Unconditional love is genuine or authentic love, because it is given with no expectation of benefit to the giver.

The great paradox of unconditional love is that the reward for giving unconditional love is so much more than the reward for giving conditional love could ever be.

Conditional love is neither genuine nor authentic, because it is given with the expectation of something in return. This return could be some kind of benefit to the giver, or an agreement for some kind of behavior. If the return is not received, conditional love may be withdrawn by the giver.

Learning to love unconditionally is very difficult, but it is why you agreed to be here in your current incarnation!

We learn to love by loving. We should practice loving all day, every day.

A great way to learn to give unconditional love is to practice on yourself.

You can ask God to help you learn to love.

We are not perfect, and we cannot learn without making mistakes. God knows this, and he has already forgiven us. If you hurt others, you should apologize, forgive yourself, recognize the lessons you need to learn, and move on.

We agreed to be born into a physical body in order to learn the lessons of love that a physical incarnation teaches us. We are wasting our time if we do not make diligent efforts to do so.

At its simplest level, learning to love is about the choices we make during our daily lives. Are these choices loving or unloving?

Forgiveness

When you think you have been wronged it is because your ego, or sense of self, has reacted to the behavior of others. This reaction is because you have chosen to judge others.

Until we learn to love unconditionally, we need to forgive. We should be forgiving and help others regardless of their behavior towards us.

To forgive is to set yourself free. When you refuse to forgive, you hold on to your anger and pain, and you hurt yourself much more that whoever you feel has wronged you.

Forgiveness makes loving easier. It is much easier to love when you are not holding on to anger or pain. Without forgiveness, unconditional loving is very difficult.

Forgiveness brings peace of mind, but is not easy. It requires practice and strength. It is far easier to hold onto pain, hurt, and the desire for revenge.

When you forgive, you cancel your negative karma. Forgiving invokes the Law of Grace.

You do not need to forgive if you unconditionally love others, because you never judged or condemned them in the first place. You made it impossible for them to offend you. So, no one can hurt or offend you if you choose not to let them do so! You are in total control, whether you realize it or not.

Change your Thinking

Your thinking drives your behavior. What you think is reflected in how you behave towards yourself and others. So, learning to love starts with changing the way you think.

Your negative and unloving thinking is ego based and driven by fear because you feel the need to defend yourself and your perceived self-interest.

Change your thinking so that you are more easily able to treat others the way that you would like to be treated. In other words:

• Be kind
• Try not judge or blame
• Forgive
• Try not to change, control or punish others because they violated your personal opinions and beliefs, and
• Take responsibility for your own behavior.

​If you must oppose someone, take issue with a specific action or behavior, rather than attacking the entire character of the person. You can still unconditionally love someone while opposing an aspect of their behavior.

Changing your thinking requires that you train yourself to be mindful and present in the moment, so that you are immediately aware of how you are reacting to people and situations. When you are mindful and aware of your thinking and behavior, you can more easily modify it.

The most evolved souls do not assume anything in relation to the behavior of others. Until you reach that level of soul growth, it would benefit you greatly if you always try to assume the most loving interpretation of the behavior of others.

It is difficult to change your thinking, but you can always control your behavior. As you change your behavior, you will begin to understand that if you behave in a more loving way you will receive more love in return, and in doing so your thinking will begin to change too.

You probably think that negative thoughts and emotions cause no harm if they are kept to yourself. However, what we think is not private or hidden from God or ourselves. Thoughts are an indicator of the state of our soul. We should all make a conscious effort to try to avoid negative and unloving thinking, because thoughts are real. At deeper levels of consciousness, thoughts are indistinguishable from actions, and you should make diligent efforts to control what you think. Try to direct your thoughts in a positive manner. You are what you think, and what you think affects how creation develops around you.

Practice loving

The best way to learn to love is to practice loving! Even if it does not make sense at first, understanding will follow practice. Practice by performing loving acts. At first, you might feel that such actions are insincere and false because you do not feel them in your heart. Have faith and persevere. These actions will lead you in the right direction, and you will find that your soul grows as you intend.

Love is usually demonstrated in small seemingly insignificant acts of care and concern, not huge gestures or actions. Living a loving life is about the hundreds of little daily choices we make about what to think, say and do.

The highest indicators of love are unconditional selfless acts where we stand to gain no personal benefit or reciprocity. Generally, this means acts that benefit people with whom we do not expect to have some kind of personal relationship.

We grow by unselfish service to others, generously giving our time and money. Love is not a bargain, and we should not expect to get anything in return.

Service to others is important because it teaches both the server and the served unconditional love. Service to others is the result of authentic unconditional love.

If you are unsure about the right course of action to take in any given situation, look to the Golden Rule. How would you like someone to treat you if the roles were reversed? What would a compassionate person do? Search your heart. You know right from wrong because God is the father of your soul, and you have his values built into your subconscious.

If you love others, you will try to be truthful, honest, and fair with them, but not truthful to the point of being blunt, or fair to the point of spoiling them. As is that case with everything in life, there is a balance to be struck.

One of the greatest gifts we can give another soul is to listen without judging. This is true empathy.

Loving involves both being able to give and receive love. You need to learn to accept love that is freely (unconditionally) given with kindness and appreciation. This applies to both your relationship with God and others.

Receiving love does not mean that you should feel compelled to reciprocate or otherwise act on a gift of love, because unconditional love is not given with the expectation of any kind of return.

We all possess a capability referred to as intuition. Intuition is a way to sub-consciously access help from beyond the physical world. Even though you may not recognize intuition in your life, if you feel you are being directed along a loving path, take it!

Motivation

Teachers can show you how to grow your soul, but they cannot do it for you. The only person who can motivate you to grow spiritually is YOU.

God tells us to love each other because it is the right thing to do. Loving others out of habit or custom is not the best motivation, and it will not result in genuine love, but it can be a good first step. Eventually this love must be sourced from a genuine love which emanates from within us.

It is much easier to hate than to love. Turning from hate to love is very difficult, and you deserve great credit when you try to do this.

Apologize

If we deliberately or inadvertently cause hurt or harm to others, we should apologize. An apology shows that we know that we did wrong, and it will help heal the hurt that we caused. It is much easier to forgive someone who apologizes (or repents) and admits a mistake. A sincere apology reduces the karmic debt of the transgressor.
You should also apologize to God for your mistakes. When you hurt others, your hurt God.

Do not judge

We are all equal before God, and only God can see our hearts. Do not waste time judging others. We cannot know the motivation, intent or development of other souls, so our judgment of others is always likely to be flawed. All we can do is live a life of love, and treat others the way that we would like to be treated. In doing so we set an example and help other souls to do the same. Concentrate on doing the loving thing, and do not waste your energy judging other souls. Judging others is very tiring.

If you try to judge those with whom you have some kind of relationship, it can lead to trying to change them. This does not work. It is only yourself that you can control and change, not others. Abandon your expectations of others. As you change and grow more loving, those around you will often change because they are influenced by your example and the more loving way you relate to them.

If you think in terms or being superior or inferior to other souls, you lack a basic understanding of God and His creation. We are all at different stages of soul growth. We should concern ourselves with our own growth, rather than waste time comparing ourselves to others.

There is a very delicate balance between being honest and judging others. Silence is often the best answer. However, this does not stop you from being honest with yourself. You cannot grow if you are dishonest with yourself.

The impulse to punish is a sign that you are judging. Resist it.

“Labeling” others is not a loving thing to do. It is judgmental and not at all helpful to soul growth.

The growth of a soul and the love within it bears no relation to a person’s real or assumed intelligence. For example, the mentally handicapped in our physical dimension may be elevated souls who chose to be here to teach others how to love unconditionally.

Compassion

Compassion requires time. People who are too busily wrapped up in their own lives have difficulty seeing the needs of others.

If you have never shown compassion to a stranger in material or tangible ways, you need to start doing so. Feeling pity is pointless unless it results in action or a change in your beliefs, character or behavior.

Do not kill

Killing life, including your own life, can invoke significant karmic consequences, and will inhibit your soul growth.

Some may consider suicide to be a personal choice, but, except for exceptional circumstances, it is not a loving act because it usually reveals that we neither love ourselves or others. We cannot avoid problems that we need to overcome through suicide so it is not a viable escape. Suicide generally causes severe pain and hurt to those left behind, and therefore a soul who kills their own physical body may incur significant karmic debt.

Love your enemy

Perhaps the most difficult kind of love to understand is Jesus’s command to “love your enemy”. This command is totally consistent with the Golden Rule. Loving our enemies is very difficult for most of us, but it is necessary and helpful for our growth as a soul that we try.
Loving your enemy does not mean that you should not have enemies! It does not mean that you should subvert your will to others by not opposing them, and it does not mean that you should subvert your safety or security. You still should try to do what is right and loving, such as supporting the poor, the hungry, the oppressed, and the persecuted.

In the context of soul growth, it is more relevant to define your "enemy" as those people you oppose in your daily life and relationships, rather than the definition of enemy which is used in the context of war and violence.
When you love your enemy, you are dis-empowering them by taking away their power to make you feel angry or fearful.

An "enemy" relationship is often not mutual. Those people you oppose may never see you as an "enemy". In fact, the less they see you as an enemy, the better off they are, because they are not giving you power over them.

Some people will see you as their enemy, no matter how much you try to love them. Some people may even think of you as an enemy because they are jealous of your ability to manifest peace, goodwill and joy in your life, regardless of your circumstances.

When you are dealing with an "enemy" relationship, a wise soul tries to remain neutral, while opposing a process rather than another soul.

When conflict emerges, silence and patience are often the best reactions.

Discrimination

We are all equal in the eyes of God. God does not care about gender, race, religion, nationality or sexual orientation, and neither should you. If you restrict or withhold your love from others based on any kind of discrimination, you are practicing conditional love, and you need to change your thinking. Love is conditional if it discriminates.

Love, care and concern should be applied to all aspects of our life here on Earth. We should take care to safeguard not just the interests of other people, but also our planet and its plant and animal life. We are temporary custodians of planet earth, and should behave as such. Anything less reflects selfishness and indifference, and will incur a karmic price.

Temptation

Learning to love yourself and others frequently involves overcoming the temptation of selfish desires.

In general, you do not grow as a soul and get closer to God by cutting yourself off from society and living a solitary life. You grow by learning how to lovingly interact with other souls. By all means detach yourself from selfish desires such as materialism, pleasure, and the need to control outcomes and other souls, but recognize that soul growth cannot be achieved by avoiding temptation.

Simplicity

Spirituality, love based religion, wisdom and science all converge at God. Thousands of books have been written on these subjects. While many of the teachings are well intentioned and helpful, be careful that they do not obscure the path by making it unnecessarily obtuse, complicated and frustrating.

It is easy to understand that we need to grow our ability to love God, ourselves and each other. It does not need to be made complicated. It is the practice that is difficult, not the theory!

Materialism

Wealth, possessions, status and fame mean nothing in the spiritual dimensions. Materialism significantly impedes soul growth. We will never be able to satisfy selfish or material desires. All that matters is the love within your soul. All you take with you into the afterlife is your memory and character, as well as the progress you have made in developing along the lines of unselfish love.

God provided humankind with abundance. We have everything we require to satisfy our physical and spiritual needs, but it is withheld from many in this world through the selfishness and greed of a minority.

Personal Values

Tell the truth at all times. Telling the truth is not just about what you say, it is also about thinking and behaving in a manner that does not need to be hidden. If people always told the truth we would be living in a very different world.

Never compromise your integrity in order to achieve your goals, no matter how loving you perceive those goals to be. If you can only achieve your goals by being less than honest, you are liable to experience unintended karmic consequences.

It is generally the most humble people who have made the greatest contributions to the spiritual growth of humankind. Humility does not imply a lack of leadership. Humble people are often the best leaders.

Fear

Love motivates us to behave in harmony with other souls. Fear is the opposite of love. Fear is ego based and motivates us to behave in opposition to other souls through our need to control people and situations. “Fear based” behavior is unloving.

Fear creates resistance, and what you resist will persist until you have overcome it. Your resistance to what you fear will cause you to suffer. Let go of what you fear and it will melt away, and you will be able to give and experience unconditional love.

Discernment

You have the freedom and responsibility to choose your thoughts and behavior. You cannot delegate that responsibility to your culture, your religious leaders, or your Government. Unfortunately, many of your beliefs or thoughts may have been generated by others and adopted by you without critical analysis.

In order to follow the Golden Rule, you must think for yourself, rather than be told what to think or do. Thinking for yourself involves developing your ability for discerning and intuitive thought, as well as a duty to be informed. In other words, you need to develop your powers of discernment.

As souls, part of our learning experience comes from the way we interact and participate in our cultures and societies. You will be faced with circumstances where you will need to question what others tell you to think or believe. Do not blindly follow those who try to lead you unless their actions are congruent with the Golden Rule. In particular, do not be led astray by people who tell you that causing physical or mental pain or suffering to others is justified. God does not endorse any reason or excuse to treat others badly.

Unconditional love is sourced from the heart, and is seen in behavior and practice. Beware of people or institutions that preach the theory of unconditional love yet do not appear to practice it. The world is full of people and institutions who misrepresent God’s will to justify ungodly behavior.

You agreed to this incarnation so that you could develop and act on your ability to discern the difference between right and wrong, where right is loving behavior and wrong is unloving behavior. No amount of rationalization or justification will shield you from accountability for doing or supporting those things you knew to be wrong.

Choosing the right (or loving) course of action is not always easy. It frequently involves taking a stand against cultural or social norms, and risking social isolation or unwanted attention.

Anyone who tries to persuade you that innocent individuals must suffer for the common good is trying to manipulate society for their own selfish purposes. Deliberately harming innocents for any reason is unloving behavior, and will invoke a karmic lesson.

There are those among us who think that caring for others is a weakness, and that self-interest is a virtue. Karma will provide the feedback they need to learn the truth. This may not happen in this incarnation, but it will happen.

Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.

C. S. Lewis

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians

Make a gift of your life and lift all mankind by being kind, considerate, forgiving, and compassionate at all times, in all places, and under all conditions, with everyone as well as yourself. This is the greatest gift anyone can give.

David Hawkins

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit. ... Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.

C. S. Lewis

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop circa 550 BCE

We can choose in any interpersonal relationship to be right or to be kind.

Dr. Wayne Dyer

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong .

Gandhi

Forgiveness is choosing to love. It is the first skill of self-giving love.

Gandhi

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. Publilius Syrus - Maxim 1070

Great minds think for themselves.

Immanuel Kant

If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Mother Teresa

My religion is simple, my religion is kindness.

Dalai Llama

The only love worthy of a name is unconditional.

John Powell

It should be noted that the seeds of wisdom that are to bear fruit in the intellect are sown less by critical studies and learned monographs than by insights, broad impressions, and flashes of intuition.

Carl von Clausewitz

The heart is wiser than the intellect.

Josiah Holland

Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Eleanor Roosevelt

When making a decision of minor importance I've found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however, the decision should come from the unconscious, from somewhere within ourselves . . . by the deep inner needs of ourselves.

Robert Heilbroner (1905-1989)

It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one's neighbor.

Eric Hoffer

Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury.

E. H. Chapin

Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me.

Anonymous

No legacy is so rich as honesty.

William Shakespeare

There is one 'word' that the message of the Bible is all about... and that is "LOVE"... different bible versions can be interpreted many ways... But, regardless how many times the wording is changed or interpreted... 'LOVE' always is the 'word' .

Jesse Charles Wagner II

The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.

Archibald MacLeish

We ought always to deal justly, not only with those who are just to us, but likewise to those who endeavor to injure us and this, for fear lest by rendering them evil for evil, we should fall into the same vice.

Hierocles

Smile at each other smile at your wife, smile at your husband, smile at your children, smile at each other- it doesn't matter who it is- and that will help you to grow up in greater love for each other.

Mother Teresa

No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.

Charles Dickens

I shall pass through this world but once any good thing, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, or dumb animal, let me do it now. Let me not deter it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

John Galsworthy

That which we must learn to do, we learn by doing.

Aristotle in Nicomachean Ethics

If in the midst of your enjoyment of the world you have a moment, try to help in however small a way those who are downtrodden and those who, for whatever reason, cannot or do not help themselves. Try not to turn away from those whose appearance is disturbing, from the ragged and unwell. Try never to think of them as inferior to yourself. If you can, try not even to think of yourself as better than the humblest beggar. You will look the same in your grave.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama

Trees that grow tall have deep roots. Great height without great depth is dangerous. The great leaders of this world - like St. Francis, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr., - were all people who could live with public notoriety, influence, and power in a humble way because of their deep spiritual rootedness. Without deep roots we easily let others determine who we are. But as we cling to our popularity, we may lose our true sense of self. Our clinging to the opinion of others reveals how superficial we are. We have little to stand on. We have to be kept alive by adulation and praise. Those who are deeply rooted in the love of God can enjoy human praise without being attached to it.

Henri Nouwen

Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether one believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion.

Dalai Lama

Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.

Dalai Lama

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

Dalai Lama

Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. Dalai Lama
My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.

Dalai Lama

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them.

Dalai Lama

The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance, and even our very existence depends on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to our lives.

Albert Einstein

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis

All sects are different, because they come from men morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God.

Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

What's right and good doesn't come naturally. You have to stand up and fight for it -- as if the cause depends on you, because it does.

Bill Moyers

To show great love for God and our neighbor we need not do great things. It is how much love we put in the doing that makes our offering something beautiful for God.

Mother Theresa

Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.

Leo Buscaglia

A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty an optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a giving person sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who might be thirsty.

G. Donald Gale

Speak the truth. Do not yield to anger. Give, if thou art asked for little. By these three steps thou wilt go near the gods.

Confucius

It's my experience that you really can't lose when you try the truth.

Sharon Stone

Love truth, and pardon error.

Voltaire (1694 - 1778)

When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.

Arab Proverb

Lying makes a problem part of the future , truth makes a problem part of the past.

Rick Pitino

The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies . Probably because they are generally the same people.

G.K. Chesterton

I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

Confucius

To see what is right, and not to do it, is want of courage or of principle.

Confucius

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.

Ernest Hemingway

There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread ,but there are many more dying for a piece of love.

Mother Teresa

When you're finally up on the moon, looking back at the earth, all these differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend and you're going to get a concept that maybe this is really one world and why the hell can't we learn to live together like decent people?

Frank Borman

We must work to resolve conflicts in a spirit of reconciliation and always keep in mind the interests of others. We cannot destroy our neighbors! We cannot ignore their interests!

The Dalai Lama

It belongs to the very substance of nonviolence never to destroy or damage another person's feeling of self worth, even an opponent's.

Bernard Haring

We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.

Paulo Coelho

An essential part of true listening is the discipline of bracketing, the temporary giving up or setting aside of one’s own prejudices, frames of reference and desires so as to experience as far as possible the speaker’s world from the inside, step in inside his or her shoes. This unification of speaker and listener is actually and extension and enlargement of ourselves, and new knowledge is always gained from this. Moreover, since true listening involves bracketing, a setting aside of the self, it also temporarily involves a total acceptance of the other. Sensing this acceptance, the speaker will fell less and less vulnerable and more and more inclined to open up the inner recesses of his or her mind to the listener. As this happens, speaker and listener begin to appreciate each other more and more, and the duet dance of love is begun again.

M. Scott Peck, MD, The Road Less Traveled

The best portion of a good man's life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.

William Wordsworth

Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.

Albert Schweitzer

The first duty of love is to listen.

Paul Tillich

You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.

Barbara De Angelis

When we talk to one another, we often talk about what happened, what we are doing, or what we plan to do. Often we say, "What's up?" and we encourage one another to share the details of our daily lives. But often we want to hear something else. We want to hear, "I've been thinking of you today," or "I missed you," or "I wish you were here," or "I really love you." It is not always easy to say these words, but such words can deepen our bonds with one another. Telling someone "I love you" in whatever way is always delivering good news. Nobody will respond by saying, "Well, I knew that already, you don't have to say it again"! Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.

Henri Nouwen

Give positive energy to others while expecting nothing in return.

Barbara Ann Kipfer

Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.

Albert Schweitzer

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

Socrates

To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to.

Kahlil Gibran

It isn’t hard to be good from time to time. What’s tough is being good every day.

Willie Mays

Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.

Barbara De Angelis

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.

Mother Teresa

If you make it plain you like people, it's hard for them to resist liking you back.

Lois McMaster Bujold

Everybody you meet needs your love more than anything else you can give them.

Halton D. Starr

Tolerance and patience should not be read as signs of weakness. They are signs of strength.

Dalai Lama

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Dalai Lama

Patience is also a form of action.

Auguste Rodin

What counts in making a happy relationship is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.

Daniel Goleman

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Compassion can never coexist with judgment because judgment creates the distance, the distinction, which prevents us from really being with the other.

Henri Nouwen

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King Jr.

We don’t see the things the way they are. We see things the way WE are.

Talmund

We can only learn to love by loving.

Iris Murdoch

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.

Saint Francis de Sales

Know thyself.

Socrates

The most valuable learning is not about memorizing facts and figures. It is not about higher grade point averages and accumulating degrees. It is about life itself, and its impact is on the heart.

Rodney Smith

Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.

Scott Adams

It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.

Jim Rohn

Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally, overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all. However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's attitude is of love, warmth, and kindheartedness, then problems can be faced and accepted.

Dalai Lama

Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.

Albert Einstein

No Enemies? You have no enemies, you say? Alas, my friend, the boast is poor He who has mingled in the fray Of duty, that the brave endure, Must have made foes! If you have none, Small is the work that you have done. You've hit no traitor on the hip, You've dashed no cup from perjured lip, You've never turned the wrong to right, You've been a coward in the fight.

Charles MacKay (l814-l889)

The love we give away is the only love we keep.

Elbert Hubbard

Forgiveness means giving up all hope of a better past.

Landrum Bolling

Time discovers truth.

Seneca

Bitterness and an unforgiving spirit can be likened to you taking poison and expecting that someone else would die from the effect. Forgiveness is about setting the prisoner in your heart free only to discover that all along, you had been the real prisoner.

Tope Popoola

​God is love in its purest form ... To be in his presence and share his love, we must become as he is and learn to love without judgments or conditions.

Betty Eadie

God does not care about theology. God cares mostly about your heart.

Rev. Howard Storm