A lack of real love for ourselves is one of the most constricting, painful conditions we can know.

Smiling at someone can have significant health consequences.

Seeking happiness is not the problem. The problem is that we often do not know where and how to find genuine happiness and so make the mistakes that cause suffering for ourselves & others.

When you recognize and reflect on even one good thing about yourself, you are building a bridge to a place of kindness and caring.

Never feel ashamed of your longing for happiness.

Clinging to our ideas of perfection isolates us from life and is a barrier.

For any marginalized group to change the story that society tells about them takes courage and perseverance.

The idea that traumatic residues—or unresolved stories—can be inherited is groundbreaking.

The unconscious mind is a vast repository of experiences and associations that sorts things out much faster than the slow-moving conscious mind.

Buddhism has a term for the happiness we feel at someone else’s success or good fortune. Sympathetic joy, as it is known, invites us to celebrate for others.

Even as we recognize our resentment, bitterness, or jealousy, we can also honor our own wish to be happy, to feel free.

Léon Bloy wrote: 'Life holds only one tragedy: not to have been a saint

Conflict connects us to life, just as life connects us to conflict.

A man is ever apt to contemplate himself out of all proportion to his surroundings.

The act of revealing oneself fully to another and still being accepted may be the major vehicle of therapeutic help.

Poverty is what we call the extremes at the bottom.

In a society based on nonviolence, the smallest nation will feel as tall as the tallest.

When I moved to New York, I felt very strong emotionally and mentally. Aside from touring, I'd spent a couple of years alone and because of that, I was able to go out in the world again.

Relax. Breathe in deep. Hold it. Let it out. Loosen your shoulders. Smile. Close your eyes. You'll be surprised at how many voices you'll hear, whispering sweet encouragement into your ear.

One wants to be able to experience being other people, remaking a reality, remaking a life, remaking a certain world.