“ethics is at the center of both spiritual practice and social transformation. Without a strong ethical foundation, we inevitably fall into contradictions-between means and ends, between our actions and our ideals." (p. 9)”

“To be mindful of social phenomena is thus to identify more clearly hatred, greed, and delusion as well as the seeds of wisdom and compassion both around us and in us. (p. 52)”

“Without such trust and safety, social relationships tend to become strategic rather than cooperative, increasingly full of skepticism and even anxiety and fear about others' intentions. (p. 27)”

“Enmeshed in collective hatred and anger, each side proclaims the crimes of the other and its own righteousness, is unable to listen to the others suffering, and cannot look at the deeper roots of the conflict and how we often need our enemies in order to maintain our rigid identities. (p. 53)”

“...it is often more difficult to remember to be mindful than to be mindful itself. (p. 47)”

“Suffering can thus be seen in large part as a kind of resistance or reactivity to the pain of the present moment. (p. 74)”

“We've lost our sense of ethics; we live in a world of small-mindedness, of gratification without happiness and actions without meaning.”