“The pond garden is an intricate phenomenon coalescing the intent and will of various people of influence living at various times.”

“Peace is not just a desired state of being for people, but also enables the flourishing of nature as well as human-created landscapes.”

“The peace within and flowing from sacred spaces and architecture places is clothed in forgiveness, renunciation, and reconciliation.”

“Many people are just waking to the reality that unlimited expansion, what we call progress, is not possible in this world, and maybe looking to monks (who seek to live within limitations) as well as rural Dakotans (whose limitations are forced upon them by isolation and a harsh climate) can teach us how to live more realistically. These unlikely people might also help us overcome the pathological fear of death and the inability to deal with sickness and old age that plague American society.”

“Maybe that's the problem with being someplace beautiful: it makes it impossible to live anywhere else that's not.”

“...Maybe this was another reason why people read: not so that they would feel less lonely, but so that other people would think they looked less lonely with a book in their hands and therefore not pity them and leave them alone.”

“Some people, when desperate, retreat to pills or hard liquor. I nap.”