The Four Agreements

The Four Agreements is one of the best-selling spiritual guides of the past thirty years, and its enduring success reflects the genuine depth of its teaching. Don Miguel Ruiz draws on the Toltec wisdom tradition of ancient Mexico to identify four simple but profound agreements — commitments one makes with oneself — that, if genuinely adopted, can transform the quality of experience in every dimension of life. The four are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally, Don't Make Assumptions, and Always Do Your Best.

What makes the book exceptional is the depth of analysis behind each deceptively simple agreement. Ruiz traces the roots of human suffering to what he calls the domestication process — the way we are conditioned from childhood to accept a set of agreements about reality that are often false and invariably limiting. The four agreements are offered as a replacement system: new commitments with oneself that are true, liberating, and actively supportive of genuine happiness and authentic relationship.