If I said I was madly in love with you, I'd be lying and what's more, you'd know it.
Margaret MitchellRead
I loved something I made up, something that's just as dead as Melly is. I made a pretty suit of clothes and fell in love with it. And when Ashley came riding along, so handsome, so different, I put that suit on him and made him wear it whether it fitted him or not. And I wouldn't see what he really was. I kept on loving the pretty clothes—and not him at all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the danger of loving an ideal or facade rather than the true essence of a person.
In this quote, Margaret Mitchell uses the metaphor of a suit of clothes to illustrate how one can become enamored with an idealized version of someone, rather than embracing their true self. The speaker's love for the beautiful clothes symbolizes how we often project our fantasies onto others, leading to a disconnect between our perceptions and reality. This reflects the challenge of understanding and accepting people for who they truly are, separate from the identities we create for them.
Themes
LoveIllusionIdentityRelationshipsPerception
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would resonate in a discussion about love and acceptance in relationships.
More from Margaret Mitchell
All quotes →You're like the thief who isn't the least bit sorry he stole, but is terribly, terribly sorry he's going to jail. - Rhett Butler
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It's a curse - this not wanting to look on naked realities. Until the war, life was never more real to me than a shadow show on a curtain. And I preferred it so. I do not like the outlines of things to be too sharp. I like them gently blurred, a little hazy.
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Well, my dear, take heart. Some day, I will kiss you and you will like it. But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.
Margaret MitchellRead
men are so conceited they’ll believe anything that flatters them
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Oh, why was he so handsomely blond, so courteously aloof, so maddeningly boring with his talk about Europe and books and music and poetry and things that interested her not at all - and yet so desirable?
Margaret MitchellRead
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