#selflessness

if your love is only a will to possess, its not love ↗

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

#love

Love is blind; but it makes you see the blind man; teetering on the roadside . . . ↗

— Martin Amis

#selflessness #love

How much self-love comes in the guise of selfless devotion! ↗

— Susan Sontag

#pretense #self-love #selflessness #love

It's that wonderful old-fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up. Others matter more than you do, so 'don't fuss, dear; get on with it'. ↗

— Audrey Hepburn

#wonder

The belief that unhappiness is selfless and happiness is selfish is misguided. It's more selfless to act happy. It takes energy, generosity, and discipline to be unfailingly lighthearted, yet everyone takes the happy person for granted. No one is careful of his feelings or tries to keep his spirits high. He seems self-sufficient; he becomes a cushion for others. And because happiness seems unforced, that person usually gets no credit. ↗

— Gretchen Rubin

#giving #happiness #selfishness #selflessness #acting

We sat on the dusty floor like that for what felt like hours, our legs intertwined in the kneeling position. Like the demon and the angel reaching for one another on Jet’s arm, I felt half of everything. Half pure, half used. Locked in a dark, beautiful embrace. One I wouldn’t wish on anyone yet one I wouldn’t ever reverse if given the chance. Not when it had the power to save a life. - Skylla Warden ↗

— Rachael Wade

#good #selflessness #beauty

Oh. A bigger studio. It dawns on me, stupid me, that Henry could win the lottery at any time at all; that he has never bothered to do so because it's not normal; that he has decided to set aside his fanatical dedication to living like a normal person so I can have a studio big enough to roller-skate across; that I am being an ingrate. "Clare? Earth to Clare..." "Thank you," I say, too abruptly. ↗

— Audrey Niffenegger

#love #selflessness #thanks #love

There's nothing wrong with helping someone without a cost. Especially if there's no end return. ↗

— Solange nicole

#compassion-wisdom #love #people #selflessness #solange

Our little tribal circles, bound by social contracts and selfish mutual need. Everyone working in their own greedy self-interests and huddling together with their tribe, at war with all those outside who they regard as barely human. What breaks a human mind out of that iron cage of mistrust, is a sacrifice. The martyr who gives up everything, who abandons all personal gain, who lays down his life for the good of those outside his group. He becomes a symbol all can rally around. So instead of trying to make a selfish, violent primate somehow empathize with the whole world, which is impossible, you only need to get him to remember and love the martyr. As one is forgotten, another must replace it. ↗

— David Wong

#inspirational #sacrifice #selflessness #inspirational

Love is as simple as the absence of self given to another. God, when invited, fills the void of any unrequited love; hence loving is how one is drawn closer to God no matter its most horrific repercussions. ↗

— Criss Jami

#closer #compensation #filling-the-void #god #horrific