Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was instant and reflexive, born of the "oughts" I had absorbed: "Of course you need to be loved. Everyone does. And I love you."
It took me a long time to understand that although everyone needs to be loved, I cannot be the source of that gift for everyone who asks me for it. There are some relationships in which I am capable of love and otters in which I am not. To pretend otherwise, to put out promissory notes I am unable to honor, is to damage my own integrity and that of the person in need, all in the name of love.


pp. 47-48 - Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation (1999)

Parker Palmer Quotes

Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was...

Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was...

Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was...

Over the years I have met people who have made a very human claim on me by making known their need to be loved. For a long time my response was...