Learn to Love

  • 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 love, 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    received, conditional love is withdrawn by the giver.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 hundreds of
    choices we make during our daily lives.  Are these choices
    loving or unloving?  Each time we make a choice about what we
    are going to think, feel or do, we are either getting closer to
    God, or further away from Him.

Forgiveness

  • You do not need to forgive if you unconditionally love others,
    because you never judged or condemned them in the first
    place.

  • When you need to forgive, it is because your ego, or sense of
    self, reacts to the behavior of others.  It has nothing to do
    with the actions or thoughts of other souls. Your need to
    forgive is about your perception of your relationship with
    others.  Your perception is causing you to judge others
    because you fear something.  You can cancel fear by forgiving.

  • Until we learn to love unconditionally, we need to forgive.
    Learning to forgive is an essential step that we need to master
    before we can authentically give unconditional love. We should
    be forgiving and help others regardless of their behavior
    towards us.  

  • Forgiving is not easy; it requires practice and strength.  It is far
    easier to hold onto pain, hurt, and the desire for revenge.

  • To forgive is to let go of your judgment and 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.

  • You do not need to forgive anyone if you make it impossible for
    them to offend you in the first place. 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.  

  • God does not need to forgive us, because He loves us
    unconditionally.  He never judged or condemned us in the first
    place.

Change your assumptions

  • Your thoughts and your behavior are directly linked.  What you
    think is reflected in how you behave towards yourself and
    others.  So, learning to love starts with changing the way you
    think.

  • You need to change your thinking so that you treat others the
    way that you would like to be treated.  In other words:
  • Love them, care about them, and be kind to them;
  • Forgive them;
  • Do not judge or blame them;
  • Release you expectations of them, along with any  
    attempt to control their actions, change them, or punish
    them; and
  • Take responsibility for your own behavior.

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

  • Your thinking is based on assumptions, so in order to change
    your thinking you need to change your assumptions.  These
    assumptions are both conscious and unconscious.  Most of the
    assumptions we need to change are ego based and driven by
    fear.  We establish these assumptions because we feel the
    need to defend ourselves and our perceived self-interest.  

  • Changing your assumptions required 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 modify it to be more loving.  

  • 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; they will return to
    you.  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 ongoing 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; your soul
    knows 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!

                       Be careful as you learn to love!

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.  Focus on loving behavior because it is the right thing to do
    and it will resonate in your heart and soul.  Loving others out of
    habit or custom is not the best motivation, but it is a start.
    Eventually this love must be sourced from a genuine love which
    emanates from within us.

  • It is easier to hate than to love.  Learning to love is difficult,
    and you deserve great credit for attempting it.

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.   

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 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 for a stranger in material
    or tangible ways, you need to re-evaluate what love means to
    you.  Feeling pity is pointless unless it results in action or a
    change in your beliefs and character that leads to a change in
    your behavior.

Love your enemy

  • Perhaps the most difficult kind of love to understand is Christ’s
    command to “love your enemy”.  This command is totally
    consistent with the Golden Rule, but it takes great wisdom and
    courage to understand why this is so.  It is a critical component
    of soul growth nonetheless.  

  • 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.

  • If you love your enemy you will have no enemies, though
    someone may still think of you as their enemy.  An "enemy"
    relationship is often not mutual.

  • To think of someone as your enemy is dis-empowering.  You are
    giving someone else the power to control how you feel and act.

  • 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 any power over them.

  • Accept that some people will see you as their enemy, no
    matter how much you try to love others.   This may happen if
    you try to do what is right and loving, such as supporting the
    poor, the hungry, and the persecuted.  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 where love
    is lacking, 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.

  • Loving your enemy does not mean that you should subvert your
    safety or security.

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 need to change your attitude.  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

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

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.  

Materiality

  • 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 till 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.

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 neighours! 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.
His Holiness the 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.
His Holiness the 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
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