We’re in very bad trouble if we don’t understand the planet we’re trying to save.

There is nothing that living things do that cannot be understood from the point of view that they are made of atoms acting according to the laws of physics.

Black people comprehend the South. We understand its weight. It has rested on our backs… I knew that my heart would break if ever I put my foot down on that soil, moist, still, with old hurts. I had to face the fear/loathing at its source or it would consume me whole.

Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.

They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.

If you understand the universe, you control it, in a way.

I think that man has a fundamental obligation to extract from himself and from the earth all that it can give; and this obligation is all the more imperative that we are absolutely ignorant of what limits – they may still be very distant – God has imposed on our natural understanding and power.

There are too many accidents that can befall life on a single planet.

September 11 shocked many Americans into an awareness that they had better pay much closer attention to what the U.S. government does in the world and how it is perceived. Many issues have been opened for discussion that were not on the agenda before. That’s all to the good.

I don’t pretend to understand the Universe – it’s a great deal bigger than I am.

Our present moment is a mystery that we are part of. Here and now is where all the wonder of life lies hidden. And make no mistake about it, to strive to live completely in the present is to strive for what already is the case.

When you’re drowning, you don’t say ‚I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,‘ you just scream.

I’d like to believe that the people that have supported me in my work or identified with me in films, the people that feel they know me, they do and they don’t have misconceptions – they understand. I believe that.

You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

The subtlety of nature is greater many times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding.

Words do not express thoughts very well. They always become a little different immediately after they are expressed, a little distorted, a little foolish.

Part of what confuses people in times of upheaval is that you’re getting so many different points of view and directions and so and so, how to do this and do that. And a lot of it is written in a language that honestly most people cannot understand.

One may understand the cosmos, but never the ego; the self is more distant than any star.

All our knowledge begins with the senses, proceeds then to the understanding, and ends with reason. There is nothing higher than reason.

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.

It’s very hard for our parents who see us enter a world that they can’t imagine.

I’m no longer just a candidate. I’m the President. I know what it means to send young Americans into battle, for I have held in my arms the mothers and fathers of those who didn’t return. I’ve shared the pain of families who’ve lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who’ve lost their jobs.

Religion, any religion, no matter what sort of wonderful religion, never be universal. So now education is universal, so we have to sort of find ways and means through education system, from kindergarten up to university level, to make awareness these good things, the values, inner values.

I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one.

I think a number of the leaders are, whether you like it or not, in the hip-hop generation. And when they understand enough, they’ll do wonders. I count on them.

The environmentalists say capitalism is killing our oceans, air, land, and forests. Capitalists argue that they provide food, fuel, and building materials for a growing world.

My faith helps me understand that circumstances don’t dictate my happiness, my inner peace.

With compassion you can die for other people, like the mother who can die for her child. You have the courage to say it because you are not afraid of losing anything, because you know that understanding and love is the foundation of happiness. But if you have fear of losing your status, your position, you will not have the courage to do it.

Much learning does not teach understanding.

Small is the number of people who see with their eyes and think with their minds.

Every once in a while, I get mad. ‚The Lorax‘ came out of my being angry. The ecology books I’d read were dull… In ‚The Lorax,‘ I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might.

If you deny people their own voice, you’ll have no idea of who they were.

To understand a name you must be acquainted with the particular of which it is a name.

I just feel like, with rappers, there’s so much complacency. It’s like, ‚Oh, I’m a rapper. I’m successful. I make money. That’s all that matters.‘ But there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world. Whether or not you’re aware of it, it’s happening.

Today, the news is scandals; that is news, but the many children who don’t have food – that’s not news. This is grave. We can’t rest easy while things are this way.

Real magic in relationships means an absence of judgment of others.

Do not do unto others as you expect they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

I don’t understand why or how we can bully each other.

The thing about delirium is you think it’s great, but it actually isn’t.

There are folks who now know black families – like the Johnsons on ‚Black-ish‘ or the folks on ‚Modern Family.‘ They become part of who you are. You share their pains. You understand their fears. They make you laugh, and they change how you see the world.

Meditation is a state of mind which looks at everything with complete attention, totally, not just parts of it. And no one can teach you how to be attentive. If any system teaches you how to be attentive, then you are attentive to the system, and that is not attention.

I suppose for a very long time I’ve been trying to understand how it is that people might make sense out of their lives and make meaning and make their lives meaningful in the face of the trouble that life brings.

People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can’t knock it.

Technology is destructive only in the hands of people who do not realize that they are one and the same process as the universe.

Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach.

The moment you think you understand a great work of art, it’s dead for you.

No better way is there to learn to love Nature than to understand Art. It dignifies every flower of the field. And, the boy who sees the thing of beauty which a bird on the wing becomes when transferred to wood or canvas will probably not throw the customary stone.

When I was young, poverty was so common that we didn’t know it had a name.

No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means.

What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?

To understand the power of the priesthood, we must know its limitations.

Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with the people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.

I think perhaps the most important problem is that we are trying to understand the fundamental workings of the universe via a language devised for telling one another when the best fruit is.

When we believe the best of people, we let go of each thing they do that is hurtful to us. And we choose to think things like, ‚I don’t believe they meant to hurt me.‘ ‚Maybe they’re having a bad day or don’t feel well.‘ ‚They probably don’t even realize how they sound.‘

If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool.

The funny thing is, all my friends are short. I wasn’t aware of tall people till I got to high school. I didn’t know they existed. I was sheltered.

In the case of the environment, there’s no one to bail it out.

We should understand the source of our authority and something of the keys that control its power.

What one fool can understand, another can.

If you can’t read, the only thing you can do is enjoy the pictures, not the whole story. Reading is the key to knowledge. Knowledge is the key to understanding. So read on, young man! Read on, young lady!