The hardest assumption to challenge is the one you don't even know you are making.
Battle for the sake of honor may be a fine thing for bards to sing of, but it is no way to preserve one's homeland
Why is there ever this perverse cruelty in humankind, that makes us hurt most those we love best?
All knowledge is worth having
There is no fulfillment that is not made sweeter for the prolonging of desire
The pain of the flesh is naught to that of the heart
We are all these things [. . . ]. Pride, desire, compassion, cleverness, belligerence, fruitfulness, loyalty. . . and guilt. But above it all stands love. And if we desire to be more than human, that is the star by which we must set our sights.
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes, Feed'st thy light's flame with self-substantial fuel, Making a famine where abundance lies, Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
I don't want to be all power and muscle.
Then the song of a whitethroat, pure and ethereal, with the dreamy quality of remembered joy.
Music is to be praised as second only to the Word of God because by her all the emotions are swayed. That is why there are so many songs and psalms. This precious gift has been bestowed on men alone to remind them that they are created to praise and magnify the Lord.