Der Name der Rose1986

Adso of Melk:
Master? Have you ever been in love?

William of Baskerville:
In love? Yeah, many times.

Adso of Melk:
You were?

William of Baskerville:
Yes, of course. Aristotle, Ovid, Vergil...

Adso of Melk:
No, no, no. I meant with a...

William of Baskerville:
Oh. Ah. Are you not confusing love with lust?

Adso of Melk:
Am I? I don't know. I want only her own good. I want her to be happy. I want to save her from her poverty.

William of Baskerville:
Oh, dear.

Adso of Melk:
Why "oh dear"?

William of Baskerville:
You *are* in love.

Adso of Melk:
Is that bad?

William of Baskerville:
For a monk, it does present certain problems.

Adso of Melk:
But doesn't St. Thomas Aquinas praise love above all other virtues?

William of Baskerville:
Yes, the love of God, Adso. The love of God.

Adso of Melk:
Oh... And the love of woman?

William of Baskerville:
Of woman? Thomas Aquinas knew precious little, but the scriptures are very clear. Proverbs warns us, "Woman takes possession of a man's precious soul", while Ecclesiastes tells us, "More bitter than death is woman".

Adso of Melk:
Yes, but what do you think, Master?

William of Baskerville:
Well, of course I don't have the benefit of your experience, but I find it difficult to convince myself that God would have introduced such a foul being into creation without endowing her with *some* virtures. Hmm? How peaceful life would be without love, Adso, how safe, how tranquil, and how dull.