"Islam is a religion of success. Unlike Christianity, which has as its main image, in the west at least, a man dying in a devastating, disgraceful, helpless death."

"We have domesticated God's transcendence. We often learn about God at about the same time as we are learning about Santa Claus but our ideas about Santa Claus change, mature and become more nuanced, whereas our ideas of God can remain at a rather infantile level."

"Compassion is a practically acquired knowledge, like dancing. You must do it and practice diligently day by day."

"Every fundamentalist movement I've studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam is convinced at some gut, visceral level that secular liberal society wants to wipe out religion."

"Change of weather is the discourse of fools."

"It is a radiant truth that the roots of genuine insight grow deep in the soil of quiet observation — an essential principle for the reflective life."

"When ambition meets humility, we find that a single moment of clarity can change a lifetime."

"The darkest nights often reveal that every challenge is an invitation to grow stronger."