Sometimes I try to just sit at home and do something calmer and simpler and just be in my life. You know, not trying to solve a lot of things at once.

I walk every day, and I look at the mountains and the fields and the small city, and I say: ‚Oh my God, what a blessing.‘ Then you realise it’s important to put it in a context beyond this woman, this man, this city, this country, this universe.

Human subtlety will never devise an invention more beautiful, more simple or more direct than does nature because in her inventions nothing is lacking, and nothing is superfluous.

Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

I never make conscious decisions.

That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

People don’t realize that now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind.

It’s very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

We go on in our pleasures thinking they’re going to last forever.

Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

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.

Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.

All difficult things have their origin in that which is easy, and great things in that which is small.

He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.

Have you not noticed that love is silence? It may be while holding the hand of another, or looking lovingly at a child, or taking in the beauty of an evening. Love has no past or future, and so it is with this extraordinary state of silence.

If I forget to pray, I can’t get through the day without snapping at people.

I don’t care how busy I am – I will always make time for what’s most important to me.

Intense feeling too often obscures the truth.

I’m addicted to exercising and I have to do something every day.

The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large.

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

To do nothing is also a good remedy.

There is a certain majesty in simplicity which is far above all the quaintness of wit.

A lot of times, people have something that they’re afraid of. They’ve got a client that’s mad at them. They’ve got a project that’s due. And they let that stress hang over their head. I don’t let that happen.

Become slower in your journey through life. Practice yoga and meditation if you suffer from ‚hurry sickness.‘ Become more introspective by visiting quiet places such as churches, museums, mountains and lakes. Give yourself permission to read at least one novel a month for pleasure.

I think Buddhism should open the door of psychology and healing to penetrate more easily into the Western world.

The dieting wars have got to stop.

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness.

Thinking is a wonderful tool if it’s applied. Thinking, however, can not become the master. Thinking is a very bad master. If you’re dominated by thinking then your life becomes very restricted.

The wind can be quite extreme in England. We are not familiar with that in Germany, and you have to keep things simple.

The power of our thoughts may never be measured or appreciated, but it became obvious to me as a young boy that there was value and power in being aware of my thoughts and how I expressed myself.

More compassionate mind, more sense of concern for other’s well-being, is source of happiness.

How should a man be capable of grooming his own horse, or of furbishing his own spear and helmet, if he allows himself to become unaccustomed to tending even his own person, which is his most treasured belonging?

When people get taken over by the ego to such an extent, there is nothing else in their mind except the ego. They can no longer feel or sense their humanity – what they share with other human beings, or even with other life forms on the planet. They are so identified with concepts in their minds that other human beings become concepts as well.

Memories are thoughts that arise. They’re not realities. Only when you believe that they are real, then they have the power over you. But when you realize it’s just another thought arising about the past, then you can have a spacious relationship with that thought. The thought no longer has you in its grip.

A daily portion is really all we need. We do not need tomorrow’s supply, for that day has not yet dawned, and its needs are still unborn.

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

And later, if I ever felt that I was getting swept away by the craziness of being in a band, well, I’d go back to Virginia.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

A happy life must be to a great extent a quiet life, for it is only in an atmosphere of quiet that true joy dare live.

It’s so important to realize that every time you get upset, it drains your emotional energy. Losing your cool makes you tired. Getting angry a lot messes with your health.

The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself.

I’ve had some dark nights of the soul, of course, but giving in to depression would be a sellout, a defeat.

I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartanlike as to put to rout all that was not life.

I have never given adoration to any body except myself.

One should take good care not to grow too wise for so great a pleasure of life as laughter.

Why do people sit up so late, or, more rarely, get up so early? Not because the day is not long enough, but because they have no time in the day to themselves.

In Buddhism, we talk of meditation as an act of awakening, to be awake to the fact that the earth is in danger and living species are in danger.

I don’t really have any gimmicks. I don’t actually do anything that’s strange. I don’t even wear weird things.

In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.

Remind yourself that the greatest technique for bringing peace into your life is to always choose being kind when you have a choice between being right or being kind.

Personal beauty is a greater recommendation than any letter of reference.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Musicians are there in front of you, and the spectators sense their tension, which is not the case when you’re listening to a record. Your attention is more relaxed. The emotional aspect is more important in live music.

The moment someone asks you to do something you don’t have the time or inclination to do is fraught with vulnerability.

Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys.

How much pain they have cost us, the evils which have never happened.

I could sing you a thousand and one doo-wop songs. I love the simplicity in that music. It’s not super-poetic, it’s just from the heart.

I love the sea.