Why did I do such-and-such a thing?' is all very well. But what about 'How otherwise could I have done it?'.

Study the assumptions behind your actions. Then study the assumptions behind your assumptions.

The secret of Sufism is that it has no secret at all'.

When a belief becomes more than an instrument, you are lost. You remain lost until you learn what 'belief' is really for.

Premature independence is the daughter of conceit.

Do not try to be humble: learn humility.

No practice exists in isolation.

If your desire for 'good' is based on greed, it is not good, but greed.

Anybody or anything may stand between you and knowledge if you are unfit for it.

Exercise power by means of kindness, and you may be causing more damage than you could by cruelty. Neither approach is correct.

If you really want to learn, do not be surprised if someone tries to teach you. And do not lightly reject the method.

The Universe Conspires....to get what you truly desire

The concept of dignity of labour took people off the street.

So far as English versification is concerned, Pope was the world, and all the world was Pope.

Atheists should point out that life without God can be meaningful, moral and happy.

Bones tell me the story of a person's life - how old they were, what their gender was, their ancestral background.

No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home.

I don't see novels ending with any real sense of closure.

It is a fraud to borrow what we are unable to pay.

I have come to know well that fates are fickle in the business of English football. And I feel that I have pushed mine well past the limit.

One ought to sink to the bottom of the sea, probably, and live alone with one's words.