“People are "punished" or "rewarded" not for what they have done but for what they have become, and what we intentionally do is what makes us what we are.”

“We do not choose what happens to us. We can only choose what we do after. What we do now. We can only choose to keep going.”

“But there are people you know, and there are people you have a connection with....Wasn't that what make us feel responsible-not for what happened, but responsible for you? We always felt responsible for you. That's the nature of connection-not just the attachment, but the responsibility.”

“Life, is not a having and a getting, but a being and a becoming”

“Life, as you know, is a series of cycles, ups and downs. When we reach a peak of any type we have to recognize that you have to descend into the valley to get to the next peak. The valley is what makes us stronger.”

“But isn't this a dance? Isn't all of this a dance? Isn't that what we do with words? Isn't that what we do when we talk, when we spar, when we make plans or leave it to chance? Some of it's choreographed. Some of the steps have been done for ages. And the rest -- the rest is spontaneous. The rest has to be decided on the floor, in the moment, before the music ends.”

“Why do we love to grind our axes so much? How does schlepping that heavy load of medieval weaponry around affect those we encounter in our daily routines? What if it makes us more likely to provoke others?What is so appealing about grinding our axes anyway? Why is it so difficult to stop? How would we interact with people differently if we didn’t do it?What other tools might we cultivate if most of us were willing to lay down our axes, even just for a little while? How much more energy might we have if we weren’t so encumbered?What would you do with that energy?”