One curiosity of being a foreigner everywhere is that one finds oneself discerning Edens where the locals see only Purgatory.
Pico IyerSilence is something more than just a pause; it is that enchanted place where space is cleared and time is stayed and the horizon itself expands. In silence, we often say, we can hear ourselves think; but what is truer to say is that in silence we can hear ourselves not think....In silence, we might better say, we can hear someone else think.
Pico IyerTravel, for me, is a little bit like being in love, because suddenly all your senses are at the setting marked โon.
Pico IyerDalai Lama is taking a subtle and nuanced view of politics and he is thinking in terms of events well beyond our lifetime.
Pico IyerIt's impressive that a man [Dalai Lama], on the day after his Nobel Prize was announced, in October, 1989, said to me, "I really wonder if my efforts are enough?" Most of us, if we just won the Nobel Prize, would think this is vindication, or at last there's a chance for Tibet. He's the rare person who thinks, as a Buddha would, "I don't know if I've done enough, I don't know if I will do enough."
Pico Iyer