Reading Archive (Friendship)
Unattainable Goal of Peace
Aung San Suu Kyi
[Nobel Lecture, June 16, 2012] The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether a...
Giving Somebody Your Heart
Anonymous
In every interaction you have with another human being—doesn’t matter who—you always have two main choices. (The keyword is choice.) One choice usually leads to logical (b...
Beggarly, Friendly, And Kingly Giving
Stephen Levine
The greatest gift is the act of giving itself. Traditionally, three kinds of giving are spoken of. There is beggarly giving, which is when we give with only one hand, still holding onto wh...
The Dalai Lama: Why I Laugh
The Dalai Lama
I have been confronted with many difficulties throughout the course of my life, and my country is going through a critical period. But I laugh often, and my laughter is contagious. When people ask me ...
Loving Your Enemy
Brother David Steindl-Rast
To love our enemies does not mean that we suddenly become their friends. If it is our enemies we are to love, they must remain enemies. Unless you have enemies, you cannot love them. And if you have n...
To Separate and Unify
Mark Nepo
The destruction or healing of the world hinges on which way this thought unfolds. Whether we pull things apart or put things together makes all the difference. Indeed, human history has unfolded with ...
Pilgrimage to Nonviolence
Martin Luther King, Jr.
First, it must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violen...
Come Home to Love
Rick Hanson
Take a breath right now, and notice how abundant the air is, full of life-giving oxygen offered freely by trees and other green growing things. You can't see air, but it's always available for...
Individual and Social Ethics
Bertrand Russell
Misers, whose absorption in means is pathological, are generally recognized to be unwise, but minor forms of the same malady are apt to receive undue commendation. Without some consciousness ...
Recognizing the Real Fear
Erich Fromm
In the sphere of human relations, faith is an indispensable quality of any significant friendship or love. “Having faith” in another person means to be certain of the reliability and uncha...
That Friend Walking Behind Me
Parker Palmer
Imagine that for many years a friend had been walking a block behind me, calling my name, trying to get my attention because he wanted to tell me some hard but healing truths about myself. But I -- af...
Kindness, Plain and Simple
David Copperfield
I believe in kindness. But it's hard to be kind. We're not trained for it. Kindness is for sissies; we learn that early. "Nice guys finish last." If they even get invited to the race. Kindness is t...
Do You Still Have Hope?
Author Unknown
If you can look at the sunset and smile, then you still have hope... If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower, then you still have hope... If you can find pleasure in the movemen...
Effortless Action
Author Unknown
What is effort? Is it when we try to do something or is it when we have to fight with ourselves? If there were no internal conflicts, would there be effort in any action? If we imagine an a...