The poet is one who is able to keep the fresh vision of the child alive.
There are two ways to reach me: by way of kisses or by way of the imagination. But there is a hierarchy: the kisses alone don't work.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that true connection comes from emotional and imaginative bonds rather than just physical affection.
Anais Nin's quote reflects on the dual nature of intimacy and connection in relationships. It suggests that while physical affection, symbolized by 'kisses,' is important, it alone is insufficient for deep emotional engagement. Instead, the power of imagination—symbolizing understanding, creativity, and emotional connection—plays a superior role in fostering a meaningful relationship. This highlights the need for emotional depth and imagination to truly reach and understand one another at a profound level.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a romantic dinner, you could express how the bond you share is not only about physical moments but also about the dreams and imagination you share.
More from Anais Nin
All quotes →Anxiety is love's greatest killer, because it is like the stranglehold of the drowning.
We celebrate peace. Yet we pay no attention to the ways of curing aggression in human beings. And when one sees in psychoanalysis hostility disappearing as people conquer their fears, one wonders if the cure is not there.
The impetus to grow and live intensely is so powerful in me I cannot resist it. I will work, I will love my husband, but I will fulfill myself.
We have been poisoned by fairy tales.
But I lie. I embellish. My words are not deep enough. They disguise, they conceal. I will not rest until I have told of my descent into a sensuality which was as dark, as magnificent, as wild, as my moments of mystic creation have been dazzling, ecstatic, exalted.
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Her body calculated to a millimeter to suggest a bud yet guarantee a flower.
I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world may still know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment.
On the whole, love comes with the speed of light; separation, with that of sound.
Only God knows how much I love you.
The whole truth... sings only - and all lovers are the song.