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God is love, the bishops tell. _x000D_ Yes, I know, But love is hell.
T. H. White
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote contrasts the divine nature of love with its painful and challenging aspects.

In this quote, T. H. White highlights the duality of love, suggesting that while it is often regarded as a divine and pure force (as stated by bishops), it also comes with profound suffering and challenges. This juxtaposition illustrates that love can lead to both transcendent joy and deep anguish, reflecting the complexities of human emotions and relationships.

Themes

LovePainSufferingDualityRelationships

In practice

Example use cases

During a wedding speech, one might reflect on the complexities of love by quoting this.

More from T. H. White

Kay was older and bigger than the Wart, so that he was bound to win in the end, but he was more nervous and imaginative. He could imagine the effect of each blow that was aimed at him, and this weakened his defense. Wart was only an infuriated hurricane.
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There is a thing called knowledge of the world, which people do not have until they are middle-aged. It is something which cannot be taught to younger people, because it is not logical and does not obey laws which are constant. It has no rules. Only, in the long years which bring women to the middle of life, a sense of balance develops...when she is beginning to hate her used body, she suddenly finds that she can do it. She can go on living.
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The destiny of man is to unite, not to divide.
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He did not like the grown-ups who talked down to him, but the ones who went on talking in their usual way, leaving him to leap along in their wake, jumping at meanings, guessing, clutching at known words, and chuckling at complicated jokes as they suddenly dawned. He had the glee of the porpoise then, pouring and leaping through strange seas.
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...All endeavours which are directed to a purely worldly end...contain within themselves the germs of their own corruption.
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There is one fairly good reason for fighting - and that is, if the other man starts it. You see, wars are a great wickedness, perhaps the greatest wickedness of a wicked species. They are so wicked that they must not be allowed. When you can be perfectly certain that the other man started them, then is the time when you might have a sort of duty to stop them.
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Why do I write? I have been called a writer of catastrophes, but that isn't true. I am always looking for words of love. Hate will not save us. Only love.
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But since he had The genius to be loved, why let him have The justice to be honoured in his grave.
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If you can really make a man believe you love him, you have won him; and if I could only make people really believe that God loves them, what a rush we would see for the kingdom of God!
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Quote by T. H. White | QuoteProject