The American culture especially, and Western culture in general, urges us to not only become the best that we can be, but also win against the competition.

It's the bringing together of knowledge and wisdom that is a great part - perhaps the greatest part - of our life's journey.

I've come to see that the way my life shows up is actually my purpose.

Most of us make an effort to do and be the best we can be, which leads to a distinction we need to make between the notion of struggle and the notion of effort.

The natural wish and impetus to feel oneself to be an individual, to be special, includes standing out more than anyone else.

The ego, as our familiar sense of self, seems predicated on fear. The fear that we might not make it, that we might not get where we want to go. But deep down there is also a grain of fear that we have nothing to give or nothing to offer. I think that's the ego's justifiable anxiety about its substantiality and existence.

Knowledge is immensely powerful and immensely useful.