The True Meaning of Being Human

It matters far more to be a person of peace than to be fit and flawless. Rather than having a pair of striking, beautiful eyes, what life truly needs is someone who sees you beautifully. More precious than skin that gleams white is a heart that remains white—a heart untarnished.

It is far greater joy to have someone who understands you, knows you, honors you, than to have someone who understands poetry, knows mathematics, or appreciates art.

Life is like a river. There will be tides and ebbs. There will be violent storms, and there will be the scorching noon of summer. And a companion is like a boat upon that river. If a boat does not know how to balance as it moves through the water, the ship of life will sink in the storm. What matters far more than how precious the wood of the boat is, or how colorful its paint, is whether the boat is strong and enduring.

Here is a hard truth: there comes a time when love fades, when the mercury of passion subsides, when hair as dark and beautiful as Banabhatta's night grows streaked with gray, when even a sculpted body accumulates softness at the belly.

When all else has fallen away, what remains is trust. What endures is faith.

It is far more necessary in life to have a dutiful person than a beautiful one. For even a voice as melodious as Lata Mangeshkar's will one day be silenced like stone, yet the harsh words once spoken in that melodious voice leave their wounds forever.

A watch that costs a hundred and fifty rupees and keeps correct time is worth infinitely more than a precious Rolex that shows the wrong hour.

The true worth of a human being can never be measured in currency.