“Misfortune draws people to religion and mysticism”

“Religion is nothing but institutionalized mysticism. The catch is, mysticism does not lend itself to institutionalization. The moment we attempt to organize mysticism, we destroy its essence. Religion, then, is mysticism in which the mystical has been killed. Or, at least diminished.”

“Nothing draws people more quickly away from religion than an open mind.”

“Religions are founded by what mystics say when they come back;but what the mystics say is not the same as what happened to them.”

“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses those feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.”

“Think of God and not religion, of ecstasy and not mysticism. The difference between the theoretician of faith and the believer is as great as between the psychiatrist and the psychotic.”