I am a very spiritual person. Maybe not traditionally religious in terms of Sunday Mass every week, that sort of thing.

Success is its own reward, but failure is a great teacher too, and not to be feared.

As you discover what strength you can draw from your community in this world from which it stands apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges instead of walls.

I do know one thing about me: I don't measure myself by others' expectations or let others define my worth.

Experience has taught me that you cannot value dreams according to the odds of their coming true. Their real value is in stirring within us the will to aspire.

I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn't lived that life.

Remember that no one succeeds alone. Never walk alone in your future paths.

Whether born from experience or inherent physiological or cultural differences...our gender and national origins may and will make a difference in our judging.

Until we reach equality in education, we can't reach equality in the larger society.

The Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.

There are no bystanders in life [...] Our humanity makes us each a part of something greater than ourselves.

Until you're grown-up they send you to reform school. After you're grown-up they send you to the penitentiary.

The global environment crisis is, as we say in Tennessee, real as rain, and I cannot stand the thought of leaving my children with a degraded earth and a diminished future.

The trick in life is to hang out until the miracles come.

Someone once asked me, 'How does Jimmy Page strike you?' I replied, 'With both hands, of course...'

People think meditation is a huge undertaking.

Giving up on life is easier than going through the hard times to find the good.

Contempt for others, like masturbation, is best as a secret pleasure.

See, there is a tendency to look at India as a country.

There was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it it got even stronger.

But let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?