“The demon that you can swallow gives you its power, and the greater life’s pain, the greater life’s reply.”

“You’re not a human being until you value something more than the life of your body. And the greater the thing you live and die for the greater you are.”

“There is no greater thing you can do with your life and your work than follow your passions – in a way that serves the world and you.”

“The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.”

“Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.”

“The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.”

“You serve a greater cause. Your life is not yours to throw away (Magnus Bane)”

“He who loves God is also able to accept life and to love it. This is not the same as to love God. For many pious people in all generations the love of God is the other side of the hatred for life. And there is much hostility towards life in all of us, even in those who have completely surrendered to life. Our hostility towards life is manifested in cynicism and disgust, in bitterness and continuous accusations against life. We feel rejected by life, not so much because of its objective darkness and threats and horrors, but because of our estrangement from its power and meaning. He who is reunited with God, the creative Ground of life, the power of life in everything that lives, is reunited with life. He feels accepted by it and he can love it. He understands that the greater love is, the greater the estrangement which is conquered by it. In metaphorical language I should like to say to those who feel deeply their hostility towards life: Life accepts you; life loves you as a separated part of itself; life wants to reunite you with itself, even when it seems to destroy you.”

“The greater the hold of government upon the life of the individual citizen, the greater the risk of war.”

“The greater your capacity to love, the greater your capacity to feel the pain”