Chapter 9: There Is No Cure for Life

There is, then, a constant process built into all our endeavors in which we must reach out, relate, and love, while taking care not to lose ourselves. It is paralleled by the counterpoint between the allure of regression and return to the mother on one hand, and the fear of passivity and loss of power that it entails on the other. In the final analysis, social life is made possible by keeping a delicate balance between falling inward and falling outward. The structure of all our moments is that we are contantly being pulled apart between the two. It is also the story of our lives.

Robert F. Murphy, The Body Silent, 227