The truth is how you say it, and to be 'one's self' is the most shocking custom of all.
Djuna BarnesRead
“God,” she cried, “what is love? Man seeking his own head? The human head, so rented by misery that even the teeth weigh! She couldn't tell me the truth because she had never planned it; her life was a continual accident, and how can you be prepared for that? Everything we can't bear in this world, some day we find in one person, and love it all at once.”
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the complexities and burdens of love, suggesting that true love encompasses all of our struggles and imperfections.
Djuna Barnes reflects on the multifaceted nature of love, highlighting how it can arise from the weight of human suffering and the inevitable chaos of life. She suggests that love is not just about beauty or perfection, but rather a profound connection that embraces all aspects of our existence, including our sorrows and difficulties. As we encounter another person, we often find ourselves confronting everything we struggle to bear, suggesting that love demands acceptance of shared human vulnerabilities.
Themes
LoveSufferingHuman ConditionRelationshipAcceptance
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be shared during a wedding ceremony to emphasize the depth and complexity of love.
More from Djuna Barnes
All quotes →Matthew,' she said, 'have you ever loved someone and it became yourself?' For a moment he did not answer. Taking up the decanter he held it to the light. 'Robin can go anywhere, do anything,' Nora continued, 'because she forgets, and I nowhere because I remember.' She came toward him. 'Matthew,' she said, 'you think I have always been like this. Once I was remorseless, but this is another love — it goes everywhere; there is no place for it to stop — it rots me away.
Djuna BarnesRead
Our bones ache only while the flesh is on them. Stretch it as thin as the temple flesh of an ailing woman and still it serves to ache the bone and to move the bone about; and in like manner the night is a skin pulled over the head of day that the day may be in a torment. We will find no comfort until the night melts away; until the fury of the night rots out its fire.
Djuna BarnesRead
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