“Humankind cannot bear very much reality.”

I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, and I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, and in short, I was afraid.

The very existence of libraries affords the best evidence that we may yet have hope for the future of man

I am moved by fancies that are curled, around these images and cling, the notion of some infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing.

The purpose of literature is to turn blood into ink.

This love is silent.

April is the cruelest month, breeding lilacs out of the dead land, mixing memory and desire, stirring dull roots with spring rain.

We had the experience but missed the meaning. And approach to the meaning restores the experience in a different form.

For I have known them all already, known them all—Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons, I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

Of lovers whose bodies smell of each other Who think the same thoughts without need of speech

I should have been a pair of ragged claws/ Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

In a minute there is time For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

So I find words I never thought to speak In streets I never thought I should revisit When I left my body on a distant shore.

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

This is one moment, / But know that another / Shall pierce you with a sudden painful joy.

If you haven’t the strength to impose your own terms upon life, then you must accept the terms it offers you.

The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.

I think as you grow up, you realize you have obligations just in your life – being a citizen, being part of humanity – to help other people, to help your country, to help the world.

Gratitude is a word that I cherish. Gratitude is what defines the happiness and humanity of the human being.

Every single human being is a unique human being. And, therefore, it’s so criminal to do something to that human being, because he or she represents humanity.

The earth which sustains humanity must not be injured. It must not be destroyed!

All success consists in this: You are doing something for somebody – benefiting humanity – and the feeling of success comes from the consciousness of this.

When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity.

Humanity, take a good look at yourself. Inside, you’ve got heaven and earth, and all of creation. You’re a world – everything is hidden in you.