Our tendency in life is to avoid things that frighten us. But in order to become whole, we need to go deeper and deeper into ourselves by reaching further and further into the things we fear.

Let me give you a wonderful Zen practice. Wake up in the morning...look in the mirror, and laugh at yourself.

When we don't ask, we don't let others give. When we fear rejection, we don't let generosity arise.

In every area, working with what you habitually reject is one of the best ways to facilitate growth and transformation.

Our work may be important, but we don't take it too seriously. Otherwise, we get attached to one relatively small thing and ignore the rest of life.

Take the selfishness out of anger and you're left with determination.

We're creating a little niche for ourselves instead of working the whole canvas.

The pursuit of enlightenment is for the purpose of the world, not merely for the purpose of the individual. Practices for enlightenment must lead to action in the world.

People get stuck a lot because they're afraid to act; in the worst case,...we get so attached to some end result that we can't function. We need help just to move on, only life doesn't wait.

The basic problem, actually, is how to get rid of the idea that we're going to get rid of our problems. Only then can we relate directly with the real issues of our life.

Look in the mirror, and laugh at yourself.

Yes, in all my research, the greatest leaders looked inward and were able to tell a good story with authenticity and passion.

I was such a quiet kid, so shy and calm and in my own head. Of course I knew about being sad. Maybe that's the reason I saved all the things I thought were pretty.

We are on the verge: Today our program proved Fermat's next-to-last theorem.

Every day that you don't practice is one day longer before you achieve greatness

The mistake that straight people made was imposing the monogamous expectation on men. Men were never expected to be monogamous.

The easiest lies to tell are the ones you want to be true.

I know one man who was impotent who gave AIDS to his wife and the only thing they did was kiss.

When I die of heart failure the next time you frighten me like that, you can put that on my gravestone —‘I didn’t mean to startle her

I'm not an actor. I can show up for friends and improvise a little bit, but I'm not an actor.

We may be the protagonists of tragedy, but we are also the heroes of our most beautiful and thrilling experiences.