You do not have to sit outside in the dark. If, however, you want to look at the stars, you will find that darkness is necessary. But the stars neither require nor demand it.

I alternate between thinking of the planet as home - dear and familiar stone hearth and garden - and as a hard land of exile in which we are all sojourners.

I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.

Nature's silence is its one remark, and every flake of world is a chip off that old mute and immutable block.

The soul may ask God for anything, and never fail.

What is the difference between a cathedral and a physics lab? Are not they both saying: Hello? We spy on whales and on interstellar radio objects we starve ourselves and pray till we're blue.

I set up and staged hundreds of ends-of-the-world and watched, enthralled, as they played themselves out.

But no. There is a difference between the truth and what we wish were true.

There is an intelligent healing process inside of you that knows how to absorb pain and transform it into wisdom.

Those who live, live off the dead.

You can't replicate walking 94 days through the wilderness by yourself with a really heavy pack until you do it.

I think if I try to develop a formula, it ends up not working.

When you are present, you can allow the mind to be as it is without getting entangled in it.

If a good face is a letter of recommendation, a good heart is a letter of credit.

I do everything in my power to get myself to a 100% so I can perform to my potential... that's all I can ask for.

My family in general - they're troubled or poorer people.