Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out.

My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia.

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values.

You're dealing with the demon of external validation. You can't beat external validation. You want to know why? Because it feels sooo good.

Fortunately, psychoanalysis is not the only way to resolve inner conflicts. Life itself remains a very effective therapist.

In parts of the world, people still pray in the streets. In this country they're called pedestrians.

Each has his past shut in him like the leaves of a book known to him by heart and his friends can only read the title.

Humor distorts nothing, and only false gods are laughed off their pedestals.

We can be sure that the greatest hope for maintaining equilibrium in the face of any situation rests within ourselves.

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.

For one human being to love another human being: That is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task…

Don't reserve your best behavior for special occasions. You can't have two sets of manners, two social codes - one for those you admire and want to impress, another for those whom you consider unimportant. You must be the same to all people.

Once a woman has forgiven a man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast.

Never trust a husband too far or a bachelor too near.

The particular human chain we're part of is central to our individual identity.

We can be sure that the greatest hope for maintaining equilibrium in the face of any situation rests within ourselves.

I do believe it is possible to create, even without ever writing a word or painting a picture, by simply molding one's inner life. And that too is a deed.

If you neglect to recharge a battery, it dies. And if you run full speed ahead without stopping for water, you lose momentum to finish the race.

Cheerfulness, it would appear, is a matter which depends fully as much on the state of things within, as on the state of things without and around us.