“How I learned that in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed.”

“I learned that in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed.”

“The pure force of life are in communication with each other, independently of us, and then we cannot hide who we are.”

“When I am writing, I am trying to find out who I am, who we are, what we're capable of, how we feel, how we lose and stand up, and go on from darkness into darkness. I'm trying for that. But I'm also trying for the language. I'm trying to see how it can really sound. I really love language. I love it for wate it does for us, how it allows us to explain the pain and the glory, the nuances and delicacies of our existence. And then it allows us to laugh, allows us to show wit. Real wit is shown in language. We need language.”

“We simply have to learn how to skillfully get out of our own way. Getting out of our own way allows the deep reservoirs of peace and happiness within us to reveal themselves so we may gain more ready access to them.”

“I do not believe that we can put into anyone ideas which are not in himalready. As a rule there is in everyone all sorts of good ideas, readylike tinder. But much of this tinder catches fire, or catches itsuccessfully, only when it meets some flame or spark from the outside,from some other person. Often, too, our own light goes out, and isrekindled by some experience we go through with a fellow man. Thus wehave each of us cause to think with deep gratitude of those who havelighted the flame within us. If we had before us those who have thusbeen a blessing to us, and could tell them how it came about, they wouldbe amazed to learn what passed over from their life to ours.”