They are all alike you know. They hold their tongues for years and you think you're safe, but when the opportunity comes they remember everything.
Edith WhartonRead
I couldn't have spoken like this yesterday, because when we've been apart, and I'm looking forward to seeing you, every thought is burnt up in a great flame. But then you come; and you're so much more than I remembered, and what I want of you is so much more than an hour or two every now and then, with wastes of thirsty waiting between, that I can sit perfectly still beside you, like this, with that other vision in my mind, just quietly trusting it to come true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the intense feelings that arise from longing and the deeper connection that develops upon reunion.
In this quote, Edith Wharton reflects on the powerful emotions associated with being apart from a loved one and the anticipation of reunion. The imagery of thoughts being 'burnt up in a great flame' highlights the consuming nature of longing, while the speaker's realization that their loved one is more than they remembered signifies the depth of their affection. Ultimately, it conveys the importance of trust in the relationship and the desire for a deeper connection beyond fleeting moments.
Themes
LoveLongingConnectionAnticipationTrust
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a romantic speech to emphasize the depth of love amidst separation.
More from Edith Wharton
All quotes →They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods
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As he paid the hansom and followed his wife's long train into the house he took refuge in the comforting platitude that the first six months were always the most difficult in marriage. 'After that I suppose we shall have pretty nearly finished rubbing off each other’s angles,' he reflected; but the worst of it was that May's pressure was already bearing on the very angles whose sharpness he most wanted to keep
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There are two ways to spread happiness; either be the light who shines it or be the mirror who reflects it.
Edith WhartonRead
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