The custom of saluting [i. e. , embracing] ladies by their relatives and friends was introduced, it is said, by the early Romans, not out of respect originally, but to find by their breath whether they had been drinking wine, this being criminal for women to do, as it sometimes led to adultery.
To be on the safe and humane side, let every relative and friend. . . remember the golden rule, which has never been suspended with respect to the insane. Go to see them, treat them sanely, write to them, keep them informed about the home circle; let not your devotion flag, nor accept any repulse.
Nothing is more false and more indiscreet than always to want to choose what mortifies us in everything. By this rule a person would soon ruin his health, his business, his reputation, his relations with his relatives and friends, in fact every good work which Providence gives him.
Cherish your human connections: your relationships with friends and family. Even your super weirdo creep cousin.
We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.
That's not really important what religion people are attached to, because by the same argument I have a lot of Christian friends and Moslem friends. It's just happened that I do have a lot of relatives and friends who are Jewish.
If one drops dead in the street, friends and loved ones are shocked, stricken, but a long lingering death loses all nobility and drama, while relatives and friends await the inevitable end in a succession of weary anti-climaxes.
Be conscious of one another and everything that we are connected to in this world of ours (not just your relatives and friends).
When one has love for God, one doesn't feel any physical attraction to wife, children, relatives and friends. One retains only compassion for them.
As for those who protest that I am robbing people of the great comfort and consolation they gain from Christianity, I can only say that Christianity includes hell, eternal torture for the vast majority of humanity, for most of your relatives and friends. . . . If I could feel that I had robbed anybody of his faith in hell, I should not be ashamed or regretful.
Have the conviction that God is your only real relative and friend.
There's nothing I value more than the closeness of friends and family, a smile as I pass someone on the street.
So many of my family and friends had lost their battles against cancer. What could I do that my relatives and friends had not? What could I do that would be different?
My family's the most important thing in my life.
It is not hard to deceive ministers, relatives and friends. But it is impossible to deceive Christ.
