The more research you do, the more at ease you are in the world you're writing about. It doesn't encumber you, it makes you free.
A. S. ByattRead
Dorothy was in that state human beings passed through at the beginning of a love affair, in which they desire to say anything and everything to the beloved, to the alter ego, before they have learned what the real Other can and can't understand, can and can't accept.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote describes the initial phase of a love affair where both individuals are eager to share everything with each other without fully understanding how much can be accepted.
In this quote, A. S. Byatt highlights the excitement and vulnerability that accompany the early stages of romantic relationships. It captures the intensity of emotions and the eagerness to connect on a deep level, while also acknowledging the eventual reality that comes with truly knowing another person—understanding their limits, preferences, and capacity for acceptance. This phase is often filled with idealism, as individuals express their innermost thoughts and feelings in the hopes of forging a meaningful bond.
Themes
LoveRelationshipCommunicationUnderstandingIntimacy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a romantic movie to depict the early stages of a relationship.
More from A. S. Byatt
All quotes →It's because I'm a feminist that I can't stand women limiting other women's imaginations. It really makes me angry.
A. S. ByattRead
Why do we take pleasure in gruesome death, neatly packaged as a puzzle to which we may find a satisfactory solution through clues - or if we are not clever enough, have it revealed by the all-powerful tale-teller at the end of the book? It is something to do with being reduced to, and comforted by, playing by the rules.
A. S. ByattRead
Never stop paying attention to things. Never make your mind up finally. Do not hold beliefs.
A. S. ByattRead
Only write to me, write to me, I love to see the hop and skip and sudden starts of your ink.
A. S. ByattRead
I am a creature of my pen. My pen is the best of me.
A. S. ByattRead
Similar quotes
To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, to love someone who loves you is everything.
Bill RussellRead
Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same.
George R. R. MartinRead
There was a house at the foot of the tower, close to the thunder of the waves breaking against the cliffs, where love was more intense because it seemed like a shipwreck.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
Who's gonna love you when your looks are gone?
Paul SimonRead
No man knows till he experiences it, what it is like to feel his own life-blood drawn away into the woman he loves.
Bram StokerRead
She was like a lone angel floating above the surface of the earth, laughing with delight because she could fly but crying out of loneliness.
Markus ZusakRead