Quotations

"It is said that the difference between buddhas and sentient beings is like the difference between the narrowness and the openness of space. Sentient beings are like the space held within a tightly closed fist, while buddhas are fully open, all-encompassing."

— Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Buddhist master, born 1920

"There are signs of accomplishment, such as having good health and long life or becoming famous and influential, but these belong to the superficial type of accomplishment. The true, unmistaken signs of accomplishment as established by the masters of the lineage, are to possess compassion, devotion and an acute sense of impermanence."

— Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Buddhist master, born 1920

"If our nature wasn’t already enlightened, we couldn’t awaken to it no matter how hard we tried. Buddha nature cannot be fabricated. Our nature is primordially enlightened, but at present our ordinary body, speech and discursive thinking obscures it."

— Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Buddhist master, born 1920

"All you have the right to ask of life is to choose a battle in this war, make the best you can, and leave the field with honor."

— Leon Uris, American author, born 1924

"Who here wants to be a writer? I asked. Everyone in the room raised his hand. Why the hell aren't you home writing? I said, and left the stage."

— Leon Uris, American author, born 1924

"Anything to declare? the customs inspector said. Two pound of uncut heroin and a manual of pornographic art, Mark answered, looking about for Kity. All Americans are comedians, the inspector thought, as he passed Parker through."

— Leon Uris, American author, born 1924

"Why must we fight for the right to live, over and over, each time the sun rises?"

— Leon Uris, American author, born 1924

"Just for today, I will let go of anger. Just for today, I will let go of worry. Today, I will count my many blessings. Today, I will do my work honestly. Today, I will be kind to every living creature."

— Mikao Usui, Japanese spiritual leader, born 1865

"Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams."

— Rudolph Valentino, Italian-American actor, born 1895

"The loneliest ebb of my life came on that Christmas eve, only one day after my arrival in New York. The abyss of loneliness. I ate a solitary dinner in a small cafe, and the very food tasted bitter with my unshed tears. One doesn't dare cry in America. It is unmanly here."

— Rudolph Valentino, Italian-American actor, born 1895

"How can you become old in spirit? Only by carrying the past, isn't it? If you carry sixty years of burden with you, you're sixty years old. If you don't carry anything, you're like a newborn.
The physical body may develop limitations, but the way you are has no limitations. It simply has no limitations. You are this many years old or that many years old simply because you carry that many years of garbage with you."

— Jaggi Vasudev, Indian mystic, born 1957

"The hen that you are, how will you know what deceptive ways Grace will descend. It is Grace that brought you here and it is Grace that will deliver: I prefer the hen that looks up to the sky than an eagle that flies but always looking down. How high is not the question, but how intense is your longing for the sky. May you always be in Grace."

— Jaggi Vasudev, Indian mystic, born 1957

"A materialistic person is ruthless with other people but kind to himself. A spiritual person is ruthless with himself but kind to everybody else."

— Jaggi Vasudev, Indian mystic, born 1957

"What does it mean to become a Buddha? “Bu” means “Buddhi,” the intellect. One who is above his intellect is a Buddha."

— Jaggi Vasudev, Indian mystic, born 1957