We forgive when we give up attachment to our wounds.

But neither money nor machines can create. They shuttle tokens of energy, but they do not transform. A civilization based on them puts people out of touch with their creative powers.

We are each born into a situation-a particular body (its race, sex, health...), a set of ancestors, a community, a nation-and born into the stories told of each of these.

An essential portion of any artist's labor is not creation so much as invocation

An anaesthetic is a poet-killer.

When we are moved by art we are grateful that the artist lived, grateful that he labored in the service of his gifts.

To be a great teacher, you can't simply be looking at how to earn your income. And with a priest or spiritual leader - there's another relationship that makes those lives what they are. And in each of these cases you'll find elements of gift exchange thriving, and you'll also find a tension around it.