The spiritual life is a call to action. But it is a call to ... action without any selfish attachment to the results.

A calm mind releases the most precious capacity a human being can have: the capacity to turn anger into compassion, fear into fearlessness, and hatred into love.

Our deepest need is for the joy that comes with knowing we are of genuine use to others.

Lasting change happens when people see for themselves that a different way of life is more fulfilling than their present one.

To enjoy anything, we cannot be attached to it... What we usually try to do is capture any joy that comes our way before it can escape... We try to cling to pleasure, but all we succeed in doing is making ourselves frustrated because, whatever it promises, pleasure simply cannot last. But if I am willing to kiss the joy as it flies, I say, "Yes, this moment is beautiful. I won't grab it. I'll let it go."

Every angry thought makes it a little easier to get angry the next time, and a little more likely.

As we get deeper, we move closer and closer to other people; we feel closer to life as a whole.