Men are but children of a larger growth, Our appetites as apt to change as theirs, And full as craving too, and full as vain.
John DrydenRead
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Love distorts the perception of time, making even short separations feel prolonged.
In this quote, John Dryden encapsulates the intense nature of love and longing, suggesting that when one is in love, the passage of time can feel skewed. Hours may stretch into seeming months and days into years when lovers are apart, emphasizing how emotionally impactful absence can be in a relationship.
Themes
LoveAbsenceTimeLongingRelationship
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about long-distance relationships, one might reference this quote to highlight how love can make separation feel significant.
More from John Dryden
All quotes βOf no distemper, of no blast he died, _x000D_ But fell like autumn fruit that mellow'd long: _x000D_ Even wonder'd at, because he dropp'd no sooner. _x000D_ Fate seem'd to wind him up for fourscore years; _x000D_ Yet freshly ran he on ten winters more; _x000D_ Till like a clock worn out with eating time, _x000D_ The wheels of weary life at last stood still.
John DrydenRead
Or hast thou known the world so long in vain?
John DrydenRead
Shame on the body for breaking down while the spirit perseveres.
John DrydenRead
And write whatever Time shall bring to pass_x000D_ _x000D_ With pens of adamant on plates of brass.
John DrydenRead
β¦So when the last and dreadful hour This crumbling pageant shall devour, The trumpet shall be heard on high, The dead shall live, the living die, And Music shall untune the sky
John DrydenRead
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For an hour, blended with all she could offer, something noble had been created which had nothing to do with the physical world. And from the turn of his throat, the warmth of his hair, the strong, slender sinews of his hands, something further; which had. Though she combed the earth and searched through the smoke of the galaxies there was no being she wanted but this, who was not and should not be for Philippa Somerville.
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What the world needs is not 'a little bit of love', but a surgical operation.
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And you will remember that love is not getting, but giving; not a wild dream of pleasure, and a madness of desire β oh no, love is not that β it is goodness, and honour, and peace, and pure living β yes, love is that; and it is the best thing in the world, and the thing that lives longest.
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Of course, true love is exceptional - two or three times a century, more or less. The rest of the time there is vanity or boredom.
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For he would be thinking of love Till the stars had run away And the shadows eaten the moon.
William Butler YeatsRead