You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
Walker PercyRead
There is no pain on this earth like seeing the same woman look at another man the way she once looked at you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the deep emotional pain of witnessing a loved one express affection for someone else.
Walker Percy captures the intense feelings of jealousy and heartache that arise from seeing a former lover show affection to another person. It reflects the profound vulnerability involved in romantic relationships, highlighting how deeply personal connections can lead to anguish when they are changed or lost.
Themes
PainJealousyLoveHeartbreakRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the complexities of love.
More from Walker Percy
All quotes βThey all think any minute I'm going to commit suicide. What a joke. The truth of course is the exact opposite: suicide is the only thing that keeps me alive. Whenever everything else fails, all I have to do is consider suicide and in two seconds I'm as cheerful as a nitwit. But if I could not kill myself -- ah then, I would. I can do without nembutal or murder mysteries but not without suicide.
Walker PercyRead
It is possible, however, that the artist is both thin-skinned and prophetic and, like the canary lowered into the mine shaft to test the air, has caught a whiff of something lethal.
Walker PercyRead
Why is it that one can look at a lion or a planet or an owl or at someone's finger as long as one pleases, but looking into the eyes of another person is, if prolonged past a second, a perilous affair?
Walker PercyRead
We love those who know the worst of us and don't turn their faces away.
Walker PercyRead
Before, I wandered as a diversion. Now I wander seriously and sit and read as a diversion.
Walker PercyRead
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