[ It's not a light question, and one that bears thinking about before answering, but Gisela is not generally shy with her beliefs, or when it comes to more thoughtful content. Her hands stay at her sides when she speaks, not fidgeting with the conscious steadiness of someone who is inclined to gesticulate in conversation, but has been trained out of it. ]

An abbreviated version of one I like says: "To be sentient is to suffer. As an objective sentient being man is therefore a suffering being, and since he feels his suffering, he is a passionate being. Passion is man’s essential capacity energetically bent on its object."