The poet is one who is able to keep the fresh vision of the child alive.
There are two ways to reach me: by way of kisses or by way of the imagination. But there is a hierarchy: the kisses alone don't work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that true connection comes from emotional and imaginative bonds rather than just physical affection.
Anais Nin's quote reflects on the dual nature of intimacy and connection in relationships. It suggests that while physical affection, symbolized by 'kisses,' is important, it alone is insufficient for deep emotional engagement. Instead, the power of imagination—symbolizing understanding, creativity, and emotional connection—plays a superior role in fostering a meaningful relationship. This highlights the need for emotional depth and imagination to truly reach and understand one another at a profound level.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a romantic dinner, you could express how the bond you share is not only about physical moments but also about the dreams and imagination you share.
More from Anais Nin
All quotes →Anxiety is love's greatest killer, because it is like the stranglehold of the drowning.
We celebrate peace. Yet we pay no attention to the ways of curing aggression in human beings. And when one sees in psychoanalysis hostility disappearing as people conquer their fears, one wonders if the cure is not there.
The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.
We have been poisoned by fairy tales.
But I lie. I embellish. My words are not deep enough. They disguise, they conceal. I will not rest until I have told of my descent into a sensuality which was as dark, as magnificent, as wild, as my moments of mystic creation have been dazzling, ecstatic, exalted.
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That deepest thing, that recognition, that knowledge, that sense of kinship began the first time I saw you,and it is the same now - only a thousand times deeper and tenderer. I shall love you to eternity. I loved you long before we met in this flesh. I knew that when I first saw you. It was destiny. We are together like this and nothing can shake us apart.