“The human race is an enormous agglomeration of bubbles which are continually bursting and ceasing to be. No one made it or knows anything worth knowing about it. Love it dearly, O ye bubbles.” This is a sort of religion, no doubt, but it seems to me a very silly one.
— James Fitzjames Stephen, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity
And yet, what archaic prejudice leads us to believe that the truth, when unmasked, should be sober and respectable rather than ludic or silly? Why should the currency of love only have value if backed by guarantees of permanence? We treat with indifference and contempt that which we control and expect; we love most dearly that which we know can be lost.