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Real Effort

The late critic Anatole Broyard once surveyed several books on the subject of love.  His conclusions: Most of what we “know” about love derives from works of fiction.  Moreover, he claimed, one theme dominates all discussions of the subject. Love requires an element of “difficulty” if it is to be sustained.

The Mishna parses this as, "According to the effort is the reward." - Avot 6

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