I am glad that people are trying to have a rational conversation about drugs.

We should decriminalize all drugs. The assumptions on which our drug policies are based are flawed.

My critique of how we deal with drugs in society is just that - that we use these anecdotes to apply to everyone and the anecdotes are not representative.

High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society.

Writing in a nuanced way, getting at all the details in a way that remains interesting for the reader, is very difficult.

We need to continuously put pressure on politicians to do more, because they are happy just to do nothing—it’s easier to do nothing.

I don't want to be on the bandwagon of dogging any president or anybody in positions where they have all these different constituencies.

You know you're writing a good thriller when you make yourself paranoid.

Why not add benefits for making healthy food choices, provide a transition bonus for getting off food stamps, or increase job training opportunities and income - raising minimum wage?

Experience is always larger than language.

You have to live your story before being able to write your story.

Studying with a teacher doesn't simply mean going to an occasional seminar or Zen retreat. It means fully applying yourself to what the teacher says, most of which is not verbal.

Our fundamental relationship is soul-to-soul. As we become multi-sensory, we become aware of it.

God has taken us utterly seriously. How can we not do the same with him?

If I don't think about anything, and start with a clean slate, in terms of what I have to do, a lot of different ideas come up, and I can think about things more openly.

Originality consists in trying to be like everybody else and failing.

It was nice to wear a suit at a young age, it's different from a school uniform.