Kindness opens the world to us because it conditions others to give us their listening ear. A lack of control over our impulses is the active factor that reduces the number of our friends, parents and siblings at the same time that it shrinks the world around us. We can always come back to better feelings, but it is generally after we have behaved like an elephant in a glass shop and broken down the fragile world that had surrounded us. It is never the fault of the others as it is most frequently proclaimed in popular educations. The others are just the décor and circumstances, and one cannot make them responsible for our attitudes or actions... it is never the fault of our neighbor...

My grandfather in the bush of Merita in Fada N'Gourma, Burkina Faso told me once that wise people are like stars in the sky. Together they enlighten the sky and reduce the thickness of the night. Every individual should make his life the path that leads to the stars. I spent all of my childhood dreaming about stars, and later I came to the conclusion that one should die if one wants to become a star