Blow the candle out, I don't need to see what my thoughts look like.
Emile ZolaRead
She was cold by nature, self-love predominating over passion; rather than being virtuous, she preferred to have her pleasures all to herself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote describes a person who prioritizes self-love and personal pleasures over love and virtues.
In this quote, Emile Zola illustrates a character who is emotionally distant and self-centered, valuing her own desires above any virtue or connection with others. The idea of being 'cold by nature' suggests a lack of warmth in her relationships, indicating that her self-interest leaves little room for genuine love or compassion for others.
Themes
Self-LovePassionColdnessVirtuePleasure
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the importance of emotional connection in relationships.
More from Emile Zola
All quotes →I believe that all is illusion and vanity outside the treasure of truths slowly accumulated, and which will never again be lost. I believe that the sum of these truths, always increasing, will at last confer on man incalculable power and peace, if not happiness. Yes, I believe in the final triumph of life.
Emile ZolaRead
A ruined man fell from her hands like a ripe fruit, to lie rotting on the ground.
Emile ZolaRead
Oh, the fools, like a lot of good little schoolboys, scared to death of anything they've been taught is wrong!
Emile ZolaRead
Did not one spend the first half of one's days in dreams of happiness and the second half in regrets and terrors?
Emile ZolaRead
They dared not peer down into their own natures, down into the feverish confusion that filled their minds with a kind of dense, acrid mist.
Emile ZolaRead
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