“The desire to be a free person is very worthwhile. To be free means you are no longer the victim of fear, anger, craving, or suspicion.”

Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.

If you think that peace and happiness are somewhere else and you run after them, you will never arrive.

A true partner or friend is one who encourages you to look deep inside yourself for the beauty and love you’ve been seeking.

We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.

Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive – that you can touch the miracle of being alive – then that is a kind of enlightenment.

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.

As long as you find something beautiful, good, and true to believe in and abide by, you have the equivalent of God in your life.

You cannot transmit wisdom and insight to another person. The seed is already there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout, and to grow.

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.

Real love means loving kindness and compassion, the kind of love that does not have any conditions.

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?

We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available.

I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.

The Seven Factors of Awakening are mindfulness, investigation of phenomena, diligence, joy, ease, concentration, and letting go.

Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.

I have arrived. I am home. My destination is in each step.

I read one psychologist’s theory that said, “Never strike a child in your anger.” When could I strike him? When he is kissing me on my birthday? When he’s recuperating from measles? Do I slap the Bible out of his hand on Sunday?

Lord, grant that anger or other bitterness does not reign over us, but that your grace, genuine kindness, loyalty, and every kind of friendliness, generosity, and gentleness may reign in us. Amen

Your anger can be 49 percent and your comedy 51 percent, and you’re okay. If the anger is 51 percent, the comedy is gone.

I’m not the kind of guy who wakes up angry.

To be angry is to revenge the faults of others on ourselves.

The poor suffer twice at the rioter’s hands. First, his destructive fury scars their neighborhood; second, the atmosphere of accommodation and consent is changed to one of hostility and resentment.

Getting angry doesn’t solve anything.

Why getting angry? Getting angry doesn’t solve anything. I don’t like yelling and fighting and I can’t quarrel, I prefer to let it drop. When people use disagreeable words, I feel crushed and remember them for a long time.