— “human nature is built to give…” that may sound a little sentimental but it’s a hard,tough,real,wonderful truth about what a human being is…. we need to develop what we are . And that is beings that can care and give what’s needed when it’s needed….”
“To be a truly democratic self, democratic citizen, you have to be able to be open to another person, to be open to the needs of the society around you. And that means in the first place to be able to listen. To listen to each other in my mind is the first work of a democratic human being” democracy built on….”listen to each other and think together and not depend on some external source to tell us what to do —— this liberty requires ‘internal freedom’ …
The more you can be honest with yourself with some help and guidance that’s available, the more you realize, it’s the seer. It’s that part of you which is seeing, which is not judging which is compassionate warm objective interest toward yourself, that capacity is growing. When that capacity really begins to grow, you begin to feel,yes, this is more ‘me’ than my ordinary self is.
The questioner and the question become the answer.
—Jacob Needleman
