Friday, February 12, 2010

love is temporary madness

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two."

-St. Augustine


8 comments:

Russell CJ Duffy said...

You have nailed precisely what love is without all the schmaltz so often associated with it. Lovely.

rachel awes said...

LOVE that image and always love your quotes. your roots must be AMAZING. xo

Lorena said...

C.J.Duffy, I felt the same way when I read it!

thank you rachel, you are sweet :)

Sinking Up said...

Wow that's great!!! :)

angie heintz said...

I haven't been blogging much, but so glad I decided to tonight. Just like the first day i stumbled upon your blog, I always find inspiration here. That first day it was rachael yamagata and today it is this lovely quote and the bright eyes video - i love that! That is exactly what I needed tonight.
thank you!

pilpi said...

hi,

is this your drawing? I would like to use it with attribution as you have licensed it as creative commons. do you own the rights to do so? thanks.

olli

Michael Andrews Bashan said...

Hi,

I'd like to use this image on my writing site:
https://sites.google.com/a/eas.edu.gt/andrewsbashan/projects-2/the-human-condition-essay

Thanks!!!

StJohnsPriest said...

Sorry - not St. Augustine, who never married and only had an illegitimate child with a woman he broke up with. It is actuallyfrom Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières