“The one I liked best was the one where Mr. Spock had to go home because he was in heat,” I said to her.

“Except he never, you know,” she said. “They just had a fight over the girl, him and Captain Kirk, and then they left.”

“That’s his pride,” I said, obscurely. I was thinking how Mr. Spock was never unbuttoned, never lolled, kept himself shadowy, unfulfilled; and so we loved him. And poor Captain Kirk, going from blonde to blonde, would never understand true love, would never even understand that he himself loved Mr. Spock truly, hopelessly, forever.

Ursula K. Le Guin, Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand, “True Love”

Searoad: Chronicles of Klatsand was just reprinted and contained several short stories I had not yet read, including this one, with a quote I have seen before online but have now encountered in context.

Wisest writer in history. 12/10 insight. Genius.