In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow.

A holy day, after all, is a day for considering everything you otherwise think too little about.

Yet [Dalai Lama] has said very strongly that basic freedoms of thought and speech have to be respected in Tibet and they're not at the moment. Tolerance doesn't mean accepting what's unfair.

In the past, Ive visited remote places - North Korea, Ethiopia, Easter Island - partly as a way to visit remote states of mind: remote parts of myself that I wouldnt ordinarily explore.

I'm one of those perverse people who likes being alone. I always took myself to be a community of one. That's what I am comfortable with.

We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate.

I take very seriously the sense of our living these days in a global neighborhood. And the first sensible thing to do in such circumstances, as well as one of the most rewarding things, is to go and meet the neighbors, find out who they are, and what they think and feel. So travel for me is an act of discovery and of responsibility as well a grand adventure and a constant liberation.