Independence (n.) is only capable of being found in dependence on God.
Independence (n.) is love's gift that man holds on to as his own, so that the loving God seems almost duped.
Independence (n.) is the world's most coveted good, yet almost no one covets the only road that truly leads to it — suffering.
Independence (n.) is not answering “I can no longer love you” with “Then I can stop loving you too” — that is dependence; it is answering “Then I will still continue to love you.”
Independence (n.) is desolate when self-love achieves it: it became independent for lack of courage to bind itself, and so depends on its cowardice — like a brigand who puts up wherever evening finds him.