I have read some of The Dali Lama's writing. I read The Universe in a Single Atom, but it didn't do much for me. Could have been bad timing on my part. Sometimes books arrive at just the right time; sometimes they don't. Here are some favorite quotes of mine from him from various sources:

On Religious Differences—“If you have a particular faith or religion, that is good. But you can survive without it if you have love, compassion, and tolerance. The clear proof of a person’s love of God is if that person genuinely shows love to fellow human beings.
“The purpose of religion is not to argue which one is best. Buddha, Jesus Christ, and all other great teachers created their ideas and teachings with sincere motivation, love, and kindness toward humanity, and they shared it for the benefit of humanity. I do not think those great teachers created differences to make trouble. There is a richness in the fact that there are so many different presentations of the way.”

“We should not consider the subject of love and compassion, forgiveness, these things, as religious subjects. When human beings are born, I think we are free from any religion, any ideology, any faith; but we are not free from compassion and love. So, therefore, even for the nonbeliever, the practice of compassion and love is very essential.”

On Enemies and Happiness—If we remain very honest or very humble or gentle, then some people unfortunately may take advantage of that situation. If we analyze the situation and are really sure that we need a strong countermeasure, we can take the countermeasure without anger, using reason and maximum human intelligence. That countermeasure, in fact, becomes more effective than the measure we take motivated by anger. What is the definition of “enemy?” “Enemy” means a force or individual person who destroys our happiness directly or destroys the sources of our happiness.
   Friends are one source of happiness; wealth also is a source of happiness; and fame, a good name—all these things. But the definite source is inner peace, calmness of mind. That is the real, definite source of happiness or joy.
   An external enemy can directly destroy our wealth, our friends, our fame, but cannot directly destroy our mental calmness, which is the direct source of joy or happiness. The ultimate destroyer of our source of happiness is our anger. So, therefore, the real, ultimate enemy is within, not outside. When anger subsides, we may develop some kind of warm feeling and that person may even eventually become a friend. But the inner enemy is a permanent enemy. Anger is always our enemy. Therefore, we must take precautions against our most awful enemy, which is to be found within our self.

   Q: Your Holiness, if Tibetan Buddhism could be summed up in a single phrase, what would that phrase be?
   A: If you can help other people, other sentient beings, help. If you cannot, at least restrain from harming. So that sentence includes all Buddhist practice.
   Q: What is the first thing you think about when you awaken in the morning?
   A: Happy day.