If we divide into two camps--even into violent and the nonviolent--and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence within ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact.

A truly happy person is someone who is joyfully independent of outer conditions.

If we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to love, we are looking for spiritual growth.

It is often thought that the Buddha's doctrine teaches us that suffering will disappear if one has meditated long enough, or if one sees everything differently. It is not that at all. Suffering isn't going to go away; the one who suffers is going to go away.

"Wholeheartedly" means that we give our time, love, and energy unstintingly.

Eventually we will find (mostly in retrospect, of course) that we can be very grateful to those people who have made life most difficult for us.

Half the spiritual life consists of remembering what we are up against and where we are going.