Best Things in the World

Gregory David Roberts, novel "Shantaram" (2003)
'You're a good listener. That's dangerous, because it's so hard to resist. Being listened to - really listened to - is the second-best thing in the world.'

'What's the first-best thing?'

'Everybody knows that. The best thing in the world is power.'

'Oh is it?" I asked laughing. "What about sex?'

'No, apart from biology, sex is all about power. That's why it's such a rush.'

I laughed again.

'And what about love? A lot of people say love is the best thing in the world, not power.'

'They're wrong,' she said with a terse finality. 'Love is the opposite of power. That's why we fear it so much.'

Conversation between the narrator and his love.