Yesterday I met a whole ( person ).
It is a rare experience
but always an illuminating and ennobling one
It costs so much
to be a full human being
that there are very few
who have the enlightenment or courage
to pay the full price.
One has to abandon all together
the search for security,
to reach out to the risk of living with both arms.
One has to embrace the world
like a lover,
and yet demand no easy return of love.
One has to accept pain
as a condition of existence.
One has to court doubt and darkness
as the cost of knowing.
One needs a will stubborn in conflict
but apt always
to the total acceptance
of every consequence
of living and dying.
Morris West
Shoes of the Fisherman
( novel )
