...their hearts had still not been hardened with the inevitable cynicism that familiarity and experience breed. 

We have stopped natural selection from purifying the species because deep in our heart of hearts, we are all terrified that we won't make the cut.

So you didn’t tell me it was a messed-up idea to keep this all a secret because. . .”
Because experience is the only teacher,” Hey-Soos says. “Even if I could have told you, it would have been a lecture. Why do you think kids don’t listen to their parents, or people don’t leave churches and do what the preacher tells them? There’s only one thing that’s universal.”
What’s that?”
The truth.

Our wisdom comes from our experience,
and our experience comes from our foolishness.

Familiarity may breed contempt; but perhaps it would be more truthful to say that familiarity breeds blindness

Every ounce of my cynicism is supported by historical precedent.