“Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others.”

“[G]iving yourself some loving attention is not selfish. It is sensible. If you feel loved and cherished--even if it is only by yourself--then you will have more love to give to others, too. (83)”

“You can only give away what you have ... If you have love, you can give it. If you don't have it, you don't have it to give.”

“Only you can take inner freedom away from yourself, or give it to yourself. Nobody else can.”

“You don't love me, Sebastian. You don't have any idea what love really is. You can't love anyone or anything until you love your own existence, first. Love can only grow out of a respect for your own life. When you love yourself, your own existence, then you love someone who can enhance your existence, share it with you, and make it more pleasurable. When you hate yourself and believe your existence is evil, then you can only hate, you can only experience the shell of love, that longing for something good, but you have nothing to base it in but hatred. You taint the very concept of love, Sebastian, with your corrupted longing for it. You want me only to justify your hatred, to be your partner in self-loathing.”

“The only way to truly get more out of life for yourself is to give part of yourself away.”