the dark truth
The dark truth is that we may praise love (or, more weakly, "benevolence" or "compassion"), and few people would refuse to do so when love is rightly understood. We may wish to be loving—to be kind and helpful in our relations to those near us. But we do not trust love, and we think it could easily ruin our carefully guarded hold on life. — Dallas Willard, Knowing Christ Today
