In zazen, one is one's present self, what one was, and what one will be, all at once.

I used to distinguish between my fiction and nonfiction in terms of superiority or inferiority.

In this very breath that we take now lies the secret that all great teachers try to tell us.

The purpose of our life is to help others through it.

Anyone who thinks they can save the world is both wrong and dangerous

Have you seen the snow leopard? No! Isn't that wonderful?

If we were doomed to live forever, we would scarcely be aware of the beauty around us.

Simultaneously I am myself, the child I was, the old man I will be.

The concept of conservation is a far truer sign of civilization than that spoilation of a continent which we once confused with progress.

How could I say that I wished to penetrate the secrets of the mountains in search of something still unknown that, like the yeti, might well be missed for the very fact of searching?

Be light, light, light - full of light!

People suicide because of the board rules, they don't like it. So people suicide, they don't see any other out of this place!

Self-education is one of the strongest pillars in the mind of every great person because it is an ongoing process that never ends.

I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment

There can be no two opinions as to what a highbrow is. He is the man or woman of thoroughbred intelligence who rides his mind at a gallop across country in pursuit of an idea.

Nurses - nurses, you'm all the same. Full of cheerfulness over other people's troubles.

Your recipe, darling, is so tasty, and you sure can stir your pot.

If you are ever going to move beyond where you stand at that moment you have to conjure a picture in your head of where you want to go.

The Bible illustrated by Dore occupied many of my hours - and I think probably gave me many nightmares.

Any situation in which some men prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence;… to alienate humans from their own decision making is to change them into objects.

If I ever asked you about love, you'd probably quote me a sonnet. But you've never looked a woman and been totally vulnerable.