We give it up and just look directly with compassion and humor at who we are. Then loneliness is no threat and heartache, no punishment.

What you do for yourself, you're doing for others, and what you do for others, you're doing for yourself.

Difficult things provoke all your irritations and bring your habitual patterns to the surface. And that becomes the moment of truth. You have the choice to launch into your lousy habitual patterns, or to stay with the rawness and discomfort of the situation and let it transform you.

The third noble truth says that the cessation of suffering is letting go of holding on to ourselves.

We cannot be present and run our story-line at the same time.

We can begin to open our hearts to others when we have no hope of getting anything back. We just do it for its own sake.

We are not given any promises that, because of our noble intentions, everything will be okay. We learn that what truly heals is gratitude and tenderness. We [need] to transform our minds and actions for the sake of other people and for the future of the world.