Jesus did not spend a great deal of time discoursing about the trinity or original sin or the incarnation, which have preoccupied later Christians. He went around doing good and being compassionate.

When you feel compassion, you dethrone yourself from the centre of the world.

It is not difficult to find a religious justification for killing.

I remind myself that my pain is not unique. Everybody suffers.

All religions are designed to teach us how to live, joyfully, serenely, and kindly, in the midst of suffering.

The hajj is one of the five essential practices of Islam; when they make the pilgrimage to Mecca, Muslims ritually act out the central principles of their faith.

Respect only has meaning as respect for those with whom I do not agree.