Read a thousand books, and you remain a scholar. Read two and a half letters of love (*Prem*), and you become truly wise.

Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire.

Filial piety and brotherly respect are the root of benevolence.

To love a thing means wanting it to live.

He who wishes to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.

Is it not delightful to have friends coming from distant quarters?

What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.

If one loves others but they are not close, examine your own benevolence.

When the pond dries up, the fish huddle together on the mud, spitting moisture on one another to survive. How much better to forget one another in the great rivers and lakes!

The sage does not hoard: the more he gives to others, the more he has; the more he shares, the richer he becomes.

The spring breeze gives life to all things without claiming ownership of a single leaf.

Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

Let there be spaces in your togetherness, and let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Stand together yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, and the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

When love beckons to you, follow him, though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to him, though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

Let the voice within your voice speak to the ear of his ear; For his soul will keep the truth of your heart even as the taste of the wine is remembered.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.

Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless? And yet who among you does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the center of his being?

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house. And a ship without a rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet not sink to the bottom.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.

Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.

Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, 'You owe me.' Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky.

This sky where we live is no place to lose your wings so love, love, love.

The earth would die if the sun stopped kissing her. So too the soul withers without divine adoration.

We have not come into this exquisite world to hold ourselves back from love.

The nightingale does not consult the thorns before it sings its love song to the rose.

No one has ever traveled the path of love without shedding tears; yet those tears are pearls gathered from the cosmic sea.

The ocean does not refuse any drop that yearns to return home.

Where there is love, no words are needed; the eyes speak a language understood across all realms.

In the school of love, there are no examinations, only the endless delight of seeing the Teacher in all things.

When the Beloved smiles upon your soul, all the gardens of Paradise blush with envy.

The harp of the heart only plays when the fingers of love pluck its strings.

The moth rushes to the flame not to be destroyed, but to be united with the light.

The lover sees the Beloved in every mirror, in every blossom, in every passing cloud.

When love touches the heart, the tongue forgets its disputes and sings in harmony with the cosmos.

Be like the sun that warms the palace and the hovel with the exact same radiant light.

The music of the heart needs no translation; every soul in the universe recognizes its sacred melody.

The tavern of the soul has room for every wandering traveler: enter and drink of boundless love.

The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over.

He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.

Understanding someone's suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love's other name.

If you love someone, you must be able to listen deeply. Deep listening is the kind of listening that helps relieve suffering.

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun.

You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person.

If you know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce.

Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding.

If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.

Listen with only one purpose: to help the other person empty their heart.

Even if they say things full of wrong perceptions or bitterness, you continue to listen with compassion.

You listen without judging, without reacting, because you know that if you interrupt or argue, you will transform the session into a debate.

And then they will not be able to relieve their suffering.

When you lose someone you love, look for them in the rain, in the tea you drink, in the smile of a child.

They are still here with you, in a new form.

May all beings be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.

Darling, I am here for you.

Darling, I know you are there, and I am so happy.

Darling, I know you suffer, and that is why I am here for you.

Darling, I am suffering, please help me.

The heart is a thousand-stringed instrument that can only be tuned with love.

The wound is the place where the light enters you.

What you seek is seeking you.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.

Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.

There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

You cannot find peace by avoiding life.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.

Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.

And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.