If we embrace the promise of diversity, of creative conflict, and of "losing" in order to "win," we still face one final fear — the fear that a live encounter with otherness will challenge or even compel us to change our lives. This is not paranoia: the world is really out to get us! Otherness, taken seriously, always invites transformation, calling us not only to new facts and theories and values but also to new ways of living our lives — and that is the most daunting threat of all.
— Parker J. Palmer, The Courage to Teach