"My hope and prayer is that the Chinese Communist Party will change."

"The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual's own reason and critical analysis."

"My main interest is to promote human values, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, self-discipline, contentment. That's my main interest."

"I think humor is very important. Sometimes I tell jokes that are not very funny, but people laugh anyway because I am the Dalai Lama."

"Sometimes one creates a dynamic impression by saying something, and sometimes one creates as significant an impression by remaining silent."