Valentine had long ago observed that in a society that expected chastity and fidelity the adolescents who controlled and channelled their youthful passions were the ones who grow up to be both strong and civilized. Adolescents in such a community who were either too weak to control themselves or too contemptuous of society's norms to try usually ended up being either sheep or wolves - either mindless members of the herd or predators who took what they could and gave nothing. [...] Unlike the sheep and the wolves, they (the controlled ones) perform a better role than the script given them by their inner fears and desires. They act out the script of decency, of self-sacrifice, of public honour - of civilization. And in the pretence, it becomes reality. There really is civilization in human history, thought Valentine, but only because of people like these. The shepherds.
(Xenocide, Orson Scott Card)
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