I was a very driven person, wanting to help and to do good, hopefully to write and teach in a meaningful way - wanting to make change. And I discovered humbly that life was changing me.

I would rather have a mind opened by wonder than one closed by belief.

The flower doesn't dream of the bee. It blossoms and the bee comes.

Even when clouds grow thick, the sun still pours its light earthward.

The key to knowing joy is being easily pleased.

When we heal ourselves, we heal the world.

The real & lasting practice for each of us is to remove what obstructs us so we can be who we are.

To journey without being changed, is to be a nomad. To change without journeying is to be a chameleon. To journey and to be transformed by the journeying is to be a pilgrim.

Tragedy stays alive by feeling what's been done to us, while peace comes alive by living with the results.

…I keep looking for one more teacher, only to find that fish learn from the water and birds learn from the sky.” (p.275)

Each of us carries some wisdom waiting to be discovered at the center of our experience. Everything we meet, if faced and held, reveals a part of that wisdom.

Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than one with all the facts.

The problem with loneliness is that, unlike other forms of human suffering, it teaches us nothing, leads us nowhere, and generally devalues us in our own eyes and the eyes of others.

When you go into labor you see that you are not the captain of the ship. You are the ship. There is no captain. There are only the waves.

When things are bad, it's the best time to reinvent yourself.

The Framers of the Constitution knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.

I've had so much stress in the last year so it's really a struggle. I never hide, when I walk down the street, someone's going to take my picture, that's what I look like.

Lao Tsu doesn't seem to hold to much stock for words or phrases or teachings.

I'm one of those people who snake through the crowd, keep my head low. I'm not looking for attention.

When you really love someone, you must accept their part of mystery. And that’s why you love them.

Characters with no integrity are just as interesting as characters with lots of integrity.