Our stories make us who we are. And each story has its own purpose and its own reward. Each story rings true and each story is worthy of the ages. There is no such thing as an insignificant life.

The truth hurts. But if we want to heal the world, we had better start paying attention to the pain.

The more we understand the One Idea, how all of life is interconnected and interdependent, the more we can act in positive ways for the good of all.

As we commit to peace in our own lives, our own little worlds, encompassing everyone we know personally, then we will find the way of peace spreading like a great healing light all over the world.

To listen to the silence is to hear the heartbeat of the universe.

While we cannot close our eyes to what is happening around us, it is important for each of us as individuals to refuse to hate another human being and commit to compassion, love, peace and nonviolence in the world. In becoming aware and resistant to evil, we should be wary of becoming part of the evil ourselves.

Ultimately, the great truths of family history don't live in any book. They live in the hearts and minds of the living descendants. They live in the way we conduct our lives, in the passing of traditions and values to those who will follow.

If you can make your ancestors real for yourself, learn their stories and who they were, your life -- and death -- will take on added meaning. You will see yourself in the Big Picture that includes all human life that has come and gone on the planet.

Racists cling to the false notion that we are separate. They refuse to acknowledge that they are connected to, and even descended from, other people of different skin color. Their egos demand that they be superior and that others be inferior. This is how they seek to justify their hatred of, and cruelty towards, others.

Every creature has a right to be on this Earth. Who am I to disrupt the natural order? Respect is a good word worth handing down to our children.

Love doesn't make bullets. It doesn't drop bombs. Only hate does that -- driven by fear.

Science is a tool to help us all find the truth based on facts and evidence. It is not a religion. Yet many people are treating it as such, as a matter of faith or belief. If your religion contradicts the facts and evidence of science, it ought to make you reconsider what it is you believe.

When you trace your genealogy, you find connections to many of the people and events that shaped history. History is not the story of some old irrelevant strangers. No. History is your story. Your family was there -- your grandmothers and grandfathers, uncles and aunts, cousins, nephews and nieces. If not for them, you wouldn't even be here.

Raising consciousness involves confronting people with issues and truths that they have not really considered before. Many of these truths are uncomfortable and disturbing, but unless we confront them and look for a remedy, humanity cannot move forward.

A society that has no respect, no regard for its bards, its historians, its storytellers, is a society in steep decline, a society that has lost its very soul and may never find its way.

If we are going to preserve the viability of life on this planet, we must strive to understand the connections, the interrelatedness of all things.

Through the various branches of your tree, you are connected to the entirety of human history. When we talk about the ancient Egyptians building the pyramids, we're not talking about a bunch of exotic strangers, we're talking about our great-great-many-times-great grandparents!

By dedicating ourselves to peace, understanding, kindness and compassion, we do our part to heal the world.

Life is inherently disturbing. That's why we've created the myths-to help us overcome, defend or deny, to transcend the grim reality of what here seems to be.

God made in the image of Man is an imperfect master.