" One should start with the paradox that singular erotic love, taken precisely as the absolute, should not be posited as a direct goal - it should retain the status of a by-product, of something we receive as a form of undeserved grace. The point is not that 'there are more important things than love' - an authentic amorous encounter remains an absolute point of reference in one's life (to put it in traditional terms, it is 'what makes one's life meaningful'). But the hard lesson to be learned is that, precisely as such, love (the amorous relationship) should not be the direct goal of one's life - when one confronts the choice between love and duty, duty should prevail. True love is modest, like that of a couple in a Marguerite Duras novel: while the two lovers hold hands, they do not look into each other's eyes; they look together outwards, to some third point, their common Cause. Perhaps there is no greater love than that of a revolutionary couple, where each of the two lovers is ready to abandon the other at any moment should the revolution demand it. They do not love each other less than the amorous couple bent on suspending all their terrestrial links and obligations in order to burn out in a night of unconditional passion - if anything, they love each other more."
- Slavoj Zizek Living in the End Times p. 109
