Contemplating the suffering which is unbearable to us, and is unbearable to others, too, can produce awake mind, which arises from the compassion that wishes to free all living beings from suffering.

In today's highly interdependent world, individuals and nations can no longer resolve many of their problems by themselves. We need one another. It is our collective and individual responsibility to protect and nurture the global family, to support its weaker members, and to preserve and tend to the environment in which we all live.

The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis.

Once you encourage the thought of compassion in your mind, once it becomes active, then your attitude towards others changes automatically.

I became the Dalai Lama not on a volunteer basis.

Only the development of compassion and understanding for others can bring us the tranquility and happiness we all seek.

It is my belief that whereas the twentieth century has been a century of war and untold suffering, the twenty-first century should be one of peace and dialogue. As the continued advances in information technology make our world a truly global village, I believe there will come a time when war and armed conflict will be considered an outdated and obsolete method of settling differences among nations and communities.