, Larry King Live, Good Morning America and Charlie Rose. In December 2006, a NEWSWEEK magazine poll named her one of the fifty most influential baby boomers. According to Time magazine, "Yoga, the Cabala and Marianne Williamson have been taken up by those seeking a relationship with God that is not strictly tethered to Christianity."

Biography [edit]

Williamson was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where her roommate was film producer Lynda Obst.

Philosophy [edit]

Williamson bases her teaching and writing on a set of books called A COURSE IN MIRACLES, a self-study program of spiritual psychotherapy. Based on universal spiritual themes, the course is not a religion and contains no dogma or doctrine. Her basic message is the primacy of love and forgiveness in all human interactions.

Williamson’s quotes are frequently used throughout popular culture. A notable quote of hers is, "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."[6]

Popular culture references [edit]

A passage from Williamson's book A RETURN TO LOVE has been used in the 2005 film, Coach Carter, the 2006 film, Akeelah and the Bee, and in the 2011 novel, [1] Badulina: Return of the Queen by Israeli author Gabi Nitzan. It is often incorrectly attributed to Nelson Mandela;[7] The quote is:

"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. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. 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're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Bibliography [edit]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Marianne Williamson

• Official Web Site
• Marianne Williamson, article and shows at Oprah.com
• Williamson interview
• Tom Butler-Bowdon commentary on A Return To Love
• Sacred Awakening seminar

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