I hope that someday, somebody wants to hold you for twenty minutes straight, and that’s all they do. They don’t pull away. They don’t look at your face. They don’t try to kiss you. All they do is wrap you up in their arms, without an ounce of selfishness in it.

And it’s hard to hate someone once you understand them.

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” To this day, especially in times of “disaster,” I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.

There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.

(via milenachka)

Here’s what it means to fall in love. It is to look at another person and get a glimpse of the person God is creating, and to say, “I see who God is making you, and it excites me! I want to be part of that. I want to partner with you and God in the journey you are taking to his throne. And when we get there, I will look at your magnificence and say, “I always knew you could be like this. I got glimpses of it on earth, but now look at you!

How sweet it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose…. You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure, though not of flesh and blood, you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all honor in themselves…. O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and My Salvation.

Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken.’

humansofnewyork:

“If you could give one piece of advice, what would it be?”
“Be in love.”
“How many times have you been in love?”
“Once.”

And then he walked away. 

(via rainydaysandblankets)

If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come.

(via meggielynne)

I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.

loveandliterature:

“he acted bravely, resolutely, and chivalrously, but any man who does not have courage for that is a milksop who knows neither what love is nor what it is to be a man nor what is worth living for.” - fear and trembling, soren kierkegaard

I do however think that when someone is being original and true to their personal vision we somehow know it, much like food that is prepared with love: it just tastes better.