Quotes from Philip Goldberg

Emerson used India to formulate his philosophy, and India used Emerson to legitimize its ancient wisdom to the modern mind.

In the 1930s the eminent historian Will Durant wrote, "Perhaps, in return for conquest, arrogance and spoliation, India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquisitive soul, the calm of the understanding spirit, and a unifying, pacifying love for all living things."2

Do you habitually find fault instead of looking for signs of goodness? Can you transform your disdain into a kinder feeling? Remember, you'll be doing it not for the other person, but to protect your soul from toxic emotions.

Every American who checks the spiritual-but-not-religious box or shuffles off to a meditation retreat is squarely in the Transcendentalist lineage. A surprising number of the people I interviewed, when recalling the origins of their interest in Eastern philosophy, named Emerson or Thoreau as a catalyst.