“When we give ourselves in love we become our most vulnerable. We are never safe. We become open to disappointment and hurt.”

“I suspect the most we can hope for, and it's no small hope, is that we never give up, that we never stop giving ourselves permission to try to love and receive love.”

Elizabeth Strout book Abide with Me

“If we associate love with losing ourselves, in relationships we will become avoidant and push our partners away.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“If we give what we treasure most to a Being we love with all our hearts, if we can do that without expecting anything in return, then the world becomes a beautiful place.”

Orhan Pamuk book The Museum of Innocence

“To be brave is to love someone unconditionally, without expecting anything in return. To just give. That takes courage, because we don't want to fall on our faces or leave ourselves open to hurt.”

Madonna (1958) American singer, songwriter, and actress

“The deepest wounds aren't the ones we get from other people hurting us. They are the wounds we give ourselves when we hurt other people.”

Isobelle Carmody book Alyzon Whitestarr

“We are all guilty,” he said. “We are all innocent. Only when we accept responsibility for our own actions do we become free. And only when every one of us accepts their share of responsibility will the world become safe for us all.”

Michael Moorcock (1939) English writer, editor, critic

“The most difficult thing to accept is that we are usually the source of our suffering. For example, if we believe that nothing works out for us, we never pour ourselves into our goals and so they never come to fruition. If we have decided that people always leave, we never fully commit to them and so the relationship we have with them never becomes secure.”

Teal Swan (1984) American spiritual teacher

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

Paulo Coelho book The Alchemist

“We become like that which we love. If we love what is base, we become base; but if we love what is noble, we become noble.”

Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) Catholic bishop and television presenter