'Freedom and truth, friendship and loyalty, wisdom and braveness, love and poetry, justice and harmony: these form the basic grammar of our existence. They are qualities which give life, which inspire: they can make the meaningless meaningful, transform the transient into the permanent. We cannot possess, manipulate or instrumentalise these qualities of life, precisely because they are absolute values. They direct us, not the other way around. It is in these very words that we see the image of the person we ought to be, and that we are confronted with the measure that is applied to our lives. In the mirror of our true identity, riches, fame, or power are of no importance, and the same goes for descent, tradition, position, gender, or race. Only one question is asked: do you cultivate your soul, do you live in truth?'

Originally in Dutch