I know career motivation and encouragement up the ladder of success have their place in the world. But I don't want them anywhere near my spirituality.

There was a verse that said if you are lukewarm rather than hot or cold, God will spit you out of his mouth on Judgment Day. And I felt like, I mean, I don't know. I'm lukewarm.

When I went to college, I was so focused on this new experience of my life that I really just pushed down all of my fears of hell and damnation.

Using phrases or mantras to encourage and comfort myself has been a powerful practice for me. For years, I would say to myself 'Remember the purple sky' when I was feeling anxious, which to me meant remember a sense of internal spaciousness and kindness toward myself.

Praying can make a difference, and it is up to all of us to try that, with faith, and see if it will not support these admirable troops, their spouses, and their families.

The real kiss of death - particularly with my father - is the extraordinary popularity of his work.

For a Christian, Jesus is the unique and only way that God has fully revealed himself. For a Jew this cannot be.

During my first years in the Sierra, I was ever calling on everybody within reach to admire them, but I found no one half warm enough until Emerson came. I had read his essays, and felt sure that of all men he would best interpret the sayings of these noble mountains and trees. Nor was my faith weakened when I met him in Yosemite.