Exile has enabled me to discover the rest of the world, to meet other peoples, to get to know other traditions. Nothing could be more valuable.

Without accepting a religion, but simply developing a realisation of the importance of compassion and love, and with more concern and respect for others, a kind of spiritual development is very possible for those persons who are outside of religion.

When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves or some immediate convenience. When we are able to recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain strength to constructively solve the problems of the present.

Human use, population, and technology have reached that certain stage where mother Earth no longer accepts our presence with silence.

Of all the various delusions, the sense of discrimination between oneself and others is the worst form, as it creates nothing but unpleasantness for both sides.

If you have adopted Buddhism you should not consider yourself a 'great Buddhist' and immediately start to do everything differently. A Tibetan proverb states, 'Change your mind but leave your appearance as usual.

The proper way to create friends is through a warm heart and not simple money or power. Friends of power and friends of money are something different. These are not friends.

Irrespective of whether we are a believer or an agnostic, whether we believe in God or karma, moral ethics is a code which everyone is able to pursue.

If you succeed through violence at the expense of others' rights and welfare, you have not solved the problem, but only created the seeds for another.

Love and kindness are always appropriate. Whether or not you believe in rebirth, you will need love in this life. If we have love, there is hope to have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace.