“How can something that doesn’t exist in physicalform have influence over the things that do?”

“You don't have to be a person of influence to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they've taught me.”

“Okay, I can accept the idea that God doesn’t have apersonality exactly like people. Maybe we just assume Godhas a personality because it’s easier to talk about it that way.But the important point is that something had to create reality.It’s too well-designed to be an accident.”

“What does it mean to be yourself?” he asked. “If itmeans to do what you think you ought to do, then you’redoing that already. If it means to act like you’re exemptfrom society’s influence, that’s the worst advice in theworld; you would probably stop bathing and wearing clothes.The advice to ‘be yourself’ is obviously nonsense. But ourbrains accept this tripe as wisdom because it is more comfortableto believe we have a strategy for life than to believewe have no idea how to behave.”

“If, as you say, our minds are delusiongenerators, then we’re all like blind and deaf sea captainsshouting orders into the universe and hoping it makes a difference.We have no way of knowing what really works andwhat merely seems to work. So doesn’t it make sense to tryall the things that appear to work even if we can’t be sure?”

“People who do affirmations will have the sensation thatthey are causing the environment to conform to their will.This is an immensely enjoyable feeling because the illusionof control is one of the best illusions you can have.”

“Your brain can only process a tiny portion of your environment,It risks being overwhelmed by the volumeof information that bombards you every waking moment.Your brain compensates by filtering out the 99.9 percent ofyour environment that doesn’t matter to you.”