Merle Shain

“One often learns more from ten days of agony than ten years of contentment.”

“Through tattered clothes, small vices do appear. Robes and furred gowns hide all.”

“The act is unjustifiable that either begs for a blessing, or, having succeeded gives no thanksgiving.”

“Loving can cost a lot but not loving always costs more, and those who fear to love often find that want of love is an emptiness that robs the joy from life.”

“Power breeds resentment and withers the slow-growing plant that is trust, and people who use it to capture others not only fail to make friends but often end up captives themselves. And perhaps what is sadder still is that when you control other people you take away all that there might be in a real encounter with them and replace it with your fears. And while you might get gratitude for a while, or guilt and tears, you won't get what they had to offer if you'd let them give you what was really in their hearts.”

“You can employ men and hire hands to work for you, but you must win their hearts to have them work with you.”

“Friends are like windows through which you see out into the world and back into yourself. If you don't have friends you see much less than you otherwise might.”