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The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the
spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with
his friendship. --Ralph Waldo Emerson

XCVII



How like a winter hath my absence been

From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!

What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!

What old December\'s bareness everywhere! 

And yet this time removed was summer\'s time;

The teeming autumn, big with rich increase,

Bearing the wanton burden of the prime,

Like widow\'d wombs after their lords\' decease:

Yet this abundant issue seem\'d to me

But hope of orphans, and unfather\'d fruit;

For summer and his pleasures wait on thee,

And, thou away, the very birds are mute:

  Or, if they sing, \'tis with so dull a cheer,

  That leaves look pale, dreading the winter\'s near.

 	--William Shakespeare

A man\'s ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy,
education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would
indeeded be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of
punishment and hope of reward after death. --Albert Einstein

Protecting the rights of even the least individual among us is basically
the only excuse the government has for even existing.
Ronald Reagan