“Hope has to be seen to be believed. It has to be made visible. It has to be something we can feel and touch. We are called to be persons who embody hope for one another. We have to be each other’s partners in hope.”...

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

You get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, and you help another human being.

I have learned to trust those who are witnesses rather than gurus, those who express their confusion as well as their knowledge, and those who share their suffering along with their joy.

The sacred is present and available to us ­wherever we look or are willing to find it. If we remain open and expectant—watching out of the corners of our eyes, keeping our ears cocked, putting away all preconceived ideas—our lives will emanate the sacred.

Oh, the comfort—the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person—having neither to weigh thoughts nor mea­sure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then...

Our task is to be who we are, in every way we can be; our salvation proceeding in putting ­ourselves back together after each tumble...We irridesce, shine, and radiate. We exclaim and roar: we are.

Each of us is meant to have a character all our own, to be what no other can exactly be, and do what no other can exactly do.

Wisdom, fundamentally, is knowing who you are, where you are, and what you’re trying to do or be.

Love is knotted and gnarled, like an old tree fighting with the wind, like branches too brittle for their own good, like roots that relentlessly inform how deeply we can trust and how freely we can forgive.

“I believe that if, on every Sunday morning before going to church, we could be lifted to a mountain-peak and see a horizon line of six hundred miles enfolding the copious splendor of the light on such a varied expanse; or if we could look upon a square mile of flowers representing all the specie...

Life does not call us merely to do over and over again what we have already done; nor does it call us to act out, as puppets, parts already assigned to us. No. In the midst of a situation which is itself ever changing, we are free to bring into realization new relationships of understanding and...

To repent means to turn in a new direction—not just to admit what we have done wrong, but to resolve to be a better person.

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations....

To me democracy is an exciting, living practice, what we do every day. To most democracy doesn’t relate to our daily lives and it sure isn’t much fun. I now see that to engage in democracy, to jump into this living practice we all need something tangible to act on... Because food is our most...

Nor do I absolve my own self of blame; the human soul is certainly prone to evil, unless my Lord do bestow His mercy. Surah Yusuf (Arabic: يوسف‎) is the 12th sura (chapter) of the Quran.

Conquer anger by love. —Dhammapada 223 The Dhammapada is an anthology of 423 verses uttered by Gauthama Buddha.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Look well to the growing edge! All around us worlds are dying and new worlds are being born; all around us life is dying and life is being born. The fruit ripens on the tree, the roots are silently at work in the darkness of the earth against a time when there shall be new leaves, fresh blossoms,...

Never does hatred cease by hating in return; only through love can hatred come to an end. Victory breeds hatred; the conquered dwell in sorrow and resentment. They who give up all thought of victory or defeat may be calm and live happily at peace. Let us overcome violence by gentleness; let us...