For one human being to love another human being: that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation.
We must do like animals that rub out their traces at the entrace to their lairs Seek no longer that the world should speak of you, but how you should speak to yourself. Retire into yourself but first prepare to receive yourself there. It would be madness to trust in yourself if you do not know how to govern yourself. Borrow nothing except from yourself. Arrest your mind and fix it on definite and limited thoughts and rest content with them without any desire to prolong life and reputation. (Essay on Solitude)