From My Spiritual Diary-32:

* The misfortune that befalls a man on account of his egotism can be realized if you only think of the condition of the calf. The calf says, ‘Hamma! Hamma!’, that is , ‘I, I’ ! And just look at its misfortune! At times it is yoked to the plough and made to work in the field from sunup to sundown, rain or shine. Again, it may be slaughtered by the butcher. In that case, the flesh is eaten and the skin tanned into hide. From the hide, shoes are made. People put on the shoes and walk on the rough ground. Still that is not the end of its misfortunes. Drums are made from its skin and mercilessly beaten with sticks. At last its entrails are made into strings for the bow used in carding cotton. When used by the carder, the string gives the sound, ‘Tuhu, Tuhu!’, that is ‘Thou! Thou!’ O Lord! It is Thou!’ It no longer says, ‘Hamma! Hamma!’ (‘I’, ‘I’). Only then does the calf’s troubles come to an end, and it is liberated. It does not return to the world of action. (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa)

* Is not feeding people a kind of service to God? God exists in all beings as fire. To feed people is to offer oblations to that Indwelling Spirit. But that one should not feed the wicked, I mean people who are entangled in gross worldliness or who have committed heinous crimes like adultery. Even the ground where such people sit becomes impure to a depth of seven cubits. (Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa)

* Mother would say that it matters much more what the person who cooks, what the person who serves, thinks at that time. If he has beautiful thoughts and fine emotions, the food will be better digested, it will be more nourishing. (M.P.Pandit)