# Quote — Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth

> In the case of a child who cries in deep suffering because his toy has been taken away...Whether the child is rich or poor, whether the toy is a piece of wood shaped like an animal or a sophisticated electronic gadget makes no difference as far as the suffering caused by its loss is concerned. The reason why such acute suffering occurs is concealed in the word “my,”... unconscious compulsion to enhance one’s identity through association with an object is built into the very structure of the egoic mind.

- Author: [Eckhart Tolle](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle.md)
- Book: [A New Earth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/A_New_Earth#Chapter_2,_Ego:_the_Current_State_of_Humanity) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/in-the-case

## More from this book

> The decision to make the present moment into your friend is the end of the ego. The ego can never be in alignment with the present moment, which is to say, aligned with life, since its very nature compels it to ignore, resist, or devalue the Now. Time is what the ego lives on. The stronger the ego, the more time takes over your life. Almost every thought you think is then concerned with past or future, and you sense of self depends on the past for your identity and on the future for its fulfillment. Fear, anxiety, expectation, regret, guilt, anger are the dysfunctions of the timebound state of consciousness.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/the-decision-to-make.md)

> The suppression of the feminine principle especially over the past two thousand years has enabled the ego to gain absolute supremacy in the collective human psyche. Although women have egos, of course, the ego can take root and grow more easily in the male form than in the female. this is because women are less mind identified than men. They are more in touch with the inner body and the intelligence of the organism where the intuitive faculties originate. The female form is less rigidly encapsulated than the male, has greater openness and sensitivity toward other lifeforms, and is more attuned to the natural world.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/the-suppression-of-the.md)

> “How long does it take to become free of identification with the painbody?” And the answer to that question: It takes no time at all. When the painbody is activated, know that what you are feeling is the painbody in you. This knowing is all that is needed to break your identification with it. And when identification with it ceases, the transmutation begins. The knowing prevents the old emotion from rising up in your head and taking over not only the internal dialogue, but also your actions as well as interactions with other people. This mean the painbody cannot use you anymore and renew itself through you.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/eckhart-tolle/a-new-earth/how-long-does.md)