“As for loneliness, it too has deep roots in selfishness, for its anguish stems less from having no one with whom to share one's burdens, more from having only one's burdens to share.”

“What makes loneliness an anguish is not that I have no one to share my burden, but this: I have only my own burden to bear.”

“Being a reader has brought me much joy, laughter, and rich experience. But reading has also wounded me. The sacrament of reading has plowed me open and sown seeds of empathy that have taken root in deep soil. Over the years, reading has caused me to grow from a shallow, self-absorbed youth to one who seeks out the pain of the world. Reading has burdened me with the welfare of my fellow human, but sometimes the burden proves too heavy for my narrow shoulders.”

“We all long for someone with whom we are able to share our peculiar burdens of being alive.”

“Sometimes the only way to carry a heavy burden is to share it with another”

“Love isn't something you take from one to give to another. Love is to be shared among all; the more people we have in our family, the more love there will be to share.”