Religions don't own compassion; it is a human virtue.

Religion is a practical discipline and in the 17th century in the West, we turned it onto a head trip. But it's like dancing, or swimming, or driving, which you can't learn by texts. You have to get into the car and learn how to manipulate the vehicle.

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

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

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.

Even before 9/11 I was gripped by a sense of dread: our lack of criticism about what we were doing in the Middle East - the slagging off of a whole religious tradition.

We are most creative and sense other possibilities that transcend our ordinary experience when we leave ourselves behind.