“By the way that we think and by the way that we believe in things, in that way our world is created.”

Whatever happens in your life, joyful or painful, do not be swept away by reactivity. Be patient with yourself and don’t lose your sense of perspective.

All the wars, all the hatred, all the ignorance in the world come out of being so invested in our opinions.

We have a choice. We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax and embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.

The truth you believe and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new.

Since death is certain and the time of death is uncertain, what is the most important thing?

The greatest obstacle to connecting with our joy is resentment.

If you follow your heart, you’re going to find that it is often extremely inconvenient.

It isn’t what happens to us that causes us to suffer; it’s what we say to ourselves about what happens.

As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our kindness for other people.

If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher.

The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment.

So many of us start along the spiritual path because we are suffering. But you must realize that for real healing to occur, there must first be deep compassion for yourself, especially the parts of yourself you dislike or consider ugly.

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.

Be kinder to yourself. And then let your kindness flood the world.

The central question of a warrior’s training is not how we avoid uncertainty and fear but how we relate to discomfort.

When things fall apart in your life, you feel as if your whole world is crumbling. But actually it’s your fixed identity that’s crumbling. And as Chögyam Trungpa used to tell us, that’s cause for celebration.

It is still just unbelievable to us that diarrhea is one of the leading causes of child deaths in the world.

I don’t believe in elitism. I don’t think the audience is this dumb person lower than me. I am the audience.

Of course I believe in marriage. Commitment to one other person in life is glorious.

I believe if God doesn’t give you a miracle, you are a miracle of God for somebody else’s salvation.

Never let any mistake cause you to stop believing in yourself. Learn from it and go on.

When scientifically investigating the natural world, the only thing worse than a blind believer is a seeing denier.

I did not believe political directives could be successfully applied to creative writing . . . not to poetry or fiction, which to be valid had to express as truthfully as possible the individual emotions and reactions of the writer.

I feel very strongly that curves are natural, womanly and real. I shall continue to hope that women are able to believe in themselves for who they are inside, and not feel under such incredible pressure to be unnaturally thin.