That's what "meaning" is—a special additive like salt or garlic that could make even the most fetid piece of meat seem palpable, even delicious.

A hint of - dare I say? - animism has entered into the scientific worldview. The physical world is no longer either dead or passively obedient to the "laws.

Why "revere" the unknowable? Why not find out what it is?

If this was mental illness, or even just a particularly clinical case of adolescence, I was bearing up pretty well.

Too bad for any parent who has become accustomed to ruling by force, because at some point the kids just get too big to slap around.

The universe does not reveal itself to undergraduates or fools: This is the entire premise of higher education.

The Ten Commandments, for example, were no more challenging than the Girl Scout oath, and why should anyone be tempted to put one false god ahead of another?

In fact, the idea of a God who is both all-powerful and all good is a logical impossibility.

I understood that no one could have lobbed such a stinging wad of shame out into the world without having a considerable personal reserve of it to draw on.

You ought to find the joy, hope and love of existence.

Down there the nights are bright and nobody believes in the Devil.

As for me, I prefer truth to goodthink. I feel surer on my ground.

Nothing can save something that is not meant to be, no matter how hard you try.

Patriotism for the sake of is like choosing sides in a war based on the color of their uniforms.

In our culture we are taught to be accessible and open; it signifies a good person. In mysticism it is the opposite, people can scan you and drain you.

The world has never had a greater need for enlightened women and men.

What if nothing needs to change other than our perception of what we see?

I love where I'm from. I don't live there because of the circumstances, but all my family is there. It's what's inside, it's not what's outside that determines the culture and the feeling.

You don't really hear a female perspective on the radio, because so many of the songs are being written by men.