03 August 2011

Dr Iannis to Pelagia, his daughter:

"And another thing. Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No… don’t blush. I am telling you some truths. That is just being ‘in love’, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two. […] Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? Trust me, it is."


-- from Captain Corelli's Mandolin, a novel written by  Louis de Bernieres

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