Jean Oelwang, in her book, Partnering, tells us what Jacqueline Novogratz's mother used to say to their family, "Am I loving enough?" ((page 42)
This is a great question to ask ourselves. If the answer is no - we can do more. If the answer is yes. Then we should feel peace, that is all we can do. Relief.
"Love is a passionate search for a truth other than your own."
author Gregory David Roberts
(quoted in Partnering, Jean Oelwang, page 42)
"We are made for loving. If we don't love, we will be like plants without water."
Archbishop Tutu
(quoted in Partnering by Jean Oelwang, page 22)
Martin Luther King, Jr., in his book, STRENGTH TO LOVE...used a Pauline like style to write a letter to America. He concludes his letter after admonishing America with love:
..."love is the most durable power in the world."
..."the highest good is love."
..."the greatest of all virtue is love."
..."you [may] have all knowledge, and you may boast of your great institutions of learning and the boundless extent of your degrees; but, devoid of love, all of these mean absolutely nothing."
..."Without love, benevolence becomes egotism and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride."
..."You are challenged to follow the way of love. You will then discover that unarmed love is the most powerful force in all the world."
(page 152, 153)
"He who knows nothing, loves nothing. He who can do nothing understands nothing.
He who understands nothing is worthless. But he who understands also loves, notices, sees...
The more knowledge is inherent in a thing, the greater the love...
Paracelsus
"Love is an activity; if I love, I am in constant state of active concern with the loved person..."
(page 118, The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm
"To love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely in the hope that our love will produce love in the loved person. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love."
(page 118, The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm)
Erich Fromm writes:
"Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person, it is an attitude, an orientation of character, which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole, not toward one 'object' of love."
(page 5 of P.S. in his book, The Art of Loving, 2019 edition)
He also says, " If to love means to have a loving attitude toward everybody, if love is a character trait, it must necessarily exist in one's relationship not only with one's family and friends, but toward those with whom one is in contact through one's work, business, profession."
(page 119)
"...the main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one's narcissism.
...the opposite pole to narcissism is objectivity, it is the faculty to see people and things as they are..."
(page 109, Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving)
