Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Info & reflection: the pause as an act of freedom: not passivity, but the moment when the automatic reaction becomes a conscious choice. It applies to the nervous system, to emotions, to any impulse.
Attribution: uncertain. The line is not in Man's Search for Meaning; Stephen Covey made it famous and said he didn't remember where he had read it.
Related in anthology
- The simple act of paying attention can take you a long way. — Another quote on the same idea: attention as a conscious pause before reacting.