Sometimes I write from the point of view of characters whom I would dislike as people, not as a perverse exercise, but because this cracks the story open and makes me see it in a way I would not see it naturally.
Mary GaitskillRead
What is faithfulness, anyway? Can you be unfaithful to your own feelings and faithful to someone else? Is it faithful to lie in bed night after night with someone you love but no longer desire while ardently dreaming of someone else?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the nature of faithfulness in relationships and whether it is possible to be true to one's feelings while being with someone else.
In this quote, Mary Gaitskill explores the complexity of faithfulness, suggesting that emotional fidelity may not align with physical or romantic loyalty. It raises thought-provoking questions about desire, commitment, and the internal conflicts one may experience in relationships, challenging the conventional definitions of what it means to be faithful.
Themes
FaithfulnessRelationshipsFeelingsLoveDesire
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of love during a relationship counseling session.
More from Mary Gaitskill
All quotes →A sad person who is so involved with his sadness that he mistakes it for reality will have a hard time seeing himself as anything but sad. For him, the sadness is not a feeling that he experiences - it is him.
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What are you thinking?” She asks. -That you are beautiful. That not everyone could see it. I almost became the kind of person who could not.
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