After all, damn it, what does being in love mean if you can't trust a person.
Evelyn WaughRead
Charm is the great English blight. It does not exist outside these damp islands. It spots and kills anything it touches. It kills love; it kills art; I greatly fear, my dear Charles, it has killed you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses the idea that charm can have a detrimental effect on authenticity and genuine feelings.
Evelyn Waugh’s quote suggests that while charm may seem appealing, it can have destructive consequences on love, art, and even personal relationships. It implies that charm is superficial, particularly among the English, and it points to a deeper worry that such superficiality may ultimately harm the essence of what makes us human and our connections to one another.
Themes
CharmLoveArtSuperficialityRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about the impact of societal norms on genuine emotions.
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...she had regained what I thought she had lost forever, the magical sadness which had drawn me to her, the thwarted look that had seemed to say, "Surely I was made for some other purpose than this?
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That was the change in her from ten years ago; that, indeed, was her reward, this haunting, magical sadness which spoke straight to the heart and struck silence; it was the completion of her beauty.
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