“I say that religion isn’t about believing things. It’s ethical alchemy. It’s about behaving in a way that changes you, that gives you intimations of holiness and sacredness.”
As quoted in Profile at TEDprize.org (2009) http://www.tedprize.org/karen-armstrong/
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Karen Armstrong 56
author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain 1944Related quotes

“Real dialogue isn’t about talking to people who believe the same things as you.”
Geneva Davis; chapter 1, p. 8
Source: One Door Away from Heaven (2001)
Context: Change isn't easy, Micky. Changing the way you live means changing the way you think. Changing the way you think means changing what you believe about life. That's hard, sweetie. When we make our own misery, we sometimes cling to it even when we want so bad to change, because the misery is something we know. The misery is comfortable.
“An ethic isn’t a fact you can look up. It’s a way of thinking.”
Source: More Than Human (1953), Chapter 3, p. 183

"Desperately"
2000s, Hotel Paper (2003)
Context: There was something, about the way you looked at me. Made me think for a moment, that maybe we were meant to be. Living our lives separately, and it's strange that things change. But not me, wanting you so desperately. Oh, why can't I ignore it? I keep giving in, but I should know better. Because there was something about the way you looked at me, and it's strange that things change. But not me, wanting you so desperately.

“That's the funny thing about religion: it doesn't matter what you say, you're going to upset.”
Source: Me of Little Faith