I joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1980s and protested at Greenham Common.

The models that the other parties have used where you have a very powerful leader squashing any kind of independent ideas from the grass roots is not very attractive to the electorate.

Advanced industrialised economies like ourselves cannot afford to go on growing, particularly if we want to give people in poorer countries a chance of being able to at least meet their basic needs.

I do think that if people are taking the time to think about their environmental footprint when it comes to how many flights they take, whether or not they have a 4X4, whether or not they are going to have a patio heater, then putting the question to themselves about how many kids they are going to have is a reasonable thing to do.

I've been in the Green party for a very long time - when was it, 1986 - and I joined the party because I seriously wanted the party to have influence.

We have always been a party that has had policies on everything, from education to the economy to the environment. We have always said that, if you are serious about the environment, then the policies that you need to change most are the economic policies.

Reminding oneself that not all rules are good rules and sometimes it's good to challenge them is an important part of being an effective parliamentarian.

I think the Greens are posing some of the most important questions of our time, for example how we live sustainably on a planet of finite resources and a rising population, and how do we do that in a way that doesn't exceed environmental limits and which is fair.

There are lots of things one can criticise about the European parliament, but it does work pretty well in terms of the speed with which you can vote, the fact that there's room to sit, the fact that there are offices when you arrive.

I think there is a role for non-violent direct action when democratic channels have failed.

I don't think politics just happens in Parliament. It happens on the streets and in classrooms.

In the public mind, when they think of politicians, sadly they probably tend to think of men in grey suits doing work behind closed doors at Westminster. I want to get away from the idea.

Politics is about everything we do from the moment we get up in the morning to the minute we go to bed at night. It's something everybody and anybody can be involved in.

The miserable person is easily enslaved.The cheerful person,the blissful person,cannot be enslaved.

You are creating your own hell.

Don't get attached to anything.

One day you will disappear on a funeral pyre - just into nothingness, as smoke.

Never be ashamed of your tears. Be proud that you are still natural. Be proud that you can express the inexpressible through your tears.

Eyes which have lost their tears have lost their most beautiful, their most glorious treasure.

People are not things, you cannot have ownership.

I would like marriage to disappear completely from the world, and with marriage, divorce will disappear.

The only thing that matters in life is your own opinion about yourself, nobody can destroy your dignity then, because it is not dependent on anybody's opinion.

Love is just like a breeze: it comes, but you should not close your doors to keep the breeze inside.

Love is the ultimate, the end. You love for love's own sake. It is not a means to anything else, it is its own end.

We remain unnecessarily worried. All worries are futile because that which is going to happen is going to happen.

A certain darkness is needed to see the stars.

You can become happy just by deciding to be happy.

By 'Love' people mean a certain kind of monopoly understanding a simple fact: that the moment you possess a living being you have killed him.

People say love is blind because they do not know what love is. I say unto you, only love has eyes; other than love, everything is blind.

Never sacrifice your life for anything! Sacrifice everything for life! Life is the ultimate goal.

The ego is an island in the ocean of Hell. You want to get rid of the Hell but you don't want to get rid of that island. Then there is trouble.

Life is absolutely balanced between the positive and the negative. Now it is your choice which side you want to be - in heaven or in hell.

This very moment you can drop all problems because they are your creation.

You are a great problem-creator. Just understand this and suddenly problems disappear.

Possessiveness destroys love. And they should not be possessed, because that again destroys your love.

Love needs two things: it has to be rooted in freedom and it has to know the art of trust.

Take it easy, and remember "Easy is Right."

Getting love is a very small experience. It is the experience of beggar.

Giving love is the real beautiful experience, because then you are an emperor.

If jealousy disappears and love still remains, then you have something solid in your life which is worth having.

Humanity will never be religious unless all organized religions disappear and religion becomes an individual commitment towards existence.

Drop the idea that attachment and love are one thing. They are enemies. It is attachment that destroys all love.

If you cannot love yourself, you don't know even the taste of love or what love means.

Forget about getting, simply give; and I guarantee you, you will get much.

Freedom is our most precious treasure. Don't lose it for anything. . . .

Life is a mystery, and there is nothing to explain everything is just open, it is in front of you. Encounter it! Meet it! Be courageous!

Instead of pleasing, learn the art of happiness.

Die each moment so that you are renewed each moment.

Misery comes the moment you become clinging, attached. The moment you put conditions on life.

Love brings freedom. Loyalty brings slavery.