“I do not advocate neglecting your parents: honour and succour them, especially in their old age, but don’t stay at home and do housework when you long, body and soul, to fly to the uttermost ends of the earth, there to find your mission in life and your gift to the world.”

“You are ready to give your life for your honour … Be ready to give up your honour for your soul.”

“Embrace your life, find what it is that you love, and pursue it with all your soul. For if you do not, when you come to die, you will find that you have not lived.”

“Your soul doesn't care what you do for a living - and when your life is over, neither will you. Your soul cares only about what you are being while you are doing whatever you are doing.”

“Don’t you get an empty feeling in your soul when you have a blank to-do list?”

“…because city honours are not village honours. Like certain wines, they do not travel; carry them back to the village and you find they are dust in your hands.”

“I like the War. It is only War that gives us a normal existence. What do you do in peace-time? You stay at home; you don't know what to do with your time; you argue with your parents, and your wife - if you have one. Everyone thinks you are an insufferable egotist - and so you are. The War comes; you only go home every five or six months. You are a hero, and, what women appreciate much more, you are a change. You know stories that have never been published. You've seen strange men and terrible things. Your father, instead of telling his friends that you are embittering the end of his life, introduces you to them as an oracle. These old men consult you on foreign politics. I you are married, your wife is prettier than ever; if you are not, all the girls lay siege to you.”

“I was walking home the other night, and I was thinking about it, and do you worry that when you're old you will be on your own?”

“Please, don’t talk to me about ‘Pure Awareness’ or ‘Dwelling in the Absolute’.
I want to see how you treat your partner,
your kids, your parents, your precious body.”

“Don’t leave your relationships to chance. Pray for godly people to come into your life with whom you can connect. Don’t force relationships to happen. Pray for them to happen. Then when they do, nurture them with prayer.”