And if what is near you is far away, then
your vastness is already among the stars and is very great; be happy about your
growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with
those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment
them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they
wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what
you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you
yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is
not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid
of the aloneness that you trust. Avoid providing material for the drama that is
always stretched tight between parents and children; it uses up much of the
children's strength and wastes the love of the elders, which acts and warms even
if it doesn't comprehend. Don't ask for any advice from them and don't expect
any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an
inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing
so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside
it....
