Is not the most erotic part of the body wherever the clothing affords a glimpse?
Roland BarthesRead
Isn’t the most sensitive point of this mourning the fact that I must lose a language — the amorous language? No more ‘I love you’s.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the pain of losing the ability to express love in a particular language, highlighting the emotional weight of language in relationships.
In this quote, Roland Barthes reflects on the profound impact of language on our expressions of love, lamenting the loss that comes with the fading of a specific language that carries personal significance. The loss of language signifies not only a barrier to communication but also a deeper emotional disconnect, suggesting that the words we use shape our connections and experiences of love.
Themes
LanguageLoveLossEmotionRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared at a linguistic conference discussing language loss.
More from Roland Barthes
All quotes →If I acknowledge my dependency, I do so because for me it is a means of signifying my demand: in the realm of love, futility is not a "weakness" or an "absurdity": it is a strong sign: the more futile, the more it signifies and the more it asserts itself as strength.)
Roland BarthesRead
The gesture of the amorous embrace seems to fulfill, for a time, the subject's dream of total union with the loved being: The longing for consummation with the other.
Roland BarthesRead
The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.
Roland BarthesRead
I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived with passion by unknown artists, and consumed in image if not in usage by a whole population which appropriates them as a purely magical object.
Roland BarthesRead
All those young photographers who are at work in the world, determined upon the capture of actuality, do not know that they are agents of Death.
Roland BarthesRead
Similar quotes
In societies where men are truly confident of their own worth women are not merely "tolerated", they are valued.
Aung San Suu KyiRead
A man's wife has more power over him than the state has.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead
We're born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we're not alone.
Orson WellesRead
My single young friends, we counsel you to channel your associations with the opposite sex into dating patterns that have the potential to mature into marriage, not hanging-out patterns that only have the prospect to mature into team sports like touch football. Marriage is not a group activity—at least not until the children come along in goodly numbers
Dallin H. OaksRead
Bahá'í marriage is union and cordial affection between the two parties. They must, however, exercise the utmost care and become acquainted with each other's character. This eternal bond should be made secure by a firm covenant, and the intention should be to foster harmony, fellowship and unity and to attain everlasting life.
Abdu'L-BahRead
To a shameful extent, the charm of marriage boils down to how unpleasant it is to be alone.
Alain De BottonRead