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O love, if I regret the age when one savors you, it is not for the hour of pleasure, but for the one that follows it.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote reflects on the bittersweet nature of love, highlighting how one may regret love not for its joyful moments, but for the inevitable sadness that follows.

In this quote, Rousseau expresses a complex sentiment about love, indicating that while the moments of joy and pleasure in loving someone are cherished, they are ultimately shadowed by the pain of loss or longing that often comes after. This suggests that love is intertwined with both happiness and sorrow, and the memories of love can linger with a sense of nostalgia and regret for the fleeting nature of such emotions.

Themes

LoveRegretPleasureSadnessNostalgia

In practice

Example use cases

During a wedding toast, one might quote Rousseau to express the deep complexities of love.

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As evening approached, I came down from the heights of the island, and I liked then to go and sit on the shingle in some secluded spot by the lake; there the noise of the waves and the movement of the water, taking hold of my senses and driving all other agitation from my soul, would plunge me into delicious reverie in which night often stole upon me unawares.
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To live is not to breathe but to act. It is to make use of our organs, our senses, our faculties, of all the parts of ourselves which give us the sentiment of our existence. The man who has lived the most is not he who has counted the most years but he who has most felt life.
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Quote by Jean-Jacques Rousseau | QuoteProject