“Friend, bethink you first what it is that you would do, and then what your own nature is able to bear.”

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

“What else is there which you would regret to have taken from you? Friends? But who can be a friend to you? Country? What? Do you think enough of your country to be late to dinner? The light of the sun? You would extinguish it, if you could; for what have you ever done that was fit to be seen in the light?”

“Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to do.”

“What do you do when you know you are breaking someone's heart, but to do anything else would break your own?”

“You dull your own perceptions
with false imaginings and do not grasp
what would be clear but for your preconceptions.”

“Your first duties-first as regards importance-are, as I have already told you, towards Humanity. You are men before you are either citizens or fathers. If you do not embrace the whole human family in your affection, if you do not bear witness to your belief in the Unity of that family, consequent upon the Unity of God…if, wheresoever a fellow-creature suffers, or the dignity of human nature is violated by falsehood or tyranny-you are not ready, if able, to aid the unhappy, and do not feel called upon to combat, if able, for the redemption of the betrayed or oppressed-you violate your law of life, you comprehend not that Religion which will be the guide and blessing of the future.”

“If you don’t like what you’re doing, it’s unlikely anyone else will either, so be sure you are
happy with your own work first.”

“What do you most value in your friends?
Their continued existence.”

“Love has nothing to do with someone else. It is all about you. It is a way of being. It essentially means you have brought sweetness into your emotion. If a loved one travels to another country, would you still be able to love them? You would. If a loved one passed away, would you still be able to love them? You would. Even if a loved one is not physically with you anymore, you are still capable of being loving. So, what is love then? It is just your own quality. You are only using the other person as a key to open up what is already within you.”