Men are said to desire women, Severian. Why do they despise the women they obtain?
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the contradictory nature of desire and contempt in human relationships.
Gene Wolfe's quote questions the paradox of human desire, particularly regarding men and women. It suggests that while men may pursue women and identify them as objects of desire, they often harbor disdain for those very women they attain, pointing to deeper issues in how relationships are often navigated and the complexity of emotional responses towards love and attraction.
In practice
This quote could be used in a discussion about gender dynamics in relationships.
That was when I found out that the best way in the world to make yourself feel better when you have hit bottom is to try to get somebody else to feel better. There are certain things in life that are truly worth knowing, and that is one of the big ones.
All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.
Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and myself from the community of sinners.
Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution.
I take people very seriously. People are all I take seriously, in fact. Therefore, I have nothing but sympathy for how people behave - and nothing but laughter to console them with.
Buy with your heart, not your head. You can look at all the aspects that make a purchase practical, but that kind of thinking makes it an investment rather than a home.
I had always assumed we had an unspoken understanding about these things: that she didn't really mean I was a failure, and I really meant I would try to respect her opinions more. But listening to Auntie Lin tonight reminds me once agian: My mother and I never really understood one another. We translated each other's meanings and I seemed to hear less than what was said, while my mother heard more. No doubt she told Auntie Lin I was going back to school to get a doctorate.
We all have special numbers in our lives, and 4 is that for me. It's the day I was born. My mother's birthday, and a lot of my friends' birthdays, are on the fourth; April 4 is my wedding date.
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