| Penny : | “I’m talking to him because he’s cute.” |
|---|---|
| Leonard : | “He’s not that cute.” |
| Penny : | “Yes he is, with those dorky tee-shirts and hipster glasses.” |
| Leonard : | “I wear dorky tee-shirts and glasses.” |
| Penny : | “Yeah, but when you’re tall and have high cheekbones you’re doing it ironically.” |
And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1513, “IL PRINCIPE/THE PRINCE”, Chapter XVII: Of Cruelty and Clemency, and Whether It Is Better To Be Loved or Feared.
For once
to give so little insult to the air
it might forgive the earlier disgrace
and leave no sign that I was ever there
as a wanted man might slip over the border
and, believed at last, live out his days
hidden by a silent holy order
From Rain
