Anastasia (The Ringing Cedars of Russia series, Volume 1)

The highest opinion of you as an individual
is the opinion held by the people around you

God created man in His image and likeness. Man has been given the greatest freedom, the freedom to choose between the darkness and the light. Man has been given a Soul. Everything visible is in man's power, and man is at liberty—even with respect to God—whether to love Him or not. No one and nothing can govern man against his will. God wants man's love in exchange for His own, but God wants the love of a free man who is perfect and resembles Him.

The big circle is the Earth, the planet people live on. The small circles are small collectives of people who are bound together by something. The points are the people who lead these collectives. Whether or not the people around those leaders are doing well or badly will depend on how these leaders treat the people, what they have them do, and what kind of psychological climate they create through their influence. If the majority are doing well, a light emanation will come from each of them and from the collective as a whole. If they are doing badly, then the emanation is dark."

One of man's mortal sins is pride.

You have to understand, Vladimir, man brings on himself everything bad that is happening to man when he violates the rules of spiritual existence and breaks his connection with nature.

What is the meaning of life? Yet it remains unanswered.
"But the meaning of life lies in truth, joy, and love.

"If you use the water for ninety-nine days, even serious diseases will leave your body, and you will see the skin on your face improve noticeably.

Bring that water home, pour it into vessels, and freeze it. Every evening put the amount of water you need for a day on the table in a handsome vessel, preferably with a piece of green fabric underneath the vessel.

Before planting, take one or several small seeds in your mouth and hold them under your tongue for at least nine minutes.
"Then put them between your palms and hold them like that for about thirty seconds.
"While holding the seeds between your palms, you must be standing barefoot on the plot of land where you will later plant.