“It is essential to understand our brains in some detail if we are to assess correctly our place in this vast and complicated universe we see all around us.”

“There are some great mysteries here and I believe that each one of us is better placed to understand them than any sceptical scientist or religious zealot, simply because our Universe is not the same as theirs. We are, each of us, on our own journey; and whilst that journey continually interacts with those of others, it always remains uniquely ours. To understand that journey, because it is ‘magical’, we must look at it with the eyes of a child. I hope the essential simplicity of ‘The 7 Gifts’ will encourage readers to do that.”

“we live in a disconcerting world. Trying to comprehend what we see around us, we ask ourselves: what is the universe made of? and what is our place in it? where odes the universe come from? and where do we come from?”

“We find ourselves in a bewildering world. We want to make sense of what we see around us and to ask: What is the nature of the universe? What is our place in it and where did it and we come from? Why is it the way it is?”

“To exist in this vast universe for a speck of time is the great gift of life. Our tiny sliver of time is our gift of life. It is our only life. The universe will go on, indifferent to our brief existence, but while we are here we touch not just part of that vastness, but also the lives around us. Life is the gift each of us has been given. Each life is our own and no one else's. It is precious beyond all counting. It is the greatest value we can have. Cherish it for what it truly is..... Your life is yours alone. Rise up and live it.”

“We must use whatever methods we can to understand the movement of the universe around us and time our actions so that we are not fighting the currents, but moving with them.”