Adso: "Master? Have you ever been in love?"
William: "In love? Yeah, many times."
Adso: "You were?"
William: "Yes, of course. Aristotle, Ovid, Vergil..."
Adso: "No, no, no. I meant with a..."
William: "Oh. Ah. Are you not confusing love with lust?"
Adso: "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: "Oh, dear."
Adso: "Why "oh dear"?"
William: "You *are* in love."
Adso: "Is that bad?"
William: "For a monk, it does present certain problems."
Adso: "But doesn't St. Thomas Aquinas praise love above all other virtues?"
William: "Yes, the love of God, Adso. The love of God."
Adso: "Oh... And the love of woman?"
William: "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: "Yes, but what do you think, Master?"
William: "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."