When the passion fades

Love is a temporary madness,

it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides,

and when it subsides you have to make a decision.

You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness.

It is not excitement.

It is not the promulgation of eternal passion.

That is just being 'in love' which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over

when being in love has burned away

and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love have roots

that grow towards each other underground

and when all the pretty blossom has fallen from their branches

they find that they are one tree and not two.

Louis de Berniere,

Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Related articles

• What is Love? (kbolink.wordpress.com)
• Life Is A Maze And Love Is A Riddle. (zubliss.com)
• On Well-Aged Love and Ceremony Readings (weddingbee.com)
• Book Review - Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (swampofboredom.com)

In Memoriam - 9.11.

Resentment and anger, these are foul things,
  and both are found with the sinner.

He who exacts vengeance will experience the vengeance of the Lord,  who keeps strict account of sin.

Forgive your neighbour the hurt he does you,
  and when you pray, your sins will be forgiven.




If a man nurses anger against another,  can he then demand compassion from the Lord?

Showing no pity for a man like himself,  can he then plead for his own sins?


Mere creature of flesh, he cherishes resentment;  who will forgive him his sins?

Remember the last things, and stop hating,  remember dissolution and death, and live by the commandments.
Remember the commandments, and do not bear your neighbour ill-will;  remember the covenant of the Most High, and overlook the offence.

Ecclesiasticus 27:33-28:9

"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong"

"Die Schwachen können niemals vergeben. Vergebung ist eine Eigenschaft der Starken."

"O fraco nunca poderá perdoar. O perdão é a marca dos fortes."

Mahatma Gandhi

The Qur'an makes it clear that, whenever possible, it is better to forgive another than to attack another. The Qur'an describes the believers as those who, avoid gross sins and vice, and when angered they forgive. (Qur'an 42:37) and says that Although the just requital for an injustice is an equivalent retribution, those who pardon and maintain righteousness are rewarded by GOD. He does not love the unjust. (Qur'an 42:40).