You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
Walker PercyRead
There is no pain on this earth like seeing the same woman look at another man the way she once looked at you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the deep emotional pain of witnessing a loved one express affection for someone else.
Walker Percy captures the intense feelings of jealousy and heartache that arise from seeing a former lover show affection to another person. It reflects the profound vulnerability involved in romantic relationships, highlighting how deeply personal connections can lead to anguish when they are changed or lost.
Themes
PainJealousyLoveHeartbreakRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the complexities of love.
More from Walker Percy
All quotes →They all think any minute I'm going to commit suicide. What a joke. The truth of course is the exact opposite: suicide is the only thing that keeps me alive. Whenever everything else fails, all I have to do is consider suicide and in two seconds I'm as cheerful as a nitwit. But if I could not kill myself -- ah then, I would. I can do without nembutal or murder mysteries but not without suicide.
Walker PercyRead
It is possible, however, that the artist is both thin-skinned and prophetic and, like the canary lowered into the mine shaft to test the air, has caught a whiff of something lethal.
Walker PercyRead
Why is it that one can look at a lion or a planet or an owl or at someone's finger as long as one pleases, but looking into the eyes of another person is, if prolonged past a second, a perilous affair?
Walker PercyRead
We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away.
Walker PercyRead
Before, I wandered as a diversion. Now I wander seriously and sit and read as a diversion.
Walker PercyRead
Similar quotes
It would be rare to find a woman who hadn't endured some kind of ridicule for stepping out of line. When the market dictates that a woman's value is primarily attached to her looks and deferential behaviour, it's the threat of sexually degrading insults that help to keep her in check.
Clementine FordRead
Without the Sisters of St. Joseph, I might not be standing here.
John LewisRead
The confusing of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.
George Bernard ShawRead
Humans have a fraught relationship with beasts. They are our companions and our chattel, our family members and our laborers, our household pets and our household pests. We love them and cage them, admire them and abuse them. And, of course, we cook and eat them.
Jeffrey KlugerRead
Yes, you know enough of my frankness to believe me capable of that. After abusing you so abominably to your face, I could have no scruple in abusing you to all your relations.
Jane AustenRead
Do you ever wonder whether people would like you more or less if they could see inside you? But I always wonder about that. If people could see me the way I see myself—if they could live in my memories—would anyone, anyone, love me?
John GreenRead