To live with the terrible truths about ourselves is the only way of not living them out. A need denied has infinitely more power than a need accepted.

Affection may be abiding and love may be abiding, but the state of being in love is transitory.

You do not need to be loved, not at the cost of yourself. The single relationship that is truly central and crucial in a life is the relationship to the self.

cookbooks, I found, are intended for people with time to cook - and, surprisingly often, for people who already know how to cook.

What nonsense it is, this desire to be without limitations, this wish always to be seen in the most flattering light. We are anxious, not because we think so little of ourselves, but because we think so much of ourselves. We are anxious, not that we may appear in the worst light, but that we may not appear in the best light. Anxiety is born of self-consciousness, and it is alleviated to the exact extent that we can drop consciousness of the self.

The person who conveys, 'I am nothing. Make me something,' may all his life have people trying to answer his hidden plea, but their answer will be in terms of, 'I am trying to make you something because you are nothing,' and, thus, the insult will be embedded in the response. It will be heard just as clearly as the attempt to help. And it will be hated.

Self-affirmation cannot be found in love; it is a prior condition of genuine love.