“I think of compassion as the fundamental religious experience and, unless that is there, you have nothing.”

I have found that you have only to take that one step toward the gods, and they will then take ten steps toward you. That step, the heroic first step of the journey, is out of, or over the edge of, your boundaries, and it often must be taken before you know that you will.

Art is the set of wings to carry you out of your own entanglement.

It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.

If you want the whole thing, the gods will give it to you. But you must be ready for it.

We’re not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.

We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.

What we are really living for is the experience of life, both the pain and the pleasure.

The best things cannot be told, the second best are misunderstood. After that comes civilized conversation; after that, mass indoctrination; after that, intercultural exchange.

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.

The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.

Survival is the second law of life. The first is that we are all one.

If you are on the right path you will find that invisible hands are helping.

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder. Fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won.

Midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it was against the wrong wall.

You have to learn to recognize your own depth.

You’ve got to find the force inside you.

The grief we carry is part of the grief of the world. Hold it gently. Let it be honored. You do not have to keep it in anymore. You can let go into the heart of compassion; you can weep.

It is not a case we are treating; it is a living, palpitating, alas, too often suffering fellow creature.

Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?

Compassion for ourselves gives rise to the power to transform resentment into forgiveness, hatred into friendliness, and fear into respect for all beings.

If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.

A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.

In deep self acceptance, grows a compassionate understanding.

Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all the ingredients to breathe and find freedom just where you are.