“Ultimately, that is the definition of bravery: not being afraid of yourself.”

We cannot change the way the world is, but by opening ourselves to the world as it is, we may find that gentleness, decency and bravery are available – not only to us, but to all human beings.

Luxury is experiencing reality

That combination of love affair and loneliness is what enables the warrior to constantly reach out to help others. By renouncing his private world, the warrior discovers a greater universe and a fuller and fuller broken heart. This is not something to feel bad about; it is a cause for rejoicing.

For the warrior, every moment is a challenge to be genuine, and each challenge is delightful. When you let go properly, you can relax and enjoy the challenge.

Any perception can connect us to reality, properly and fully. What we see doesn’t have to be pretty, particularly; we can appreciate anything that exists. There is some principle of magic in everything, some living quality. Something living, something real, is taking place in everything.

My advice to you is not to undertake the spiritual path. It is too difficult, too long, and is too demanding. I suggest you ask for your money back, and go home. This is not a picnic. It is really going to ask everything of you. So, it is best not to begin. However, if you do begin, it is best to finish.

Life is a straight drink – straight pleasure, straight pain, straightforward, one hundred percent.

When one is able to overcome the romantic and emotional attitude, one discovers truth even in the kitchen sink.

I would like to say, ladies and gentlemen, that you shouldn’t be afraid of who you are. That’s the first key idea. You shouldn’t be afraid of who you are. You should NOT be afraid of who you are. It’s very important for you to realize that.

Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment.

Helping others is a question of being genuine and projecting that genuineness to others. This way of being doesn’t have to have a title or a name particularly. It is just being ultimately decent.

The bad news is you’re falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is, there’s no ground.

If you are telling the truth, then you can speak gently, and your words will have power.

Ego is constantly attempting to acquire and apply the teachings of spirituality for its own benefit.

When we talk about compassion we talk in terms of being kind. But compassion is not so much being kind; it is being creative [enough] to wake a person up

Warriorship is so tender, without skin, without tissue, naked and raw. It is soft and gentle. You have renounced putting on a new suit of armor. You have renounced growing a thick, hard skin. You are willing to expose naked flesh, bone and marrow to the world.

if men and women would be human beings instead of just business men, or plumbers, or army officers, or commuters, or educators, or authors, or clubwomen, or traveling salesmen, or Socialists, or Republicans, or Salvation Army leaders, or wearers of cloths.

Our future lies in being a high skilled, high innovation, free enterprise nation.

Being disappointed is one thing and being discouraged is something else. I am disappointed but I am not discouraged.

Being the best at whatever talent you have, that’s what stimulates life.

To hunger and thirst after righteousness is when nothing in the world can fascinate us so much as being near God.

Blanche: No, I have the misfortune of being an English instructor. I attempt to instill a bunch of bobby-soxers and drugstore Romeos with a reverence for Hawthorne and Whitman and Poe!

Practice being in the present. Do what you’re doing 100%.

One of the many things nobody ever tells you about middle age is that it’s such a nice change from being young.