Quotes from Harold S. Kushner

Good people will do good things, lots of them, because they are good people. They will do bad things because they are human.

People are so busy chasing happiness- if they would slow down and turn around, they would give it a chance to catch up with them.

One of the basic needs of every human being is the need to be loved, to have our wishes and feelings taken seriously, to be validated as people who matter.

Pain is the price we pay for being alive. Dead cells—our hair, our fingernails—can't feel pain; they cannot feel anything. When we understand that, our question will change from, "Why do we have to feel pain?" to "What do we do with our pain so that it becomes meaningful and not just pointless empty suffering?

There is no right way to do a wrong thing.

That is why we have to make room in our lives for people who may sometimes disappoint or exasperate us. If we hold our friends to a standard of perfection, or if they do that to us, we will end up far lonelier than we want to be.

Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are

I'm not perfect, ... But i'm enough.

If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul

God is the light shining in the midst of darkness, not to deny that there is darkness in the world but to reassure us that we do not have to be afraid of the darkness because darkness will always yield to light. As theologian David Griffin puts in, God is all-powerful, His power enables people to deal with events beyond their control and He gives us the strength to do those things because He is with us.

When facing a dilemma, choose the more morally demanding alternative.

One man alone can't defeat the forces of evil, but many good people coming together can.