“You often say; I would give, but only to the deserving, The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and nights is worthy of all else from you.And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, is but a witness.”

“You often say,'I would give, but only to the deserving.'The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights, is worthy of all else from you.And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. ”

“And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.”

“For in truth it is life that gives unto life-while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.”

“Who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.”

“And an old priest said, Speak to us of Religion. And he said: Have I spoken this day of aught else? Is not religion all deeds and all reflection, And that which is neither deed nor reflection, but a wonder and a surprise ever springing in the soul, even while the hands hew the stone or tend the loom? Who can separate his faith from his actions, or his belief from his occupations? Who can spread his hours before him, saying, "This for God and this for myself; This for my soul and this other for my body"? All your hours are wings that beat through space from self to self. He who wears his mortality but as his best garment were better naked. The wind and the sun will tear no holes in his skin. And he who defines his conduct by ethics imprisons his song-bird in a cage. The freest song comes not through bars and wires. And he to whom worshiping is a window, to open but also to shut, has not yet visited the house of his soul whose windows are from dawn to dawn. Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all. Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute, The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight. For in reverie you cannot rise above your achievements nor fall lower than your failures. And take with you all men: For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair. And if you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles. Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children. And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain. You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.”

“Love gives nothing but itself, and takes nothing but from itself. Love does not possess, nor would it be possessed. And do not think that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.”