Though no two centuries are very much like each other, some hours perhaps are; moments are; critical moments nearly always are. Emotions are the same. We are the same. The man, not the day, is the lasting phenomenon.
To know someone here or there with whom you feel there is understanding in spite of differences or thoughts expressed — that can make of this earth a garden.
Best friend? Jesus, I think I’d go into a deep, dark depression if I were to think about who’s my best friend. . . . You know, a best friend is someone who’s gonna die for you. I mean, that’s your best friend, really. Yeah, I’d be miserable trying to think who my best friend is.
If I am transparent enough to myself, then I can become less afraid of those hidden selves that my transparency may reveal to others. If I reveal myself without worrying about how others will respond, then some will care, though others may not. But who can love me, if no one knows me? I must risk it, or live alone. It is enough that I must die alone. I am determined to let down whatever the risks, if it means that I may have whatever is there for me.
He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.
It’s all up for grabs for anybody who has done what Gandhi said, which is: your power becomes invincible when you have reduced yourself to zero, which means, when you don’t want anything. When you have no more fear looking in the eyes of death, when you’re right here, then you are aware of what is. Then your statement has the power of the universe behind it. It’s coming from a root place of truth, because there’s nothing in it for you because you don’t want anything.
To me, that is the power of a Christ, or just one clear person who isn’t vulnerable. I don’t underestimate the power of the human heart. When I look at the human heart, that link, that doorway, I see an institution that makes the Pentagon look like kids’ toys.
The secret of learning is to love the truth.
I do not require of you to form great and serious considerations in your thinking. I require of you only to look.
Everybody’s fame is in his own universe. Everybody is the center of his own universe. When you have a million people, you turn up the volume on your own ego and you get to see it bigger, or you can. You can ignore it and think that it’s all real and that you are the universe, but otherwise if you’re a bit open and have some space around your head, you can actually make use of that situation to examine your own passion, your own attachment, your own egocentricity. And because it’s stuck right in front of your nose like naked lunch you may get a little more insight into it and actually be in an advantageous position to make your own egocentricity more transparent.
The supreme prayer of my heart is not to be rich, famous, powerful, or “too good,” but to be radiant. I desire to radiate health, calm courage, cheerfulness, and goodwill. I wish to live without hate, whim, jealousy, envy, or fear. I wish to be simple, honest, frank, natural, clean in mind and clean in body, unaffected, ready to say, “I do not know,” if it so be, to meet all men on an absolute equality, to face any obstacle and meet every difficulty unabashed and unafraid. I wish others to live their lives, too, up to their fullest and best. To that end I pray that I may never meddle, interfere, dictate, give advice that is not wanted, or assist when my services are not needed. If I can help people I will do it, by giving them a chance to help themselves; and if I can uplift or inspire, let it be by example, inference, suggestion, rather than by injunction and dictation. That is to say, I desire to be radiant, to radiate life.
If our age is noted for alienation it is largely because we treat each other without tact or sensitivity, because we have lost our faith in our confidants and can trust no one to deal humanely with the truth. . . . Respect for the vulnerability of human beings is a necessary part of telling the truth, because no truth will be wrested from a callous vision or callous handling.
No matter how many communes anybody invents, the family always creeps back.
The union of the family lies in love; and love is the only reconciliation of authority and liberty.
There is nothing outside you. That is what you must ultimately learn.
