People
Delusions are often functional. A mother’s opinions about her children’s beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseum, keep her from drowning them at birth.
— Robert Heinlein · Time Enough for Love
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
A blunt, darkly comic argument that comfortable illusions can serve a purpose. It says a parent's inflated pride in her children keeps her devoted, and jokes with grim exaggeration about what she might do without it. It presents delusion as useful glue, not just error.
Context reviewed