Quotes from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Communicating with God is the most extraordinary experience imaginable, yet at the same time it's the most natural one of all, because God is present in us at all times. Omniscient, omnipotent, personal-and loving us without conditions. We are connected as One through our divine link with God.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Love is, without a doubt, the basis of everything. Not some abstract, hard-to-fathom kind of love but the day-to-day kind that everyone knows-the kind of love we feel when we look at our spouse and our children, or even our animals. In its purest and most powerful form, this love is not jealous or selfish, but unconditional. This is the reality of realities, the incomprehensibly glorious truth of truths that lives and breathes at the core of everything that exists or will ever exist, and no remotely accurate understanding of who and what we are can be achieved by anyone who does not know it, and embody it in all of their actions.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“A story-a true story-can heal as much as medicine can.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond the grave. More important, it continues under the gaze of a God who loves and cares about each one of us and about where the Universe itself and all the beings withing it are ultimately goind.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“My journey deep into coma, outside this lowly physical realm and into the loftiest dwelling place of the almighty Creator, revealed the indescribably immense chasm between our human knowledge and the awe-inspiring realm of God.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Evil was necessary because without it free will was impossible, and without free will there could be no growth—no forward movement, no chance for us to become what God longed for us to be. Horrible and all-powerful as evil sometimes seemed to be in a world like ours, in the larger picture love was overwhelmingly dominant, and it would ultimately be triumphant.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“The brain itself does not produce consciousness. That it is, instead, a kind of reducing valve or filter, shifting the larger, nonphysical consciousness that we possess in the non physical worlds down into a more limited capacity for the duration of our mortal lives.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“When tomorrow starts without me, And I’m not there to see, If the sun should rise and find your eyes All filled with tears for me; I wish so much you wouldn’t cry The way you did today, While thinking of the many things, We didn’t get to say. I know how much you love me, As much as I love you, And each time you think of me, I know you’ll miss me too; But when tomorrow starts without me, Please try to understand, That an angel came and called my name, And took me by the hand, And said my place was ready, In heaven far above And that I’d have to leave behind All those I dearly love. But as I turned to walk away, A tear fell from my eye For all my life, I’d always thought, I didn’t want to die. I had so much to live for, So much left yet to do, It seemed almost impossible, That I was leaving you. I thought of all the yesterdays, The good ones and the bad, The thought of all the love we shared, And all the fun we had. If I could relive yesterday Just even for a while, I’d say good-bye and kiss you And maybe see you smile. But then I fully realized That this could never be, For emptiness and memories, Would take the place of me. And when I thought of worldly things I might miss come tomorrow, I thought of you, and when I did My heart was filled with sorrow. But when I walked through heaven’s gates I felt so much at home When God looked down and smiled at me, From His great golden throne, He said, “This is eternity, And all I’ve promised you. Today your life on earth is past But here it starts anew. I promise no tomorrow, But today will always last, And since each day’s the same way, There’s no longing for the past. You have been so faithful, So trusting and so true. Though there were times You did some things You knew you shouldn’t do. But you have been forgiven And now at last you’re free. So won’t you come and take my hand And share my life with me?” So when tomorrow starts without me, Don’t think we’re far apart, For every time you think of me, I’m right here, in your heart.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Science—the science to which I’ve devoted so much of my life—doesn’t contradict what I learned up there. But far, far too many people believe it does, because certain members of the scientific community, who are pledged to the materialist worldview, have insisted again and again that science and spirituality cannot coexist.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“For all the successes of Western civilization, the world paid a dear price in terms of the most crucial component of existence - the human spirit. The shadow side of high technology - modern warfare and thoughtless homicide and suicide, urban blight, ecological mayhem, cataclysmic climate change, polarization of economic resources - is bad enough. Much worse, our focus on exponential progress in science and technology has left many of us relatively bereft in the realm of meaning and joy, and of knowing how our lives fit into the grand scheme of existence for all eternity.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Physical life is characterized by defensiveness, whereas spiritual life is just the opposite.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Your family is who you are.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“there are really no “objects” in the world at all, only vibrations of energy, and relationships.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Those implications are tremendous beyond description. My experience showed me that the death of the body and the brain are not the end of consciousness, that human experience continues beyond the grave. More important, it continues under the gaze of a God who loves and cares about each one of us and about where the universe itself and all the beings within it are ultimately going.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“I didn’t just believe in God; I knew God.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“You are loved and cherished. You have nothing to fear. There is nothing you can do wrong. If I had to boil this entire message down to one sentence, it would run this way: You are loved. And if I had to boil it down further, to just one word, it would (of course) be, simply: Love.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“We can only see what our brain’s filter allows through.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Hallucinogens affect the neocortex, and my neocortex wasn’t available to be affected.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“To say that there is still a chasm between our current scientific understanding of the universe and the truth as I saw it is a considerable understatement. I still love physics and cosmology, still love studying our vast and wonderful universe. Only I now have a greatly enlarged conception of what “vast” and “wonderful” really mean. The physical side of the universe is as a speck of dust compared to the invisible and spiritual part. In my past view, spiritual wasn’t a word that I would have employed during a scientific conversation. Now I believe it is a word that we cannot afford to leave out.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“The physical side of the universe is as a speck of dust compared to the invisible and spiritual part.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“Omniscient, omnipotent, personal—and loving us without conditions.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“You are loved and cherished, dearly, forever.” “You have nothing to fear.” “There is nothing you can do wrong.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“None of us are ever unloved. Each and every one of us is deeply known and cared for by a Creator who cherishes us beyond any ability we have to comprehend.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

“There were children, too, laughing and playing. The people sang and danced around in circles, and sometimes I’d see a dog, running and jumping among them, as full of joy as the people were.”
― Eben Alexander, quote from Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

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Popular quotes

“Oh God, midnight’s not bad, you wake and go back to sleep, one or two’s not bad, you toss but sleep again. Five or six in the morning, there’s hope, for dawn’s just under the horizon. But three, now, Christ, three A.M.! Doctors say the body’s at low tide then. The soul is out. The blood moves slow. You’re the nearest to dead you’ll ever be save dying. Sleep is a patch of death, but three in the morn, full wide-eyed staring, is living death! You dream with your eyes open. God, if you had strength to rouse up, you’d slaughter your half-dreams with buckshot! But no, you lie pinned to a deep well-bottom that’s burned dry. The moon rolls by to look at you down there, with its idiot face. It’s a long way back to sunset, a far way on to dawn, so you summon all the fool things of your life, the stupid lovely things done with people known so very well who are now so very dead – And wasn’t it true, had he read somewhere, more people in hospitals die at 3 A.M. than at any other time...”
― Ray Bradbury, quote from Something Wicked This Way Comes

“In any case you mustn't confuse a single failure with a final defeat.”
― F. Scott Fitzgerald, quote from Tender Is the Night

“Then came the march past the victims. The two men were no longer alive. Their tongues were hanging out,
swollen and bluish. But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing...
And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes.
And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still
red, his eyes not yet extinguished.

Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
"For God's sake, where is God?"
And from within me, I heard a voice answer:
"Where He is? This is where--hanging here from this gallows..."

That night, the soup tasted of corpses.”
― Elie Wiesel, quote from Night

“Old Marley was as dead as a doornail.

Mind! I don't mean to say that, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a doornail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a doornail.”
― Charles Dickens, quote from A Christmas Carol

“Sage," he said. "What are you wearing?"
I sighed and stared down at the dress. "I know. It's red. Don't start. I'm tired of hearing about it."
"Funny," he said. "I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at it.”
― Richelle Mead, quote from The Golden Lily

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