How often are we manipulated into doing things we know are wrong both for us and the other? We compromise our morals by helping someone else chuck theirs.

Why do we do it? Because we mistakenly think that that’s what good people do to show love— they give in to each other’s desires without question. Like parents who know the folly of giving in to all their children’s whims, we need to acknowledge that there’s a peculiar type of harm that comes in the wake of giving in to another’s weakness. That harm includes losing our own integrity.