Civilization is clearly not crucial to human life, as we have mostly been living without it for over a million years now – a few of us even happily at times.

Spiritual leaders who require obedience as a prerequisite to granting any religious reward reveal that they fundamentally misunderstand the true source of happiness.

It is the despair of multitudes that our personal emotions are not subject to our own direct, willful manipulation. Instead, our emotions stubbornly remain at all times just automatic mental reactions to our perceptions. But therein lies the key to success. The quality, quantity and continuity of the emotions we continuously experience can definitely be influenced immensely by shifting those perceptions, and thus our choice of desires, through understanding the universal pursuit of happiness better.

Substance is satisfying.

Personal Ethics: how to have fun without hurting yourself.

Esforzarse mucho por ser perfecto es una de las formas más efectivas de descubrir que la perfección es una ilusión.

Choosing a partner mainly for sex, without having much of a personal relationship, is like playing tiddly-winks instead of chess — because friendship is what provides any relationship with its complexity, substance, subtlety, sustainability and enjoyment.

Living life well means knowing you can live without it.

Discipline: not being deterred by a relatively superficial pain while in pursuit of a relatively profound pleasure.

Social Ethics: how to have fun without hurting yourself or others.

It is much more difficult to inspire someone's trust than to arouse his or her lust.