The more we witness our emotional reactions and understand how they work, the easier it is to refrain.

It is possible to move through the drama of our lives without believing so earnestly in the character that we play. That we take ourselves so seriously, that we are so absurdly important in our own minds, is a problem for us. We feel justified in being annoyed with everything. We feel justified in denigrating ourselves or in feeling that we are more clever than other people. Self-importance hurts us, limiting us to the narrow world of our likes and dislikes. We end up bored to death with ourselves and our world. We end up never satisfied.

You are the sky. Everything else - it’s just the weather.

The central question of a warrior's training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort.

True compassion does not come from wanting to help out those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.

Life's work is to wake up, to let the things that enter your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep.

The Buddha taught that we're not actually in control, which is a pretty scary idea. But when you let things be as they are, you will be a much happier, more balanced, compassionate person.