Comment by Terr_

> has been both one of the most delightful and sad things I have learned

Reminds me of this exchange between an adoptive maternal figure and a troubled youth with low self-esteem.

> "[He] is a great man. [...] I don’t confuse greatness with perfection. To be great anyhow is... the higher achievement." She gave him a crooked smile. "It should give you hope, eh?”

"Huh. Block me from escape, you mean. Are you saying that no matter how screwed up I was, you’d still expect me to work wonders?" Appalling.

She considered this. "Yes," she said serenely. "In fact, since no one is perfect, it follows that all great deeds have been accomplished out of imperfection. Yet they were accomplished, somehow, all the same."

-- Mirror Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold