Phil McGraw Quotations

Take it from a guy: If you're in love with somebody, you will swim the stream, you will climb the mountain, you will slay the dragon. You're going to get to her somehow, some way.

Well, let me tell you, if you're 45, had three children and are post-menopausal, you're not going to weigh what you did the day you graduated from high school. Get that out of your head. That's a media-driven ideal that you're never going to healthfully obtain.

I have some wonderful friends from the Mideast that are as red, white and blue as anybody you know, that have been harassed, and I think it's a terrible, terrible thing.

You don't need a pack of wild horses to learn how to make a sandwich.

You don't need a rope to pinch a stranger's butt.

The problem is that for women, the average time is just over 14 minutes... men are left with about 12 minutes during which time they need to think of something to do!

I'm embarrassed every time I look a teacher in the eye, because we ask them to do so much for so little.

I mean, if you degrade someone, you isolate them, you control them, you call them names, you demean them. That's a horrible existence for people.

My dad used to say, 'You wouldn't worry so much about what people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did.

When I was practicing psychology, I used to tell myself if I ever get to where I'm just doing this for the money or I'm just going through the motions, I'll quit.

Sometimes you just got to give yourself what you wish someone else would give you.

Do you realize that you can't play the game of life with sweaty palms?

It's so much easier to tell people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.

There's a big difference between falling in love and being in love. There's a big difference between infatuation and falling in love.

We all have a social mask, right? We put it on, we go out, put our best foot forward, our best image. But behind that social mask is a personal truth, what we really, really believe about who we are and what we're capable of.

You have got to decide, look, this is who I am; this is my best way to present myself, and I'm going to ride that horse to the finish line. Not everybody will like it, but that's OK.

It's great if the in-laws themselves put up boundaries. But if they won't; it's up to their grown kids to do it and enforce them.

The Internet is just bringing all kinds of information into the home. There's just a lot of distraction, a lot of competition for the parent's voice to resonate in the children's ears.

A year from now, you're gonna weigh more or less than what you do right now.

I do not believe, even remotely, that you have to have a partner in your life in order to be whole, in order to be complete, in order to be fulfilled. You just don't have to.

Don't wait until you're in a crisis to come up with a crisis plan.

Oh, everybody wears a mask. We all put our best foot forward. We all try and make a statement, I'm not saying that's bad.

It's better to be healthy alone than sick with someone else.

I tell you, if you're in the front row of the parade and you stop walking, pretty soon you're back in the tuba section. And if you want to lead the parade you've got to keep moving.

If your neighbor has a completely different view on abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, all of those things, you still are both Americans. Neither one of you is necessarily more patriotic than the other. Neither loves their country any more than the other one does.

Eighty percent of all choices are based on fear. Most people don't choose what they want; they choose what they think is safe.

The truth is, I think we are a self-less society, not a selfish society. Because we're so busy now.

Sometimes you make the right decision, sometimes you make the decision right.

If you're trying to get out of debt, you have to be willing to treat everything as expendable.

There is nothing wrong with your marriage if you're dealing with bills and kids and the broken garbage disposal and in-laws and work demands. That's a normal marriage.

You know, what we do know is that there is a high frequency of violence in the home of those who bully.

I think every parent, every generation has wanted their children to do better and have a higher standard of living. But I think there's too much guilt.

You're only lonely if you're not there for you.

Life is a full-contact sport, and there's a score up on the board.

I mean, look, teachers don't do their job for the money, obviously, because we pay them ridiculously little amounts for what they put in. Most of them come out of their own pocket for materials and things to help the children and all that.

A lot of people do have tragic childhoods. But you know what? Get over it.

Every one of us have things that we believe about ourselves when nobody else is looking, nobody else is listening, nobody else is monitoring what we're doing. We believe things about ourselves.

When you get married, your loyalty, first and foremost, is to your spouse, and to the family that you create together.

Everyone faces the challenge of finding meaning to their suffering.

I think you're running into a lot of trouble if your idea of foreplay is, 'Brace yourself honey, here I come!

I don't substitute anybody else's judgment for my own.

Relationships are negotiated and if you deal with ultimatums and authority all the time, then you're not going to get anywhere.

If you've gone into a marriage and you haven't been clear about how you're going to handle money, how you want to raise kids, who is going to work or stay home or what have you, then you've set yourself up for failure.

Food is a coping mechanism; people are afraid of giving it up because then they'll feel confused and lost.

There are some sick people in this world.

The most you get is what you ask for.

Parents need to dial in and know what their kids are doing.

At the end of the day, whether or not those people are comfortable with how you're living your life doesn't matter. What matters is whether you're comfortable with it.

If you want more, you have to require more from yourself.

You need to listen to your body because your body is listening to you.

Nothing's funnier to me than laughing at myself.

It's hard to see your own face without a mirror

I don't care how pumped up or psyched you are to start a new diet or a new program - that emotion will fade.

Well, I'm not sure what pop psychology is, but I don't like it.

I've talked to so many people, men and women alike, that get overweight and their self-esteem just goes in the tank. They think they're judged. They think they're unattractive.

I grew up in athletics, where people keep score.

I think I've got the best staff in television.

If I was on the air and was just kind of a plain-vanilla personality that took the safe road and the safe way trying to please all of the people all of the time, I'd been gone in two weeks.

What I want people to do is what's healthy for them.

I'm one of those that believes you can't be one kind of a man and another kind of president.

As parents we're not nearly as computer literate as our children are.

Now, my body fat runs around 18 percent, which is normal and, you know, kind of in the middle of normal, actually.

Not everybody is some kind of media model.

My dad used to say that the holidays are when you get a whole bunch of people that really aren't that close and don't know each other that well and overcrowd them into a small room for an extended period of time so they can make each other miserable.

It is an honor to be invited to millions of viewers' homes in the U.S. and around the world. It is a privilege and not something I take lightly. I am excited to have this continued opportunity for so many years to come.

Are you doing what you're doing today because you want to do it, or because it's what you were doing yesterday?

Really, everybody sometimes will think about Christmas, Christmases past, like it was a Currier & Ives print, you know, the candle in the window, the snow on the sill, and isn't this wonderful? But the truth was Uncle Harry got drunk, the kids were fighting over the toys, there wasn't enough money, you overate.

I hope we don't ever just kind of become Stepford Americans where everybody is just kind of going along and nodding their heads.

People say time heals all wounds. Let me tell you, time heals nothing. You can do the wrong thing for 10 years and it doesn't equal the right thing for one day.

Pain is the price you pay for resisting life.

Men fall in love with their eyes. Women fall in love with their ears.

If you marry for money you will earn every penny.

You either get it or you don't. Become one of those who get it.

You should consider an employment change before you consider selling out.

I just am not good at math.

You are your own most important resource for making your life work. Life rewards action. Until your knowledge, awareness, insights, and understandings are translated into action, they are of no value.

Champions get what they want because they know what they want. They have a vision that keeps them motivated and efficiently on track. They see it, feel it, and experience it in their minds and hearts. What is success for you? You won't get there without knowing what it feels and looks like.

People who consistently win have a clear and thoughtful strategy. They know what they need to do and when they need to do it. They write it down so they stay on course, and avoid any alternative that does not get them closer to the finish line.

You have to figure out what that is, and you have to make a plan to get to it. And the plan has got to have a timeline. You have to choose something that you can afford to do and then lock it in and passionately do it.

There is an interconnectedness among members that bonds the family, much like mountain climbers who rope themselves together when climbing a mountain, so that if someone should slip or need support, he's held up by the others until he regains his footing.

I've learned a tremendous amount from Oprah.

Like an enemy I knew as intimately as any friend, I came to know the nagging, constant emptiness of the incongruent life. I ignored myself and lived for people, purposes, and goals that weren't my own. I betrayed who I was and instead accepted a fictional substitute that was defined from the outside in.

Willpower is a myth. The problem with trying to use willpower to achieve and sustain a behavioral change is that it is fueled by emotion. And as we all know, our emotions are, at best, fickle. They come and go. When your emotions start running down -- and they will -- even your best-laid plans will fall flat.

Those who marry for money end up EARNING it anyway.

A mother is only as happy as her saddest child.

There has never been a merging of two lives where significant problems of daily living did not occur. One way or another, your relationship is going to be affected. The only question is how. There's a big difference between knowing and doing. It's not what happens between partners that determines the outcome of a relationship, it's how they handle what happens. If all you deal with in your relationship is problems, then you will have a problem relationship. If you want your pound of flesh with full acknowledgement that you're right, your future will be dim.

We are proud to have a platform through the Dr Phil show and the Dr. Phil Foundation to offer children the voice they need to meet their goals in having a better life.

The number one need in all people is the need for acceptance, the need to experience a sense of belonging to something and someone. The need for acceptance is more powerful in your family than anywhere else.... If that need is not met by your family, trust me, your kids will go elsewhere to seek it in order to find approval and acceptance.

Right now, make a list of what you admire about yourself- don't stop until you've filled a page. Sit and relish each quality and accomplishment. When you remember how much you have to be proud of, you don't need to envy others. Instead of wallowing in your jealousy, use your friends' accomplishments as inspiration to pursue the life you want.

This is your life and the clock is ticking.

Unless you know who you are, you will always be vulnerable to what people say.

This is no dress rehearsal.

You can't put feathers on a dog and call it a chicken!

When you allow a person's words to upset you, you're giving away your power.

Life’s a marathon, not a sprint.

You cannot be who and what you are unless you have a lifestyle, both internally and externally, that is designed to support that definition of self.

Life's managed, not cured.

If you need a miracle, be a miracle.

Common sense needs to be more common.

Learn when's a good time to shut up