It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to read more

It is a pleasure to stand upon the shore, and to see ships tost upon the sea: a pleasure to stand in the window of a castle, and to see a battle and the adventures thereof below: but no pleasure is comparable to standing upon the vantage ground of truth... and to see the errors, and wanderings, and mists, and tempests, in the vale below.

The aura of the theocratic death penalty for adultery still clings to America, even outside New England, and multiple divorce, read more

The aura of the theocratic death penalty for adultery still clings to America, even outside New England, and multiple divorce, which looks to the European like serial polygamy, is the moral solution to the problem of the itch. Love comes into it too, of course, but in Europe we tend to see marital love as an eternity which encompasses hate and also indifference: when we promise to love we really mean that we promise to honor a contract. Americans, seeming to take marriage with not enough seriousness, are really taking love and sex with too much.

One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love -- any love -- reveals us in read more

One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love -- any love -- reveals us in our nakedness, our misery, our vulnerability, our nothingness.

When an individual fear or apathy passes by the unfortunate, life is of no account.

When an individual fear or apathy passes by the unfortunate, life is of no account.

Nothing can occur beyond the strength of faith to sustain, or, transcending the resources of religion, to relieve.

Nothing can occur beyond the strength of faith to sustain, or, transcending the resources of religion, to relieve.

Never marry a man who hates his mother, because he'll end up hating you.

Never marry a man who hates his mother, because he'll end up hating you.

Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation read more

Marriage is that relation between man and woman in which the independence is equal, the dependence mutual, and the obligation reciprocal.

We all suffer from the preoccupation that there exists ... in the loved one, perfection.

We all suffer from the preoccupation that there exists ... in the loved one, perfection.

A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love.

A very small degree of hope is sufficient to cause the birth of love.