It is a blessing not yet to have acquired that over-keen, diagnostic, misanthropic eye, and to be able to look at people and things trustfully when one first sees them. Beware of Pity

The acceptance of oneself is the essence of the whole moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook on life. That I feed the hungry, that I forgive an insult, that I love my enemy in the name of Christ -- all these are undoubtedly great virtues. What I do unto the least of my brethren, that I do unto Christ. But what if I should discover that the least among them all, the poorest of all the beggars, the most impudent of all the offenders, the very enemy himself -- that these are within me, and that I myself stand in need of the alms of my own kindness -- that I myself am the enemy who must be loved -- what then? Memories, Dreams, Reflections

“Life is like a fire. Flames forgotten by the night on the road, ashes scattered in front of the wind; here, a human life has come and gone.” Samarkand

A man of limited vision is hard to bear with in any sphere in which he is invested with power, but intolerable in the army. Beware of Pity