Zen is consciousness unstructured by particular form or particular system, a trans-cultural, trans-religious, transformed consciousness.

The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.

‎"Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.

The greatest need of our time is to clean out the enormous mass of mental and emotional rubbish that clutters our minds

Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.

In a world of noise, confusion and conflict it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom.

People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.

Love is not a matter of getting what you want. Quite the contrary. The insistence on always having what you want, on always being satisfied, on always being fulfilled, makes love impossible.

Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.

It is my belief, that we should not be too sure of having found Christ in ourselves until we have found him also in that part of humanity that is most remote from our own.

Writing fiction feels like an adventurous act, nudging aside reality a word at a time.

Human beings love stories because they safely show us beginnings, middles and ends.

I am not what is called a civilized man, professor. I have done with society for reasons that seem good to me. Therefore I do not obey its laws.

When I very first started out, I had that arrogance of youth.

There is such a thing as fanaticism, it is always wrong, and if you disagree, you're wrong too.

The person who has the strong ownership of free speech is the one who owns the press.

Never ask a woman if you may kiss her. Instead, learn to read body language.

It is necessary to be strong, in order to become great: that is our duty. Life is a struggle, which we cannot avoid. We must triumph!

Watergate left Washington a city ravaged by honesty.

If I don't get the goose-bump factor when I'm reading it than I can't do it.