For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation. I hold this to be the highest task for a bond between two people: That each protects the solitude of the other. This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love: The more they give, the more they possess.
— Rainer Maria Rilke
sqq. *