My favorite quote from the movie - A Beautiful Mind

I've made the most important discovery of my career... the most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found. I'm only here tonight because of you. You're the only reason I am... You are all my reasons.
- Russell Crowe as John Nash, in the movie A Beautiful Mind.

On love by Viktor Frankl

Man's Search for Meaning (1946) is a book by Viktor E. Frankl which chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate.
The following is one quote from this book

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way — an honorable way — in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory."

My Relationships' Universe

There are three zones in my universe of relationships with fellow humans.

Of course, there is a whole world of people I have not met, which I refer to as 'Rest of World' in the diagram. In this zone, the instinct of 'survival' would be foremost. Battles 'must' be won. The discussion below is about people I have met or interacted with.

The outermost zone is where I interact with most of the people around. The basic operating instinct in this zone is of 'humanity', considerate yet cautious. In this zone, 'I' (the ego) comes before 'You'. This is the zone where winning matters, though it is wise to choose and pick one's battles, and possessions are the norm. In this zone, we expect equal, or more returns for whatever we give.

The second zone is the circle of friends. In this zone, 'I' and 'You' are equals. Neither comes above the other. The basic operating instincts are sharing, co-opt, partnerships. In this circle, we expect to get in return in equal measure to what we give.

The third and the innermost zone is the home territory. Here, the basic operating instinct is 'love'. 'You' comes before 'I'. We do not seek to win, but to giving up of ourselves here. Surrender rather than conquer. In this zone, we only seek to give, with no expectation of any reciprocal return.