"Do you love Me?" Alice asked.
"No, I don't love you!" replied the White Rabbit.
Alice frowned and clasped her hands together as she did whenever she felt hurt.
"See?" replied the White Rabbit. "Now you're going to start asking yourself what makes you so imperfect and what did you do wrong so that I can't love you at least a little.
You know, that's why I can't love you. You will not always be loved Alice, there will be days when others will be tired and bored with life, will have their heads in the clouds, and will hurt you.
Because people are like that, they somehow always end up hurting each other's feelings, whether through carelessness, misunderstanding, or conflicts with themselves.
If you don't love yourself, at least a little,
if you don't create an armor of self-love and happiness around your heart,
the feeble annoyances caused by others will become lethal and will destroy you.
The first time I saw you I made a pact with myself: 'I will avoid loving you until you learn to love yourself.' "
- Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland
Echoes of Insight
source: Scent Of Sufism
