With each new woman that a man is attracted to there appears to come a broadening of the outlook, or, if you like, an acquiring of new territory. A turn of the eyebrow, a tone of the voice, queer characteristic gesture- all these things, and it is these things that cause to arise the passion of love- all these things are like so many objects on the horizon of the landscape that tempt a man to walk beyond the horizon, to explore. ..
...But the real fierceness of desire, the real heat of passion long continued and withering up the soul of a man, is the craving for identity with the woman that he loves. He desires to see with the same eyes, to touch with the same sense of touch, to hear with the same ears, to lose his identity, to be enveloped, to be supported...We are all so afraid, we are all so alone, we all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist.
So for a time, if such a passion come to fruition, the man will get what he wants. He will get the moral support, the encouragement, the relief from the sense of loneliness, the assurance of his own worth. But these things pass away; inevitably they pass away as the shadows pass across sun-dials. It is sad, but it is so. The pages ofthe book become familiar; the beautiful corner of the road will have been turned too any times. Well, this is the saddest story.
The Good Soldier ~ Ford Maddox Ford ~ originally published 1915
...But the real fierceness of desire, the real heat of passion long continued and withering up the soul of a man, is the craving for identity with the woman that he loves. He desires to see with the same eyes, to touch with the same sense of touch, to hear with the same ears, to lose his identity, to be enveloped, to be supported...We are all so afraid, we are all so alone, we all so need from the outside the assurance of our own worthiness to exist.
So for a time, if such a passion come to fruition, the man will get what he wants. He will get the moral support, the encouragement, the relief from the sense of loneliness, the assurance of his own worth. But these things pass away; inevitably they pass away as the shadows pass across sun-dials. It is sad, but it is so. The pages ofthe book become familiar; the beautiful corner of the road will have been turned too any times. Well, this is the saddest story.
The Good Soldier ~ Ford Maddox Ford ~ originally published 1915
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