The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit.

Only, in Haiti, I realized, is it possible to drink rum and haggle with a god.

If diversity is a source of wonder, its opposite - the ubiquitous condensation to some blandly amorphous and singularly generic modern culture that takes for granted an impoverished environment - is a source of dismay. There is, indeed, a fire burning over the earth, taking with it plants and animals, cultures, languages, ancient skills and visionary wisdom. Quelling this flame, and re-inventing the poetry of diversity is perhaps the most important challenge of our times.

What is science but the pursuit of the truth? What is Buddhism but 2500 years of observation as to the nature of mind?

All cultures through all time have constantly been engaged in a dance with new possibilities for life. Change is the one constant in human history.

A language is not just a body of vocabulary or a set of grammatical rules. ... Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind.

Change is no threat to culture.