Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
John DonneRead
Dull sublunary lovers' love (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove Those things which elemented it.
Interpretation
The quote expresses that physical love is tied to presence and cannot endure absence.
In this quote, John Donne reflects on the nature of earthly, physical love, arguing that such love relies heavily on the physical presence of the beloved. He suggests that when lovers are apart, the essence of their connection diminishes, as their love is rooted in sensory experiences and tangible interaction, making absence detrimental to their bond.
In practice
Sharing this quote during a wedding speech to highlight the importance of presence in love.
Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right, By these we reach divinity
All occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons.
If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us, If lecherous goats, if serpents envious Cannot be damned; alas; why should I be?
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth onely in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with a purpose of perpetually keeping it: for then it is a most inhumane vice. - But I call that Virginity a virtue which is willing and desirous to yield it self upon honest and lawfull terms, when just reason requireth; and until then, is kept with a modest chastity of body and mind.
Ah, I am the judge of dreams, and you are the judge of love. Well, I find you guilty of dreaming good dreams, and sentence you to a lifetime of working and suffering for the sake of your dreams. I only hope that someday you won't declare me innocent of the crime of loving you.
There's no race, no religion, no class system, no color - nothing - no sexual orientation, that makes us better than anyone else. We're all deserving of love.
That kind of love - the kind you realize you already have by the life you've created together - that's the kind that lasts.
Love like there's no tomorrow, and if tomorrow comes, love again.
Everything we do is either an act of love or a cry for help.
The cross symbolizes a cosmic as well as historic truth. Love conquers the world, but its victory is not an easy one.
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