I think America the symbol and America the notion are still very different from America the nation. What's touching and almost regenerative is that whatever is happening in the reality of America, where there is a murder rate worse than Lebanon's and where there is so much homelessness and poverty, still America will be a shorthand throughout the world for everything that is young and modern and free.

Many people would say that A Tibetan monk, even in Lhasa, may be free while the ruler of China may not be free.

Like the moon on the water, in a way. When you confront a Zen master, what you're really seeing are not his limitations but yours.

I would say that by virtue of transforming politics, [Dalai Lama] is in fact easily underestimated.

Living here in California, I think one of the scariest things about California is the fact that it is rewriting its script and changing constantly and so many people don't know who they will be and who they will be with a year from now.

American dreams are strongest in the hearts of those who have seen America only in their dreams.

For citizens who think themselves puppets in the hands of their rulers, nothing is more satisfying than having rulers as puppets in their hands.