“Your line of work requires support. People who care about your well-being, who will be there to stitch up your wounds.”

“If I allow people to get close to me, I’m putting them in danger.”

“So your solution is to remove yourself from the world you wish to protect. Where’s the sense in that?”

(pregnant silence, and he continues)

“There is not a man or woman, no matter how fit he or she may be, who is capable of carrying the entire world on their shoulders.”

“Steve was.”

“From what Mr. Stark has told me, Captain Rogers relied heavily on you. For courage, strategy, and moral guidance. You were his support. Your desire to help others is noble, but I doubt you’ll find much success unless you allow others to help you.”

– Edmund Jarvis and Peggy Carter
Agent Carter, Season 1, Episode 2, “Bridge and Tunnel”

Commented on this just yesterday, but these words deserve a big spotlight shining right on them.

(soap box moment)

Carter has suffered a small wound, but also the loss of an innocent friend, and she still feels the loss of Captain America. She wants to withdraw, and that is made easier by how few friends she has, and how isolated she already is, surrounded by men who do not value her properly. Jarvis gives her a gentle, but firm rebuke: she needs people. She cannot do everything alone. No one can do everything alone. Not even Captain America could do it all alone. And what she does not see is that he did not do it alone, because he had her.

The words easily translate to an argument for equality. Pure equality, favoring neither man over woman, nor woman over man. We need each other to preserve our world, our freedom, our lives, our families, our future. Only by working together can we accomplish anything. Without each other, we are simply… incomplete. And that incompleteness is the weakness of any man or woman who stands alone, or apart from their fellow human beings. No one can do everything alone. Not even the people we idolize.

Together, when we are truly whole…. that is the essence of strength.

Strength is born from love, and love flourishes between equals.