“Our choice, always, is to love and understand.”

“Life has been messy for me, as it has for most everyone. I have come to the realization that challenging experiences break us all at some point—our bodies and minds, our hearts and egos. When we put ourselves back together, we find that we are no longer perfectly straight, but rather bent and cracked. Yet it is through these cracks that our authenticity shines. It is by revealing these cracks that we can learn to see and be seen deeply.”

“Bamboo is flexible, bending with the wind but never breaking, capable of adapting to any circumstance. It suggests resilience, meaning that we have the ability to bounce back even from the most difficult times. . . . Your ability to thrive depends, in the end, on your attitude to your life circumstances. Take everything in stride with grace, putting forth energy when it is needed, yet always staying calm inwardly.”

“In the event of a total loss of direction in life, be sure to sort our your own shit before you start telling people what to do.”

“[...] death follows us around for a reason. It's because death is our best adviser. There is nothing more powerful than a person who is prepared to live right now, in this instant, fully accepting that this may be their last moment on earth.”

“The best gift we can give other people is our whole selves in truth. By doing so we give them a true and accurate mirror that allows them to see themselves. We also give ourselves the best opportunity to grow.”

“Wagons rattling and banging,horses neighing and snorting,conscripts marching, each with bow and arrows at his hip,fathers and mothers, wives and children, running to see them off--so much dust kicked up you can't see Xian-yang Bridge!And the families pulling at their clothes, stamping feet in anger,blocking the way and weeping--ah, the sound of their wailing rises straight up to assault heaven.And a passerby asks, "What's going on?"The soldier says simply, "This happens all the time.From age fifteen some are sent to guard the north,and even at forty some work the army farms in the west.When they leave home, the village headman has to wrap their turbans for them;when they come back, white-haired, they're still guarding the frontier.The frontier posts run with blood enough to fill an ocean,and the war-loving Emperor's dreams of conquest have still not ended.”