What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the shining elusive element which is life itself - life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.
Willa CatherRead
A man long accustomed to admire his wife in general, seldom pauses to admire her in a particular gown or attitude, unless his attention is directed to her by the appreciative gaze of another man.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often overlook the uniqueness of their partners until someone else expresses appreciation.
Willa Cather's quote suggests that familiarity can blind us to the particular qualities we once admired in our partners. When we are exposed to admiration from another, we become more aware of and appreciate the specific attributes that make our loved ones special, reinforcing the importance of recognition and external validation in relationships.
Themes
AppreciationRelationshipsAdmirationRecognitionLove
In practice
Example use cases
During a wedding toast, a friend might quote this to highlight how admiration evolves in relationships.
More from Willa Cather
All quotes →That is happiness; to be dissolved into something complete and great.
Willa CatherRead
Our tree became the talking tree of the fairy tale; legends and stories nestled like birds in its branches.
Willa CatherRead
Writing ought either to be the manufacture of stories for which there is a market demand - a business as safe and commendable as making soap or breakfast foods - or it should be an art, which is always a search for something for which there is no market demand, something new and untried, where the values are intrinsic and have nothing to do with standardized values.
Willa CatherRead
The air and the earth interpenetrated in the warm gusts of spring; the soil was full of sunlight, and the sunlight full of red dust. The air one breathed was saturated with earthy smells, and the grass under foot had a reflection of the blue sky in it.
Willa CatherRead
This is reality, whether you like it or not--all those frivolities of summer, the light and shadow, the living mask of green that trembled over everything, they were lies, and this is what was underneath. This is the truth.
Willa CatherRead
Similar quotes
I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.
Ani DifrancoRead
In today’s interconnected and globalized world, it is now commonplace for people of dissimilar world views, faiths and races to live side by side. It is a matter of great urgency, therefore, that we find ways to cooperate with one another in a spirit of mutual acceptance and respect.
Dalai LamaRead
People give one another things that can't be gift wrapped.
Nadine GordimerRead
We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are - whether it's here in the United States or, as Hillary (Clinton) mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed most recently in Uganda.
Barack ObamaRead
Her father was the face of her morning and night, he was everything, so saturating Havaa’s world that she could no more describe him than she could the air.
Anthony MarraRead
A woman can forgive a man for the harm he does her...but she can never forgive him for the sacrifices he makes on her account.
W. Somerset MaughamRead