Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

When you wash your hands, when you make a cup of coffee, when you’re waiting for the elevator – instead of indulging in thinking, these are all opportunities for being there as a still, alert presence.

A lot of the problems I had with fame I was bringing on myself. A lot of self-loathing, a lot of woe-is-me. Now I’m learning to see the positive side of things, instead of, like, ‚I can’t go to Kmart. I can’t take my kids to the haunted house.‘

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.

Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.

If you go on with this nuclear arms race, all you are going to do is make the rubble bounce.

You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

An unjust peace is better than a just war.

We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind.

Compared to what we ought to be, we are half awake.

Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.

A good thing to remember is somebody’s got it a lot worse than we do.

People always tell you, ‚Be humble. Be humble.‘ When was the last time someone told you to be amazing? Be great! Be great! Be awesome! Be awesome!

There are many things that happen every day that we could murmur about if we let ourselves go there. But they really aren’t worth the effort it takes to get upset and gripe about it.

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Precaution is better than cure.

I’m confident with my ability.

I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.

Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around.

Life’s too short to hang out with people who aren’t resourceful.

The sun, too, shines into cesspools and is not polluted.

There are many people who feel that it is useless and futile to continue talking about peace and non-violence against a government whose only reply is savage attacks on an unarmed and defenseless people.

In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

To be awake is to be alive.

We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart too big for the body.

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

In difficult times, we’re not supposed to quit believing; we’re not supposed to quit growing.

Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body! I welcome it! But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.

There is no man on Earth or devil in Hell who can keep you from the very best God put in you.

Whenever you do a thing, act as if all the world were watching.

If you want to have sustained joy, you have to not only make sure that you think right, but you also have to make decisions now that are going to guarantee some joy in the future.

I’m happiest with my family around me.

If the great American people will only keep their temper, on both sides of the line, the troubles will come to an end, and the question which now distracts the country will be settled just as surely as all other difficulties of like character which have originated in this government have been adjusted.

Whatever you believe with feeling becomes your reality.

When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living.

Peace can only thrive when the climate is right. We remain open to bilateral dialogue with Pakistan on all outstanding issues in an environment free from terrorism and violence.

You can’t be happy by doing something groovy.

If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

My head’s never really quiet. The only time I can get it to turn off is if I watch ‚CSI‘ or ‚Law & Order,‘ where I have to follow the crime. If I can’t turn my head off during that, I know I’ve really got a problem.

Only by joy and sorrow does a person know anything about themselves and their destiny. They learn what to do and what to avoid.

You are not a problem that needs solving.

In the long term we can hope that religion will change the nature of man and reduce conflict. But history is not encouraging in this respect. The bloodiest wars in history have been religious wars.

I say there’re no depressed words just depressed minds.

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.

Life could be wonderful if people would leave you alone.

Whenever things go a bit sour in a job I’m doing, I always tell myself, ‚You can do better than this.‘

I eat next to nothing.

It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.

People respond in accordance to how you relate to them. If you approach them on the basis of violence, that’s how they’ll react. But if you say, ‚We want peace, we want stability,‘ we can then do a lot of things that will contribute towards the progress of our society.

Everything’s intentional. It’s just filling in the dots.

Usually, people have a tendency to be caught in the worries concerning the future or in the regret concerning the past. There is some kind of energy that is pushing them to run, and they are not able to establish themselves in the present moment.

Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.

Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.

Jesus lived a life that was full of joy and contradictions and fights, you know? If they were to paint a picture of Jesus without contradictions, the gospels would be fake, but the contradictions are a sign of authenticity.

Sometimes, if you begin to sing in a halfhearted mood, you can sing yourself up the ladder. Singing will often make the heart rise.

It was morning; through the high window I saw the pure, bright blue of the sky as it hovered cheerfully over the long roofs of the neighboring houses. It too seemed full of joy, as if it had special plans, and had put on its finest clothes for the occasion.

I really love training and being in good shape, and it’s so much a part of my life now, so it never really feels like work to me.

The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.

There is nothing wrong with America that faith, love of freedom, intelligence, and energy of her citizens cannot cure.