Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
John DonneRead
Sweetest love, I do not go, For weariness of thee, Nor in hope the world can show A fitter love for me; But since that I Must die at last, 'tis best, To use my self in jest Thus by feign'd deaths to die.
Interpretation
The speaker expresses a profound love that transcends the fear of loss, finding solace in the idea of playful deception about death.
In this quote, John Donne explores the complexity of love and mortality, conveying that his love is so deep that he does not seek to leave or replace it. Instead, he highlights the inevitability of death, suggesting that it might be wiser to embrace life with humor and lightness, even in the face of such profound truths.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a wedding speech to highlight the playful yet profound nature of true love.
Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies.
Reason is our soul's left hand, Faith her right, By these we reach divinity
All occasions invite His mercies, and all times are His seasons.
If poisonous minerals, and if that tree, Whose fruit threw death on else immortal us, If lecherous goats, if serpents envious Cannot be damned; alas; why should I be?
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankind; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
I call not that virginity a virtue, which resideth onely in the bodies integrity; much less if it be with a purpose of perpetually keeping it: for then it is a most inhumane vice. - But I call that Virginity a virtue which is willing and desirous to yield it self upon honest and lawfull terms, when just reason requireth; and until then, is kept with a modest chastity of body and mind.
Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily.
When a man is able to be alone he is also able to love. And his love has a totally different quality, a different beauty, a different fragrance to it. It is something divine, it is something of the beyond. It is deeply fulfilling. It brings great contentment.
Life and hope for the world are to be found only in the deeds of love.
You don't need to justify your love, you don't need to explain your love, you just need to practice your love. Practice creates the master.
Be a loving person rather than in a love relationship - because relationships happen one day and disappear another day. They are flowers; in the morning they bloom, by the evening they are gone.
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.
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