“Mr. Watras asked me whether I was practicing, and I told him I was practicing my tissue basketball skills.”

“When I was in school the teachers told me practice makes perfect; then they told me nobody’s perfect so I stopped practicing.”

“Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living.”

“I just practically begged him to kiss me, and he’s critiquing my grammar?”

“I play to win, whether during practice or a real game.”

“I remembered what Mr. Hall had told me when I first asked him for a lesson: the kids who watch planes are destined to be pilots.”