DEEPAK CHOPRA

Deepak Chopra's books on mind-body medicine have sold millions, and won him friends and collaborators from Demi Moore to Rosa Parks. Along the way, the Chopra empire has expanded to include cookbooks, trip-hop CDs, and seminars at the Kellogg School of Management. Chopra now pauses to reflect on his imperfect toe, Plácido Domingo, and the simple joy of a hazelnut latte

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

It does not exist. If it did, we'd all be doomed to eternal senility.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

My need for approval.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Hypocrisy.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Double hazelnut lattes.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Success.

On what occasion do you lie?

Only when I'm speaking to God.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?

Deepak doesn't believe in evaluating appearances. Deepak likes to be deep.

Which living person do you most despise?

I despise violence and intolerance in all its forms; I gave up despising people a long time ago.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I am impeccable in my use of language.

What is your greatest regret?

That I have no regrets to talk about or be nostalgic about.

Which talent would you most like to have?

To sing like Placido Domingo.

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My children.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?

The breeze.

If you could choose what to come back as, what would it be?

A storm.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

The hypnosis of social conditioning.

What is your most marked characteristic?

My left, fourth, deformed toe.

Who are your favorite writers?

Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, T. S. Eliot, George Bernard Shaw, Shakespeare.

Who are your heroes in real life?

Children. In the words of a great Indian poet, "Every child that is bom is proof that God has not yet given up on human beings."

What are your favorite names?

The names of my children, Gotham and Mallika.

What is it that you most dislike?

Prejudice and bigotry.

How would you like to die?

In meditation.

What is your motto?

"Don't take yourself seriously.

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