Part 1

Whoever would set blame upon another for feeling misunderstood, or who becomes bitter towards those thought to have let him down, has failed to realize the following self-liberating truth: the first root of sorrow in this life is not for what others have or have not done to us. Our suffering over the “shortcomings” of others is nothing less than the stuff of what we have yet to understand about ourselves.

Part 2

If anything we do in our relationship with another encourages him to feel as though there’s something righteous about his anger, or in any way lends substance to his insistence that he has good reason to feel sorry for himself, then we do not help this person but serve only to strengthen his weakness along with our own.

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