The despondency that follows makes me feel somewhat like a shipwrecked man who spies a sail, sees himself saved, and suddenly remembers that the lens of his spyglass has a flaw, a blurred spot -- the sail he has seen.
Jean GenetRead
Erotic play discloses a nameless world which is revealed by the nocturnal language of lovers. Such language is not written down. It is whispered into the ear at night in a hoarse voice. At dawn it is forgotten.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the intimate, secretive expressions of love that occur in passionate encounters.
In this quote, Jean Genet suggests that the expression of love, especially in its erotic form, exists in a unique and unspoken realm that transcends ordinary communication. This 'nocturnal language' symbolizes the deep, personal connections that lovers share, which are fleeting and often lost by the morning, emphasizing the ephemeral nature of such experiences and feelings.
Themes
LoveEroticIntimacyCommunicationSecrecyFleeting
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about the nature of romantic relationships during a poetry reading.
More from Jean Genet
All quotes βI'm homosexual. How and why are idle questions. It's a little like wanting to know why my eyes are green.
Jean GenetRead
I wanted to swallow myself by opening my mouth very wide and turning it over my head so that it would take in my whole body, and then the Universe, until all that would remain of me would be a ball of eaten thing which little by little would be annihilated: that is how I see the end of the world.
Jean GenetRead
I decided to be what crime made of me.
Jean GenetRead
It's a true image, born of a false spectacle.
Jean GenetRead
Anyone who hasn't experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all.
Jean GenetRead
Similar quotes
Have a great love for those who contradict and fail to love you, for in this way love is begotten in a heart that has no love.
John Of The CrossRead
He thought her beautiful, believed her impeccably wise; dreamed of her, wrote poems to her, which, ignoring the subject, she corrected in red ink.
Virginia WoolfRead
Peoples of the entire world need to hear these words. Their conscience needs to grow in the certainty that Someone exists who holds in His Hands the destiny of this passing world... And this Someone is Love- Love that became Man, Love crucified and risen, Love unceasingly present among men. It is Eucharistic Love.
Pope John Paul IiRead
Even more than we want good love for ourselves, we want it for our children, those vulnerable satellites of our hearts that we send, unsteady, into the world.
Mona SimpsonRead
We fall in love because we long to escape from ourselves with someone as beautiful, intelligent, and witty as we are ugly, stupid, and dull. But what if such a perfect being should one day turn around and decide they will love us back? We can only be somewhat shocked-how can they be as wonderful as we had hoped when they have the bad taste to approve of someone like us?
Alain De BottonRead
You dance love, and you dance joy, and you dance dreams.
Gene KellyRead