If most men and women were forced to rely upon physical charm to attract lovers, their sexual lives would be not only meager but in a youth-worshiping country like America painfully brief.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the limitations of relying solely on physical attractiveness in romantic relationships.
Gore Vidal's quote suggests that if individuals had to depend solely on their physical charm to attract partners, the quality and longevity of their romantic experiences would diminish significantly. In a society that often idolizes youth and beauty, this dependence could render many relationships shallow and fleeting.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of deeper connections in relationships.
We must declare ourselves, become known; allow the world to discover this subterranean life of ours which connects kings and farm boys, artists and clerks. Let them see that the important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
American writers want to be not good but great; and so are neither.
Writing fiction has become a priestly business in countries that have lost their faith.
The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
For the average American, freedom of speech is simply the freedom to repeat what everyone else is saying and no more.
Ayn Rand's 'philosophy' is nearly perfect in its immorality, which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society.... To justify and extol human greed and egotism is to my mind not only immoral, but evil.
Human relationships are primary in all of living. When the gusty winds blow and shake our lives, if we know that people care about us, we may bend with the wind ... but we won’t break.
Dating or finding someone is the last thing on my mind.
Men say they love independence in a woman, but they don't waste a second demolishing it brick by brick.
I was reminded that it is my obligation not only as an elected official in a pluralistic society, but also as a Christian, to remain open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided.
The first breath of adultery is the freest; after it, constraints aping marriage develop.
Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don't have to say anything
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.