When there is a gap between what's on the outside and what's on the inside, that's when people retreat into their foxholes because it is an unsafe situation. You don't know what you are dealing with. What you see is not what you are going to get. And that is when people start withdrawing.

In a culture of technique, we often confuse authority with power, but the two are not the same. Power works from the outside in, but authority works from the inside out. . . . I am painfully aware of the times in my own teaching when I lose touch with my inner teacher and therefore with my own authority. In those times I try to gain power by barricading myself behind the podium and my status while wielding the threat of grades. . . . Authority comes as I reclaim my identity and integrity, remembering my selfhood and my sense of vocation.

We listen for guidance everywhere except from within.

Mentoring is a mutuality that requires more than meeting the right teacher: the teacher must meet the right student.

In every story I have heard, good teachers share one trait: a strong sense of personal identity infuses their work.

Relational trust is built on movements of the human heart such as empathy, commitment, compassion, patience, and the capacity to forgive.

For me, teaching is about weaving a web of connectedness between myself, my students, the subject I'm teaching, and the larger world.