It is a tragedy that most of us die before we have begun to live.

We live in a world of things, and our only connection with them is that we know how to manipulate or to consume them.

The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother's side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother, and to become fully independent.

To love somebody is not just a strong feeling - it is a decision, it is a judgment, it is a promise.

Is love an art? Then it requires knowledge and effort.

We've wanted to produce more in the 19th century and the 20th century in order to give man the possibility for more dignified human life; but actually what has happened is that production and consumption have become means - have ceased to be means and have become ends, and we are production crazy and consumption crazy.

One of the worst forms of mental suffering is boredom, not knowing what to do with oneself and one's life. Even if man had no monetary, or any other reward, he would be eager to spend his energy in some meaningful way because he could not stand the boredom which inactivity produces.