Leo Buscaglia

“....though modern Marriage is a tremendous laboratory, its members are often utterly without preparation for the partnership function. How much agony and remorse and failure could have been avoided if there had been at least some rudimentary learning before they entered the partnership....And that statement is equally valid for all relationships.”

“We want to gently remind people that we don't have forever. In my work, I hear parents complain all the time that their children grow up so fast. But they don't take the time to sit down and talk to each other. The last bastion of getting together is around the table.”

“I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate - it's apathy. It's not giving a damn.”

“There are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our encouragement, who will need our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.”

“Love and self are one and the discovery of either is the realization of both”

“Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.”

“When we sit at the table, there is more going on than satisfying hunger. It is sad to think of those who eat simply to satisfy their hunger and who do not permit themselves to linger under the many spells offered by a good meal - the satisfaction of our hearts, our minds and our spirits.”

“Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.”

“...the opposite of love is not hate -- it's apathy. It's not giving a damn. If somebody hates me, they must "feel" something ... or they couldn't possibly hate. Therefore, there's some way in which I can get to them.”

“I've always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.”

“If you're an advocate of gentleness, you're simplistic and naive. If you're an advocate of despair and hate, you're sophisticated.”

“The purpose of life is to help others, and if you can't help them, won't you at least not hurt them? I know that is a platitude, that that is sentimental and can easily be attacked. But loving, caring is simple, and we make it complex. Our own neuroses make it complex.”

“The minute we stop learning, we begin death, the process of dying. We learn from each other with every action we perform. We are teaching goodness or evil every time we step out of the house and into the street.”

“I still get wildly enthusiastic about little things... I play with leaves. I skip down the street and run against the wind.”

“The way to anybody's heart is through a thoughtfully-prepared, beautifully-executed, lovingly-presented meal.”

“We are no longer puppets being manipulated by outside powerful forces: we become the powerful force ourselves.”

“To love oneself is to struggle to rediscover and maintain your uniqueness”

“Education should be the process of helping everyone to discover his uniqueness." -Leo Buscaglia (1924-1998)”

“Love always creates, it never destroys. In this lies man's only promise.”

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”