“We’re all doing time. As soon as we get born, we find ourselves assigned to one little body, one set of desires and fears, one family, city, state, country, and planet.”

I could characterize nearly any spiritual practice as simply this: identify and quit, identify and quit, identify and quit. Identify the myriad forms of limitation and delusion we place upon ourselves, and muster the courage to quit each one.

The cause of all our personal problems and nearly all the problems of the world can be summed up in a single sentence.

The gap between our sincere values and our actual behavior is the source of all self-hatred.

Like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight, there’s no need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky.

Until we reflect basic kindness in everything we do, our political gestures will be fleeting and fragile.

This is the first step toward understanding the process of real, lasting change: simply knowing with certainty that you can do whatever you need to do.

Without loving and caring for others, most of us stand little chance of communing with God/the Divine Wisdom, no matter how many years we may spend in silent prayer.

Little by little deep inside us, the diamond shines, the eyes open, the dawn rises, we become what we already are.

Simple kindness may be the most vital key to the riddle of how human beings can live with each other in peace…and care properly for this planet we all share.

Little by little, deep inside us, the diamond shines, the eyes open, the dawn rises, we become what we already are.

We pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, have a good laugh about human nature, and get on with our journeys.

You may study with the highest teachers, but you will find no one but yourself teaching you. You may travel the world over, yet find nothing but yourself, reflected the world over.

So if you now find yourself in a cell, take heart that of all the teachers in the world, out of all the places in the world, you still have with you the only ultimate ingredient of your journey: yourself.

I’m one of those guys where you know, I’m 23 years into this and I love the road more than ever and rather than whittling down my schedule to just play the major cities.

New York City is my playground.

It is a cultural tradition that makes New Orleans what it is. It also represents the roots of American music and an important part of the African-American community in New Orleans. It unites people in some of the poorer neighborhoods of the city. It is absolutely critical to continue.

I was born on a pig farm in Norfolk. We grew up in the city called Norwich in Norfolk, then I moved to London when I was thirteen.

It seems that most the world is driven by the eye, right? They design cities to look great but they always sound horrible …

Love of money is the mother-city (metropolis) of all evils.

Some of the best auditions I’ve ever had have been when my agent called and said, ‘They want you 20 minutes ago, in an office in Century City, to see you for something.’

I myself am consummately middle class. We grew up in upper-middle-class suburbs in Oklahoma City, and thats very much the same ethos as what Richard Yates and John Cheever wrote about.