My mother became a believer, and then I became a believer. But when I was 43 years old, I began to think for myself, somehow, by fluke and by grace. And I thought, "Oh, my. I was so mistaken." The world isn't what I believed it to be. I am not what I believed me to be, and neither is anyone.

Here's what I would want for humanity, because this is what I have come to see is true: it's so simple when we listen to people.

We do not mature through age. We mature in awareness.

A lover of what is looks forward to everything: life, death, disease, loss, earthquakes, bombs, anything the mind might be tempted to call 'bad.' Life will bring us everything we need, to show us what we haven't undone yet. Nothing outside ourselves can make us suffer. Except for our unquestioned thoughts, every place is paradise.

When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.

I love what I think, and I'm never tempted to believe it.

The worst loss you've ever experienced is the greatest gift you can have.