The Prince of Tides

by Pat Conroy

In families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness.

Teach them the quiet verbs of kindness, to live beyond themselves. Urge them toward excellence, drive them toward gentleness, pull them deep into yourself, pull them upward toward manhood, but softly like an angel arranging clouds. Let your spirit move through them softly, as your spirit moves through me.

To love one’s children is to love oneself,

once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers, that the mind can never break off from the journey.

Love has no weapons; it has no fists. Love does not bruise, nor does it draw blood.

nothing is as powerful or unconquerable as a simple dream slow in the dawning.

In family matters you can get over anything.

I would like to have seen the world with eyes incapable of anything but wonder, and with a tongue fluent only in praise.