Pain is not a punishment; pleasure is not a reward.

Deep down in the human spirit, there is a reservoir of courage. It is always available, always waiting to be discovered.

Treat yourself as your own beloved child.

We can gradually drop our ideals of who we think we ought to be, or who we think we want to be, or who we think other people think we want to be or ought to be.

When there's a disappointment, I don't know if it's the end of the story. It may just be the beginning of a great adventure.

Learning how to be kind to ourselves, learning how to respect ourselves, is important. The reason it's important is that, fundamentally, when we look into our own hearts and begin to discover what is confused and what is brilliant, what is bitter and what is sweet, it isn't just ourselves that we're discovering. We're discovering the universe.

Constantly apply cheerfulness, if for no other reason than because you are on this spiritual path. Have a sense of gratitude to everything, even difficult emotions, because of their potential to wake you up.