“ I dare affirm, that those who only love, do not feel the most charming sensations we are capable of: I am acquainted with another sentiment, less impetuous, but a thousand times more delightful; sometimes joined with love, but frequently separated from it. ”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Confessions (1782). copy citation
Author | Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
---|---|
Source | Confessions |
Topic | love sentiment |
Date | 1782 |
Language | English |
Reference | |
Note | Translated by Samuel William Orson |
Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Confessions_(Rousseau) |
Context
“This was my case till that time, and such perhaps it might have remained had I never known Madam de Warrens, or even having known her, had I not remained with her long enough to contract that pleasing habit of affectionate sentiments with which she inspired me. I dare affirm, that those who only love, do not feel the most charming sensations we are capable of: I am acquainted with another sentiment, less impetuous, but a thousand times more delightful; sometimes joined with love, but frequently separated from it. This feeling is not simply friendship; it is more enchanting, more tender; nor do I imagine it can exist between persons of the same sex; at least I have been truly a friend, if ever a man was, and yet never experienced it in that kind.”
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