The only way to escape the corruptible effect of praise is to go on working.

It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault or merit of my own.

Without deep reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people.

Although I have a regular work schedule, I take time to go for long walks on the beach so that I can listen to what is going on inside my head. If my work isn’t going well, I lie down in the middle of a workday and gaze at the ceiling while I listen and visualize what goes on in my imagination.

Be a loner. That gives you time to wonder, to search for the truth. Have holy curiosity. Make your life worth living.

I believe empathy is the most essential quality of civilization.

The ultimate power in life is to be completely self-reliant, completely yourself.

Look at flowers, butterflies, trees, and children with the eyes of compassion. Compassion will change your life and make it wonderful.

I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Beauty is ordained by nature to excite love.

To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.

Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace.

At some point, you gotta let go, and sit still, and allow contentment to come to you.

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?

All of one’s contemporaries and aging friends are living in a delicate balance, and one feels that one’s own consciousness is no longer as brightly lit as it once was. But then, twilight with its more subdued colors has its charms as well.

To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.

When life is sweet, say thank you and celebrate. When life is bitter, say thank you and grow.

You were given life; it is your duty (and also your entitlement as a human being) to find something beautiful within life, no matter how slight.

A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul. Johann

The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

I believe in one thing, that only a life lived for others is a life worth living.

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Sometimes the only thought that sustains me and is my only refuge from despair is that I have always done everything I could within my small power, and that year in, year out, I have never permitted myself any amusements or diversions except those afforded by my studies.