We aren't the things we collect, acquire, read. We are, for as long as we are here, only love. The things we loved. The people we loved. And these, I think these really do live on.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
As many have discovered, it is entirely possible (although not particularly desirable) to love two people with all your heart. It is entirely possible to long for two lives, to feel that one life can't come close to containing it all.
Interpretation
What this quote means
It is possible to love two people deeply, but it can be complicated and unsatisfactory.
Gabrielle Zevin's quote speaks to the complexity of human emotions, particularly in the realm of love. It suggests that while one may have the capacity to love multiple people passionately, this situation often leads to conflict, confusion, and a feeling that no single relationship can truly fulfill all desires and aspirations. This highlights the challenges and limitations of love and the human experience as a whole.
Themes
LoveEmotionsRelationshipsComplexityHuman Experience
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of modern relationships.
More from Gabrielle Zevin
All quotes →On, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human life is a beautiful mess.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
It’s difficult to ever go back to the same places or people. You turn away, even for a moment, and when you turn back around, everything’s changed.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
I wish I could tell you to always follow your heart, but I think it is bad advice. You have a heart, yes, it is true, but also a brain and also a soul. I've come to believe that we love with our brains as much as our hearts. Real Love is not just instinct, but intent...... From year to year, you may not always be the same Jane. This is perfectly normal. A Jane is many Janes in a lifetime.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
There is no difference in quality between a life lived forward and a life lived backwards, she thinks. She had come to love this backward life. It was, after all, the only life she had.
Gabrielle ZevinRead
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