“Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forwards.”

Truth always rests with the minority, and the minority is always stronger than the majority, because the minority is generally formed by those who really have an opinion, while the strength of a majority is illusory.

Leap of faith – yes, but only after reflection

The Bible is very easy to understand. But we Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged to act accordingly.

The proud person always wants to do the right thing, the great thing. But because he wants to do it in his own strength, he is fighting not with man, but with God.

The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly the one you’ll never have.

I am convinced that God is love.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

My standpoint is armed neutrality.

It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming.

Once you are born in this world you’re old enough to die.

The present state of the world and the whole of life is diseased. If I were a doctor and were asked for my advice, I should reply, ‘Create silence’.

Listen to the cry of a woman in labor at the hour of giving birth — look at the dying man’s struggle at his last extremity, and then tell me whether something that begins and ends thus could be intended for enjoyment.

Don’t forget to love yourself.

It is the duty of the human understanding to understand that there are things which it cannot understand.

The self-assured believer is a greater sinner in the eyes of God than the troubled disbeliever.

Don’t be confused by what looks like luck to you. Lucky people don’t make successful people; people who completely commit themselves to success seem to get lucky in life.

When I got famous, all of a sudden guys wouldn’t look at me. Period. So I felt a little sad, a little frustrated. Like, What’s going on here? I’ve never been prettier in my life and I’m so cool and successful.

I have one life and one chance to make it count for something… My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.

Your biography becomes your biology. This biography includes the totality of your choices, the things you feed your body – you thoughts, your actions, your food – the thing you feed your life.

The decision to go into debt alters the course and condition of your life. You no longer own it. You are owned.

If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer. Every moment is the most important moment of your life. No future time is better than now to let down your guard and love.

Tibetan Buddhism, has inspired me and accelerated my understanding of life.

One of the tragedies of our life is that we keep forgetting who we are.