'Your treasured opinions never made anyone happy''
from Parables from Other Planets
by Hugh and Gayle Prather

PLANET: Sauv¹⁰

TRANSLATION: The primary industry on Sauv¹⁰ is the codification of all mortal knowledge. Their encyclopedias, dictionaries, and other reference books are widely used in several galaxies. The long-term effect of this occupation on the Sauvits themselves has been to develop a deep neutrality regarding all intellectual issues. "Facts are fashion," they say. And when someone is overheard insisting doggedly on his or her point of view, the typical Sauvit retort is, "About even this, you will change your mind."

MEANING: You cannot insist on being right and at the same moment extend the gift of love. The only punishable crime on Sauv¹⁰ is narrow-mindedness, the penalty for which is to be a foster parent to a two-year-old and a parrot. The parrot is trained to say "I'm right" in a firm but cheerful voice forty-eight times a day, and the two year-old is not trained to, but nevertheless does, say "No" in a firm but uncheerful voice to all attempts at communication. Despite their apparent skepticism regarding opinions, knowledge, and facts, Sauvits have cultivated an unreasonable love for all living things. Language is used carefully, not to achieve accuracy but to achieve compassion. Or, as the Sauvits themselves would put it: An unloving question has no answer.