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.
Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.
Young people want you to be real with them.
It isn’t so much that we want to leave the person we are with as we want to leave the person we have become.
Every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. This is not the case.
Don't want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak.
Most people who have grown up introverted in this very extroverted culture of ours have had painful experiences of feeling like they are out of step with what's expected of them. Parenting can pose unique challenges for introverted parents, who fear that their own painful experiences will be repeated in their children's lives.
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