“The facts of nature are what they are, but we can only view them through the spectacles of our mind. Our mind works largely by metaphor and comparison, not always (or often) by relentless logic. Wh...”

“We pass through this world but once. Few tragedies can be more extensive than the stunting of life, few injustices deeper than the denial of an opportunity to strive or even to hope, by a limit imp...”

“We have become, by the power of a glorious evolutionary accident called intelligence, the stewards of life's continuity on earth. We did not ask for this role, but we cannot abjure it. We may not b...”

“Skepticism is the agent of reason against organized irrationalism--and is therefore one of the keys to human social and civic decency.”

“We reveal ourselves in the metaphors we choose for depicting the cosmos in miniature.”

“We are the offspring of history, and must establish our own paths in this most diverse and interesting of conceivable universesone indifferent to our suffering, and therefore offering us maximum fr...”

“Once I saw a chimpanzee gaze at a particularly beautiful sunset for a full 15 minutes, watching the changing colors [and then] retire to the forest without picking a pawpaw for supper.”

“In an era of globalization, we recognize that we are part of a global society, but we have no idea how to make such a society work. So far, no unified vision or leadership has emerged to guide us i...”

“It is with eight lengthy legs we use to catch food, balance and knit a beautiful silk bed,but as babies we had lost our bones and skin, and hence our legs we had shed.”

“An extended hand is the best weapon against a clenched fist.”

“If you want your life to stand for peace and kindness, it's helpful to do kind, peaceful things.”

“Demonstrating verbal kindness looks better on everyone know matter what the situation. There's a peace in the heart of the kind person who handles everything with love.”