A gift that has the power to change us awakens a part of the soul. But we cannot receive the gift until we can meet it as an equal. We therefore submit ourselves to the labor of becoming like the gift.
Giving a return gift is the final act in the labor of gratitude, and it is also, therefore, the true acceptance of the original gift.
Lewis Hyde on “suffering gratitude” in The Gift
STENDHAL SYNDROME: a giddy, debilitating stupor evoked by great art
