Wisdom
I’m reading this Spider Robinson book called The Callahan Chronicals, and it’s quite good, but I’ll save the book review.
The thing about it is, it’s full of wisdom, some of which is good for me to remember. Like this quote, from The Blacksmith’s Tale
Finn, you’ve been unable to love because you haven’t loved yourself because you haven’t loved us — it’s time somebody got you off the loop. You ninny, of course you didn’t save us out of love! You did it out of compassion. That’s something that’s underrated, but I think it’s just as good as love — who knows, maybe better. You can love only your equals — with your superiors or inferiors, compassion is the best you can do, and it’s pretty damned good, at least as high up on the ethical scale. With time, it can lead to love. I speculate that it could even be the basis of a pretty fair marriage. Do you think?”
I like that. It says something to me about something that is real. About the loop, and about loving equals.
