Livre d'Or

Mm, I see what you're saying, and it's not completely unconnected to what I was trying to convey, just a slightly odd twist on it. I do understand that being strongly drawn to people either as close friends or as lovers is the very definition of subjective. (Obviously it's generally not a good idea to get involved with nasty people because I'm dazzled by their intelligence and brilliant conversation, but I haven't yet made that mistake so I don't worry about it too much.)

But the point is, if there's a casual acquaintance who is never going to be my best friend, I shouldn't get irritated with them for superficial reasons. So it's not that I aim to like people on an equal opportunities basis, it's that I want to avoid disliking people who happen to be socially awkward, or not very intelligent (and I'm afraid I have rather high standards).

I think a big part of the reason why I take this attitude is that I'm slightly paranoid that if I know someone really amazingly brilliant and find them incredibly fascinating, they may get bored or impatient with me if they find I'm not thinking at their level. I would far rather those people are patient with me so I can enjoy their company, so it seems only fair that when the situation is reversed, I should display the same patience myself.