I do love Holly Golightly/Paul, Attolia/Eugenides, Tenar/Ged, Scarlett/Rhett--I like a certain amount of hardness or coldness in the girl and watching how the guy tries to get around it? While knowing the fact that the girl is just so afraid of being vulnerable (and usually the guy is too) and they have to work it out and there's anger and bitterness along the way and desperation and passion and--yeah. That

I agree. There is something about that dynamic (and the earning of trust that it implies) that is just really, really appealing to me.

Any human organization is bound to be flawed, have problems, and make mistakes. But if they are also striving towards truth, then the truth will guide them towards goodness as well.

That's a very optimistic view of it.