"Why give up?  Why despair?  Undoubtedly there is injustice and deceit in this world, but were you waiting for this proof in order to be persuaded?  Certainly not.  One has to live, therefore, with one's enemies, since one cannot have everyone for a friend, to take men for what they are, to be content with the virtues one finds in them, to endeavor to see that their vices do you the least possible harm, to restrict oneself to a certain circle of intimate friends, outside of that to expect only coldness and indifference hidden or open and keep oneself on one's guard. "

                                                   

                                                  -when Toc is at seventeen, writing to Eugene Stoffels,a school boyfriend, bucking him up after a setback;