We then become the granite tower, they become the ivy. They cling and climb and pursue, knowing they can never become nor destroy us. Pride is forged by chaos and time. Our shadow becomes our friend eternal. One needs to experience hell on earth and heaven on earth.
Many equations become one - war and peace.
To feel the pain and pleasure of life is to experience knowledge first hand. No books, just raw knowledge. The mind is the proverbial sponge, fed by our senses five. Between madness and insanity lurks the truth. The only fear we have in life is the truth.