“The last act is the greatest treason. To do the right deed for the wrong reason.”

music heard so deeply That it is not heard at all, but you are the music While the music lasts.

Do I dare Disturb the universe?

What is hell? Hell is oneself. Hell is alone, the other figures in it Merely projections. There is nothing to escape from And nothing to escape to. One is always alone.

Whatever you think, be sure it is what you think; whatever you want, be sure that is what you want; whatever you feel, be sure that is what you feel.

We read many books, because we cannot know enough people.

Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

There is one who remembers the way to your door: Life you may evade, but Death you shall not.

I have measured out my life in coffee spoons.

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.

Love is most nearly itself When here and now cease to matter.

To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.

There’s no vocabulary For love within a family, love that’s lived in But not looked at, love within the light of which All else is seen, the love within which All other love finds speech. This love is silent.

I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.

Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.

Unreal friendship may turn to real But real friendship, once ended, cannot be mended

I learn a great deal by merely observing you, and letting you talk as long as you please, and taking note of what you do not say.

What greater aspiration and challenge are there for a mother than the hope of raising a great son or daughter?

Hegel says that Truth is a great word and the thing is greater still. With Dave we never seemed to get past the word.

No sacrifice which a lover would make for his beloved is too great for us to make for our enemy.

Who can really be faithful in great things if he has not learned to be faithful in the things of daily life?

My greatest regret is not having gone to Wellesley College. it is something I have felt a little sad about my whole life.

The greatest danger occurs at the moment of victory

The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.

My father was a great innovator in public life, but when it came to raising his daughters, no one could have been more conservative.