Treat your brethren with joy and affection. Love them. Serve them: they are precious - the Saviour’s blood has been spilt for them, they are members of Christ. Do not offend them in any way whatsoever.
Attain salvation by pleasing the Lord God, pleasing Him with all forms of love. Make your chief concern the enrichment of yourselves with love. Whosoever possesses love - has God within himself.
Humility has its beginning in the humbleness of our Lord Jesus Christ and is the crown and beauty of all virtues. What rain is to parched earth, so humility is to the human soul. Humility is a virtue which even the Lord God Himself admires: upon whom shall I gaze? - He says, - safe the meek one and the humble one, the one in awe of My words.
With the Lord and for the sake of the Lord all that is difficult is not difficult and all that is sorrowful is not sorrowful.
Elder Ambrose of Optina.