You are your best self when you give yourself away.

Fundamentalists are not friends of democracy. And that includes your fundamentalists in the United States.

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

My greatest solace is my study. If I am deprived of my study, I can become lost, unhappy and unhinged.

Buddhists talk about nirvana in very much the same terms as monotheists describe God.

He was decisive and wholehearted in everything he did, so intent on the task at hand that he never looked over his shoulder, even if his cloak got caught in a thorny bush. When he did turn to speak to somebody, he used to swing his entire body and address him full face. When he shook hands, he was never the first to withdraw his own. He inspired such confidence that he was known as al-Amin, the Reliable One.

Ever since the Crusades, when Christians from western Europe were fighting holy wars against Muslims in the near east, western people have often perceived Islam as a violent and intolerant faith - even though when this prejudice took root Islam had a better record of tolerance than Christianity.