" When he returned, Pasquale's mother said, 'I hope that is what you would have done even if I wasn't watching you.' Pasquale wasn't sure what she meant. 'Sometimes,' she said, 'what we want to do and what we must do are not the same.' She put a hand on his shoulder. 'Pasqo, the smaller the space between your desire and what is right, the happier you will be.' ... And while his mother's lecture had gone over his seven-year-old head, Pasquale saw now what she meant --how much easier life would be if our intentions and our desires could always be aligned. "

― Jess Walter , Beautiful Ruins