Transcription
It's a bitter truth that other people treat us more or less exactly in line with the way we imply that we can bear to be treated. Lovers sense one another's limits and will push relentlessly forward until they reach them. The human animal, in all its perversity and sinfulness, subtly, intuitively adjusts to precisely the expectations placed upon it by its partners. We do as much as and not a jot more than we're called upon to do.
No child actually likes an adult who will let them do anything. And nor does a lover.
The next time we begin a love story, we must be immensely kind. Of course, we must listen. We must invite them out. We must remember special occasions and send sensitive messages. But we must also defend ourselves with a lion's strength against their and our own temptations to cruelty. We will only make love truly flourish by insisting very tenderly, very early on, that we will simply tolerate nothing else.