“Appreciate everything, even the ordinary. Especially the ordinary.”

Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know. Even if we run a hundred miles an hour to the other side of the continent, we find the very same problem awaiting us when we arrive.

Let difficulty transform you. And it will. In my experience, we just need help in learning how not to run away.

So war and peace start in the human heart. Whether that heart is open or whether that heart closes has global implications.

Anything we experience, no matter how challenging, can become an open pathway to awakening.

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing.

Whatever happens in your life, joyful or painful, do not be swept away by reactivity. Be patient with yourself and don’t lose your sense of perspective.

All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.

We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

If you follow your heart, you’re going to find that it is often extremely inconvenient.

It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.

As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment.

Sir, Respect Your Dinner: idolize it, enjoy it properly. You will be many hours in the week, many weeks in the year, and many years in your life happier if you do.

Thankfulness is the tune of angels.

Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.

I got what I needed instead of what I wanted and that’s just about the best kind of luck you can have.

All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love positivity and gratitude that things aren’t worse or hate negativity and bitterness that things aren’t better. I choose love positivity and gratitude that things aren’t worse.

Gratitude bestows reverence…..changing forever how we experience life and the world.

What we need for our happiness is often close at hand, if we knew but how to seek for it.

We have had much to bear already. And still more will we have to bear. Let us thank God for being young.