“There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked to a mere mortal.
Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -
these are mortal, and
their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.
But it is immortals whom we joke with,
work with, marry, snub and exploit -
immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
This does not mean that we are to be perpetually
solemn.-We must play.
But our merriment must be of that kind
(and it is, in fact, the merriest kind)
which exists between people
who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously -
no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.”
― C.S. Lewis
As offered by Janathan Hill @St.francis.