Later, when his father left him, the boy cried over his pet, until eventually his father sent a servant to take the body of the bird away and bury it. The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he'd learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.

Summary

This quote suggests that the boy's experience of losing his pet bird and witnessing his father's detachment during that time taught him a profound lesson about the nature of love. The boy learns that loving someone or something means that, inevitably, some form of destruction or loss is bound to occur. Furthermore, he also recognizes that being loved by someone often leads to one's own vulnerability and potential destruction. This bittersweet lesson shapes the boy's emotional resilience, transforming him into someone cautious about loving and getting loved, making him remember these harsh truths forever.

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