If you say “I am empty” the “I am” is there, and the “I” cannot be empty.

Every man who deserves to be famous knows it is not worth the trouble.

People constantly change their story… we are writing fictitious versions of our lives all the time, contradictory but mutually entangling stories that, however subtly or grossly falsified, constitute our hold on reality and are the closest thing we have to truth.

Like the spider spinning its web, we create much of the outer world from within ourselves. “The universe as we know it,” as Tielhard de Chardin said and as the new physics confirms, “is a joint product of the observer and the observed.”

The strangeness of Time. Not in its passing, which can seem infinite, like a tunnel whose end you can’t see, whose beginning you’ve forgotten, but in the sudden realization that something finite has passed, and is irretrievable.

There is no great invention, from fire to flying, which has not been hailed as an insult to some god.

Life is boring, except for flowers, sunshine, your perfect legs. A glass of cold water when you are really thirsty. The way bodies fit together. Fresh and young and sweet. Coffee in the morning. These are just moments. I struggle with the in-betweens. I just want to never stop loving like there is nothing else…

Seek a clear mind and a clean heart. All you need is to keep quietly alert, enquiring into the real nature of yourself. This is the only way to peace.

Being is not an idea in philosophy but a wordless experience we have from time to time.

The sun shines, snow falls, mountains rise and valleys sink, night deepens and pales into day, but it is only very seldom that we attend to such things… When we are grasping the inexpressible meaning of these things, this is life, this is living.

At the heart of emptiness there is born in me a sudden understanding.

The heart is made from the same substance as the heavens.

We must communicate the respect that we feel toward others. It is for this reason that we should be aware of our own behavior.

Perhaps we just need little reminders from time to time that we are already dignified, deserving, worthy.

There is no path to truth, it must come to you.

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.

Love is contagious; be a carrier.

The man who speaks the truth is always at ease.

People become what they expect themselves to become.

Ours will only then be a truly spiritual nation when we shall show more truth than gold, greater fearlessness than pomp of power and wealth, greater charity than love of self.

He who fills his lamp with water or his life with lust will dwell in darkness.

If the body of desire obstructs the way, reject it; then fix your eyes in front and contemplate.

Crowd out bad habits by substituting good habits in all departments of your life.

Wisdom assists more than strength.

One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds. 

“Now” is primordial and contains the entire universe, changing and impermanent.

Be genuinely amiable when you are with others. Just be smiling, congenial, and kind. 

Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world, to make happiness possible for the world. The world needs our happiness.

For a committed person, there is no such thing as failure—just lessons to be learnt on the way.

Just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are.