Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

I’m in awe of the universe, but I don’t necessarily believe there’s an intelligence or agent behind it. I do have a passion for the visual in religious rituals, though, even though they may be completely empty and bereft of substance. The incense is powerful and provocative, whether Buddhist or Catholic.

The less you know, the more you believe.

The age of a woman doesn’t mean a thing. The best tunes are played on the oldest fiddles.

I don’t set out to write about spirituality; I am free to do something different every time.

There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.

It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.

I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that’s going on. I feel like I’m in my own bubble.

Thought is the wind and knowledge the sail.

I want to marry Arline because I love her – which means I want to take care of her. That is all there is to it. I want to take care of her. I am anxious for the responsibilities and uncertainties of taking care of the girl I love.

Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets; art deserves that, for it and knowledge can raise man to the Divine.

You must show the world that you abhor fighting.

I spent a lot of years trying to outrun or outsmart vulnerability by making things certain and definite, black and white, good and bad. My inability to lean into the discomfort of vulnerability limited the fullness of those important experiences that are wrought with uncertainty: Love, belonging, trust, joy, and creativity to name a few.

The art of being a slave is to rule one’s master.

The happiest people I know as a nation are the Burmese; their brightness and cheeriness are proverbial. Kindness to animals is one of their greatest ‚weaknesses‘; no Burmese will kill an animal, even if it is to put it out of pain.

Marriage is this grand madness, and I think if people knew that, they would perhaps take it more seriously.

Why is propaganda so much more successful when it stirs up hatred than when it tries to stir up friendly feeling?

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.

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.

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life.

The strongest influences in my life and my work are always whomever I love. Whomever I love and am with most of the time, or whomever I remember most vividly. I think that’s true of everyone, don’t you?

You can live your life angry, bitter, mad at somebody or even guilty, not letting go of your own mistakes, but you won’t receive the good things God has in store.

Love can do much, but duty more.

To abandon oneself to principles is really to die – and to die for an impossible love which is the contrary of love.

Where thou art, that is home.

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.

Vanity, showing off, is an attitude that reduces spirituality to a worldly thing, which is the worst sin that could be committed in the church.

Your daily life is your temple and your religion. When you enter into it take with you your all.

Religion can be the enemy of God. It’s often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building.

A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

The world knows that America will never start a war. This generation of Americans has had enough of war and hate… we want to build a world of peace where the weak are secure and the strong are just.

I spent most of the early years of my walk with God focused on what was wrong with me. Most of us probably do that, hoping to change ourselves.

Concentration is one of the happiest things in my life.

Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.

Reversing your treatment of the man you have wronged is better than asking his forgiveness.

The love of heaven makes one heavenly.

I look forward to a great future for America – a future in which our country will match its military strength with our moral restraint, its wealth with our wisdom, its power with our purpose.

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.

The older I get the more wisdom I find in the ancient rule of taking first things first. A process which often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.

Being part of a community with a church at its centre and singin‘ hymns is a great thing to do.

The fox has many tricks. The hedgehog has but one. But that is the best of all.

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.

All religions try to benefit people, with the same basic message of the need for love and compassion, for justice and honesty, for contentment.

Govern a great nation as you would cook a small fish. Do not overdo it.

Those Marriages generally abound most with Love and Constancy, that are preceded by a long Courtship.

In remembering the appalling suffering of war on both sides, we recognise how precious is the peace we have built in Europe since 1945.

I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.

I believe that some of us who were kept by God a long while before we found Him love Him better perhaps than we should have done if we had received Him directly, and we can preach better to others – we can speak more of His loving-kindness and tender mercy.

The Bible shows the way to go to heaven, not the way the heavens go.

We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love – first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.

If you aren’t in the moment, you are either looking forward to uncertainty, or back to pain and regret.

You can always cope with the present moment, but you cannot cope with something that is only a mind projection – you cannot cope with the future.

Ignorant people see life as either existence or non-existence, but wise men see it beyond both existence and non-existence to something that transcends them both; this is an observation of the Middle Way.

Meditation helps me to calm down.

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.

Wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.

There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.

Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carrying into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion.

When you know a thing, to hold that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it – this is knowledge.

An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.