"The
fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less.
The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met.
The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten. He sees the
whole subject, by now, in such a different light that he cannot
conceive what is really troubling the pupil; he sees a dozen other
difficulties which ought to be troubling him but aren't."
From Reflections on the Psalms
"The
maternal instinct...is a Gift-love, but one that needs to give;
therefore needs to be needed. But the proper aim of giving is to
put the recipient in a state where he no longer needs our gift.
We feed children in order that they may soon be able to feed
themselves; we teach them in order that they may soon not need out
teaching. Thus a heavy task is laid upon this Gift-love. It
must work towards its own abdication. We must aim at making
ourselves superfluous. The hour when we can say "They need me no
longer" should be our reward. But the instinct, simply in its own
nature, has no power to fulfil this law."
From The Four Loves
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• Oct. 24, 2005 - Hi