Deeds that seemed unimportant at the time would prove to have been momentous; a tiny act of selfishness and unkindness or, conversely, an unconsidered act of generosity would become the measure of a human life.

Every single one of the major world faiths, whether we're talking about Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Darwinism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have all come to the conclusion that what holds us back from our better self is ego, selfishness, greed, unkindness, hatred. And it all springs from a sense of thwarted ego.

I think I get from my books what other people get from family or a relationship or from prayer.

If we want to create a viable, peaceful world, we've got to integrate compassion into the gritty realities of 21st century life.

Alas, all traditions lose their primal purity and we all fail our founders.

Compassion is not feeling sorry for others. It's not soft. It requires an intellectual effort.

Illness itself can make you angry, enraged, furious, and it made me angry, enraged, and furious. I don't think it brought me to God at all. It depends how you deal with it. And I think that, at its best, three little words that always have to be applied to religion, religion can help you to deal with that.