"Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was instant and reflexive, born of the "oughts" I had absorbed: "Of course you need to be loved. Everyone does. And I love you." It took me a long time to understand that although everyone needs to be loved, I cannot be the source of that gift for everyone who asks me for it. There are some relationships in which I am capable of love and otters in which I am not. To pretend otherwise, to put out promissory notes I am unable to honor, is to damage my own integrity and that of the person in need, all in the name of love."
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Non-fiction authors from the United StatesEducators from the United StatesQuakersSocial activistsTheologians from Chicago
Original Language: English
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pp. 47-48
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Parker_Palmer
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Parker Palmer
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