- "What if we don't need to live our whole lives alone? What if life is a web of immeasurably complex and respectful relationships? What if the purpose--even the evolutionary purpose--is for each of us to take responsibility for all those around us, to respect their own deepest needs, to esteem and be esteemed by them, to feed and feed off of them, to be sustained by their bodies and eventually to sustain them with our own?"
- "I am only so beautiful as the character of my relationships, only so rich as I enrich those around me, only so alive as I enliven those I greet."
- "What this means is that so long as money is valued--and in fact necessary--a great percentage of people will end up spending a great deal of time doing things they don't want to do."
- "Negative experiences can lead to joy and understanding. Life is untidy. When we reject this messiness--and in so doing reject life--we risk perceiving the world through the lens of our economics or our science. But if we celebrate life with all its contradictions, embrace it, experience it, and ultimately live with it, there is the chance for a spiritual life filled not only with pain and untidiness, but also with joy, community, and creativity."
- "All we want, whether we are honeybees, salmon, trash-collecting ants, ponderosa pines, coyotes, human beings, or stars, is to love and be loved, to be accepted, cherished, and celebrated simply for being who we are. Is that so very difficult?"
jul 7 2010 ∞
oct 30 2010 +