The Work of Love

We really have to understand the person we want to love.

If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.
If we only think of ourselves, if we only know our own needs

and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.
We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs,

aspirations and suffering of the person we love.
This is the ground of real love.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen master