"I'm an amateur science enthusiast. I'm not even a professional enthusiast. I don't know anything I never even passed biology in high school. But I read the science section of the newspaper."

"High school teachers who want to get reluctant readers turned around need to give the students some say in the reading list. Make it collaborative: The students will feel ownership, and everyone will dig in."

"You can do and use the skills that you have. The schools need you. The teachers need you. Students and parents need you. They need your actual person: your physical personhood and your open minds and open ears and boundless compassion, sitting next to them, listening and nodding and asking questions for hours at a time."

"I met a lot of great people in Saudi Arabia and I'd like to see them again. And I'd love to spend more time in the desert and in the mountains. I felt really at home there."

"Breathe deeply, anchor your attention in this breath, and let the storm pass. Reflect upon this whenever doubt clouds your horizon."

"Giving back involves a certain amount of giving up."

"The river of time washes away kings and empires, leaving only virtue intact. In this truth lies the bedrock of all virtue."

"It is a timeless truth that the richness of existence is found in simple harmonies, not superfluous splendors — an essential principle for the reflective life."