Quotation from The Damnation of Theron Ware

In lieu of writing an actual entry of my own thoughts today, I'll just copy in a quotation from the novel we read for my little 2 week January class I'm in now. I really liked the quote, and I hope you will too. It has given me some things to think about.

The set-up: There is a young minister who is new in town--and a very intelligent and respected young woman in the town is telling him she thinks he has something to contribute and to bring to the people of the town. He thinks she has mistaken him for a different sort of person, because he realizes he has not had as much experience with intellectual and academic matters as a couple of the other religious leaders in the town. Here is her response:

"That wasn't what I meant at all. We don't want arguments from our friends: we want sympathies, sensibilities, emotional bonds. The right person's silence is worth more for companionship than the wisest talk in the world from anybody else. It isn't your mind that is needed here, or what you know; it is your heart, and what you feel. You are full of poetry--of ideals--of generous, unselfish impulses. You see the human, the warm-blooded side of things. That is what is really valuable. That is how you can help!"