“If we learn how to love others, really, truly love them, not for who we want them to be, but rather for who they are – for the perfect souls that God has created – then we have learnt one of the greatest lessons of life.”

“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: in love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.”

Kristin Hannah book The Nightingale

“It is the responsibility of every adult… to make sure that children hear what we have learned from the lessons of life and to hear over and over that we love them and that they are not alone.”

Marian Wright Edelman (1939) American children's rights activist

“At first, when we truly love someone, our greatest fear is that the loved one will stop loving us. What we should fear and dread, of course, is that we won't stop loving them, even after they're dead and gone.”

Gregory David Roberts book Shantaram

“If we want a love which will protect the soul from wounds we must love something other than God.”

Simone Weil (1909–1943) French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist

“I've come to know that what we want in life is the greatest indication of who we really are.”

Richard Paul Evans (1962) American writer

“We are bound to those we love by their imperfections — their perfections help us to explain them to others.”

Elizabeth Bibesco (1897–1945) writer, actress; Romanian princess

“Are gods more ruthless than mortals?
Have they no mercy for youth? no love for the souls who have loved them?”

Charles Kingsley (1819–1875) English clergyman, historian and novelist

“This is the only path on which we can proceed with ease. It is the path to the freedom of our soul. Therefore, may we protect ourselves and give love to others. May we protect others as we would protect ourselves, love our neighbors as ourselves, and make all mankind our relatives, our brothers and sisters. May we make everyone our loved ones and help them become those who trust in God. May we all go together on this path as the followers of God, as the representatives of God, as the children of the one Father.”

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (1900–1986) Sri Lankan Sufi leader

“We are none of us perfect, and… we learn to take these imperfections and make them only a small part of who we are”

Patricia Briggs book Bone Crossed