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He lacked tenderness; he was rude; and he had more than a streak of cruelty in him; he was a thief and a liar. He stood for everything she feared and hated and despised; but she knew she could love him... This was no choice made with the mind.
Daphne Du Maurier
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Love can exist even in the presence of flaws and negative traits.

This quote reflects the complexity of love, illustrating how strong emotions can persist even toward someone who embodies traits that one despises. It underscores the idea that love is not always a rational choice, and it can exist in the midst of conflict and contradiction, challenging our perceptions of what is truly worthy of affection.

Themes

LoveComplexityEmotionsRelationshipsContradiction

In practice

Example use cases

In a romantic discussion about a troubled relationship.

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...the routine of life goes on, whatever happens, we do the same things, go through the little performance of eating, sleeping, washing. No crisis can break through the crust of habit.
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here was a silence between them for a moment, and she wondered if all women, when in love, were torn between two impulses, a longing to throw modesty and reserve to the winds and confess everything, and an equal determination to conceal the love forever, to be cool, aloof, utterly detached, to die rather than admit a thing so personal, so intimate.
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She had to live in this bright, red gabled house with the nurse until it was time for her to die... I thought how little we know about the feelings of old people. Children we understand, their fears and hopes and make-believe.
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We are all ghosts of yesterday, and the phantom of tomorrow awaits us alike in sunshine or in shadow, dimly perceived at times, never entirely lost.
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How pleasant,' Dona said, peeling her fruit; 'the rest of us can only run away from time to time, and however much we pretend to be free, we know it is only for a little while - our hands and our feet are tied.
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A familiar name on its own, however, does not carry its bearer far unless the talent is there, and the will to work.
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