The reality is not that I lack respect for the law; it's that I have greater respect for justice.

Dealing with our negative emotions is a crucial preparatory step to taking effective action. You have to grapple with the hard stuff, with the hard realities of the world. This builds your confidence that you can handle those intense situations when they arise.

Alienation is perhaps the most effective tool of control in America, and every reminder of our real connectedness weakens that tool.

Civil disobedience is an act of love.

Part of the reason I embrace nonviolence is that it's the most effective thing we can do. It's a more advanced tactic than violence. If people who engage in violence want to escalate their tactics, they would escalate to nonviolence.

Our security doesn't come from turning away from the hard stuff; it comes from the knowledge that we can handle it.

My spiritual path has largely been Christianity - a label that I embraced and then rejected and have partially embraced again, as my understanding of Christianity has changed over time. When I accepted the mainstream, dogmatic definition of Christianity there came a point when I had to say, "Well, if that's what a Christian is, I'm not one."