What good is lust when youth has fled? What good is a lake that has no water? Where are the relatives when wealth is gone? Where is samsara [repeated birth and death ] when the Truth is known? (Adi sankaracharya Bhaja Govindam 10)
The highest devotion is attained by slow degrees by the method of constant endeavor for self-realization, with the help of scriptural evidence, theistic conduct, and perseverance in practice. (Lord Brahma, Sri Brahma-samhita 5.59)
Those who understand the principles of social interaction say that . . . friendship with a good man may be established simply by exchanging seven words with him or walking seven steps with him. Friendship with a very good man may be established in merely three words or steps. But saintly persons establish friendships at every step. Sanaka Kumara, Narada Purana 1.36.32-33