It wasn't until after living in California for many years that I realized that you don't believe what anybody says, ever. Whatever they say, they're just making a movie - they just like the way they sound.

Think about what is in front of you, if you must think.

Power, people are obsessed with it. You can take a nice person and turn them into a slob, into an insane being, craving power, destroying anything that stands in their way.

I am a teacher because teaching allows me to observe the universe at work, that moment when wakefulness suddenly occurs.

Occasionally, in each age and in different lands, a Buddha is born, that is to say, an enlightened person...they re-codify the ways, the practices, they make changes that are just intelligent changes that adapt to a new century, a new culture.

Go out into the world, do your best all day, try to think higher thoughts, try to be kind and compassionate, but don't let people take advantage of you.

Many sections are taken up with political discussions and how the way of the ruler, the merchant, the householder, and the army interact with the Tao.