We have to make a disciplined effort to find out what our governments are doing in these various parts of the world and what is actually happening. We have to learn to listen to each other's stories. Something we are not very good at.

I'm seeking to make sense of life, looking for its meaning and how we can have a better humanity.

Some people simply bury their heads in the sand and refuse to think about the sorrow of the world, but this is an unwise course, because, if we are entirely unprepared, the tragedy of life can be devastating.

Ironically, the first thing that appealed to me about Islam was its pluralism. The fact that the Koran praises all the great prophets of the past.

Beethoven's string quartets express pain itself; it is not MY pain.

[T]he family is a school of compassion because it is here that we learn to live with other people. (68)

Compassion is not an option. It's the key to our survival.