Loving someone means helping them to be more themselves, which can be different from being what you’d like them to be, although often they turn out the same

Compassion is the thing that leads you gently back to yourself.

The dream of romantic love is taken more seriously in North America than it is anywhere else in the world, which is why we believe in fidelity and why we believe in infidelity as well. It is also, of course, what makes our divorce rate as high as it is. Falling in love at first sight and instant gratification are part of the world in which we live, so there are people who believe adamantly in fidelity. They just don't believe in it for long.

The best kind of men have a certainty in themselves that isn't done in when countered by a certainty in their women, and they are much adored.

It takes great generosity to accept generosity.

One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment.

It can be much harder to be on the receiving end of a transaction than to be the one who gets to give. In fact, being given to can mean being taken from. There is a very strong connection between pride and giving, and those who do the giving get to feel that they are worthy, while those who are given to often feel that they are not.