“Give me hunger,O you gods that sit and giveThe world its orders.Give me hunger, pain and want,Shut me out with shame and failureFrom your doors of gold and fame,Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger!But leave me a little love,A voice to speak to me in the day end,A hand to touch me in the dark roomBreaking the long loneliness.”

“Give me hunger, pain and want,Shut me out with shame and failureFrom your doors of gold and fame,Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger!But leave me a little love.”

“What good is it for, for you or me, a powerless God, ruthless? A God who sits in the clouds and tolerates malaria and cholera, hunger and war?”

“O Love, divine Love, why do You lay siege to me?In a frenzy of love for me, You find no rest.From five sides You move against me,Hearing, sight, taste, touch, and scent.To come out is to be caught; I cannot hide from You.If I come out through sight I see LovePainted in every form and color,Inviting me to come to You, to dwell in You.If I leave through the door of hearing,What I hear points only to You, Lord;I cannot escape Love through this gage.If I come out through taste, every flavor proclaims:"Love, divine Love, hungering Love!You have caught me on Your hook, for you want to reign in me."If I leave through the door of scentI sense You in all creation; You have caught meAnd wounded me through that fragrance.If I come out through the sense of touchI find Your lineaments in every creature;To try to flee from You is madness.Love, I flee from You, afraid to give You my heart:I see that You make me one with You,I cease to be me and can no longer find myself.If I see evil in a man or defect or temptation,You fuse me with him, and make me suffer;O Love without limits, who is it You love?It is You, O Crucified Christ,Who take possession of me,Drawing me out of the sea to the shore;There I suffer to see Your wounded heart.Why did You endure the pain?So that I might be healed.”

“Hunger attacks me," said Zarathustra, "like a robber. Among forests and swamps my hunger attacks me, and late in the night.”

“Wisdom does not make me full. It fills me with hunger.”