We burned with love for ourselves, all of us, starters of the fire we suffered- our love was the affliction for which only our love was the cure.
Jonathan Safran FoerRead
She wants to know if I love her, that's all anyone wants from anyone else, not love itself but the knowledge that love is there, like new batteries in the flashlight in the emergency kit in the hall closet.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People seek reassurance of love more than love itself.
This quote by Jonathan Safran Foer encapsulates the idea that individuals desire affirmation of love from others rather than the abstract concept of love. Just as batteries are essential for the functioning of a flashlight in an emergency, the knowledge of being loved provides comfort and reassurance in relationships.
Themes
LoveReassuranceRelationshipsComfortAffection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about relationships, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of expressing love.
More from Jonathan Safran Foer
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What is being awake if not interpreting our dreams, or dreaming if not interpreting our wake?
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How soon country people forget. When they fall in love with a city it is forever, and it is like forever. As though there never was a time when they didn't love it. The minute they arrive at the train station or get off the ferry and glimpse the wide streets and the wasteful lamps lighting them, they know they are born for it. There, in a city, they are not so much new as themselves: their stronger, riskier selves.
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When your mind is quiet, you enter into the flow of love, and you just flow from one moment to the next as naturally as breathing. Whatever arises, I embrace it with love in the moment. This is my practice of polishing the mirror to reflect love. In this moment there is just awareness and love. If someone asks me how to get into their heart, I give them this practice: I Am Loving Awareness.
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Why is it that words like these seem dull and cold? Is it because there is no word tender enough to be your name?
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