“Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the enjoyment of love is an anesthetic. Who would want to wake up halfway through an operation?”
This Business of Living (1935-1950)
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Cesare Pavese137
Italian poet, novelist, literary critic, and translator 1908–1950Related quotes
“A man who wants to make a relationship work will move mountains to keep the
woman he loves”
Greg Behrendt (1963) American comedian
Source: He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys
My Day (1935–1962)
Context: It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death. (1 April 1939)
Rainer Maria Rilke book Letters to a Young Poet
On young couples who have not yet matured enough to recognize and respect each other's solitude
Letter Seven (14 May 1904)
Letters to a Young Poet (1934)
“Couples who rarely or never have sex can know lifelong love.”
Bell Hooks book All About Love: New Visions
Source: All About Love: New Visions
“If love was a choice, who would ever choose such exquisite pain?”
Margaret Landon (1903–1993) writer, missionary
Donald Miller book Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality
Blue Like Jazz (2003, Nelson Books)
Epeli Ganilau (1951) Fijian politician
Excerpts from a speech at the launch of the NAP, 8 April 2005