" Now gossip, by its very definition, is trivial; on the other hand, is there a better way to really understand something than by appreciating all of its various trivialities? We don't cherish our friends simply because they're great thinkers, or saintly, or for any such lofty concerns. Rather it's a combination of the all the small, trivial facets that combine to shape the image we carry of them; it's the complex final pattern with all its daily shifts and adjustments that we cherish. Why should nature be any different? Why should anything be any different? "

― Charles de Lint , The Wild Wood