Selbst­zu­rück­wei­sung

When we look at someone (an angel) from a posi­ti­on of unre­qui­ted love and ima­gi­ne the plea­su­res that being in hea­ven with them might bring us, we are pro­ne to over­look a signi­fi­cant dan­ger: how soon their attrac­tions might pale if they began to love us back. We fall in love becau­se we long to escape from our­sel­ves with someone as ide­al as we are cor­rupt. But what if such a being were one day to turn around and love us back? We can only be sho­cked. How could they be as divi­ne as we had hoped when they have the bad tas­te to appro­ve of someone like us? If in order to love we must belie­ve that the bel­oved sur­pas­ses us in some way, does not a cruel para­dox emer­ge when we wit­ness this love retur­ned? „If s/he real­ly is so won­derful, how could s/he love someone like me?“
(Alain de Bot­ton – On Love)