An attempt at demolishing a virtue doesn’t actually hurt the virtue since its value is inherent. Rather, it makes the accuser himself less virtuous. An attack on truth doesn’t dethrone it from its place among the highest of values. Rather, it distances the attacker from it, it separates him from what is good.

The same is true for anything that is objectively of high value. Beauty, art, stories, faith; no matter how much we try to make these things unimportant, or even worse optional, we’ll only end up making ourselves poorer instead.