“Learning to weep, learning to keep vigil, learning to wait for the dawn. Perhaps this is what it means to be human.”

God, help me to see others not as enemies or as ungodly but rather as thirsty people. And give me the courage and compassion to offer your Living Water, which alone quenches deep thirst.

Dare to love and to be a real friend. The love you give and receive is a reality that will lead you closer and closer to God as well as those whom God has given you to love.

Without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. We do not take the spiritual life seriously if we do not set aside some time to be with God and listen to him.

Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.

This brief lifetime is my opportunity to receive love, deepen love, grow in love, and give love.

I am the prodigal son every time I search for unconditional love where it cannot be found.

Trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.

It is in solitude that we discover that being is more important than having and that we are worth more than the results of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended but a gift to be shared.

Solitude is the furnace of transformation. Without solitude we remain victims of our society and continue to be entangled in the illusions of the false self.

Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.

Prayer is not what is done by us, but rather what is done by the Holy Spirit in us.

I often wonder if my knowledge about God has not become my greatest stumbling block to my knowledge of God.

Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next.

Somewhere we know that without silence words lose their meaning, that without listening speaking no longer heals, that without distance closeness cannot cure.

If I were to let my life be taken over by what is urgent, I might very well never get around to what is essential.

Your heart is greater than your wounds.

Religion is simply an ideal. It is an ideal force that tends to free the human being from material bonds.

When I say ‘hero’, do not picture someone with strength to fight and conquer evil – because evil is not something that can ever be conquered or defeated. Evil is natural. It is innate in all humans.

To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars or sailed an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

When you reach out and touch other human beings, it doesn’t matter whether you call it therapy or teaching or poetry.

We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.

Dreaming is one of humanity’s greatest gifts; it champions aspiration, spurs innovation, leads to change, and propels the world forward.

The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation increased; and not impaired in value.