Human beings are ethical animals. I do not mean that we naturally
behave particularly well, nor that we are endlessly telling each other what to do.
But we grade and evaluate, and compare and admire, and claim and justify.
We do not just 'prefer' this or that, in isolation.
We prefer that our preferences are shared; we turn them into demands on each other.
Events endlessly adjust our sense of responsibility, our guilt and shame,
and our sense of our own worth and that of others.
Simon Blackburn, Ethics
'Trust is something you can only lose once' - Constantin Noica
Trust is one of these things we all think we know something about. We claim to deserve it from others and expect others to be deserving of our own. Being approached with caution and reserve offends us and no righteousness is more soothing than the anger at having been deceived.
Above all, trust is a precious currency. It keeps lawyers, insurers and estate agents in business more or less forever.
And where insurance policies don't apply it must be gained through painstaking displays of authenticity and loyalty. One must prove oneself and time must tell. Once earned, it must be guarded, with carrot and stick from malice and stupidity.
Still - more fragile is earnestness, optimism and joy. Freedom from the dismal, sullen fear of a broken heart. Trust you may regain, faults you may redeem. New patrons may stumble upon you and your credit history may be left behind. But this talent of living wholly and without reserve - that, well that perhaps really is something you can only lose once.
