The realms of the gods and demons - heaven, purgatory, hell - are of the substance of dreams. Myth, in this view, is the dream of the world.

Midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it was against the wrong wall.

Marriage . . . is not a love affair; it is an ordeal. (92)

Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world. We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

Your life is the fruit of your own doing. You have no one to blame but yourself... The problem is not to blame or explain but to handle the life that arises... If you say no to a single factor in your life, you have unraveled the whole thing... The demon that you swallow gives you its power, and the greater life's pain, the greater life's reply.

The perfect human being is uninteresting.

Let the world be as it is and learn to rock with the waves.