simon

“Helping people is a sensitive process. It needs sensitivity. The temptation is to want to fix everything for somebody, and that person doesn’t want fixing. They need help when they need help. I think we’re too quick to give advice. I’m as guilty as anyone...in fact, I’m probably guiltier than most people because I think I have the answers all the time, which, of course, I don’t.”

“But I am immensely touched when people just sit with me. The less we speak, the better. If someone talks about being in trouble or in pain, rather not speak but just take their hand or touch them. I think it’s because it’s such a subtle thing, and words can be very...distancing. You don’t have to speak. Words are something that become superfluous and fairly meaningless in certain times.”

“I’ll tell you what I try to whisper to my daughter. I try to tell her to enjoy the age she’s in and the stage she’s at. It won’t come again. And it’s brief, so enjoy it. Life should be enjoyed and not be full of concerns. Not be full of worry about things that, in the end, as one gets to the end, one sees are things which are not even necessary. And if they are necessary, like money, because society makes it necessary, not to be ruled by it. Not to make decisions based on these things that society demands, but to make decisions on things that enhance life.”