Please Come Here. Now Go Away.

The other day, I accused Dietrich Bonhoeffer of writing turgid prose, and I stand by that accusation. But some of that turgescence is worth wading through, such as in the following quote about the importance of balance between community and solitude. Whether you're an introvert, an extrovert, or some undefined other, this is good stuff.

Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils.

One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.

From Bonhoeffer's "Life Together," 1939