Love is all very well; but there must be something else to…
““Love is all very well; but there must be something else to go with it. The useless must be mingled with happiness. Happiness is only the necessary. Season that enormously with the superfluous for me. A palace and her heart. Her heart and the Louvre. Her heart and the grand waterworks of Versailles. Give me my shepherdess and try to make her a duchess. Fetch me Phyllis crowned with corn-flowers, and add a hundred thousand francs income. Open for me a bucolic perspective as far as you can see, beneath a marble colonnade. I consent to the bucolic and also to the fairy spectacle of marble and gold. Dry happiness resembles dry bread. One eats, but one does not dine. I want the superfluous, the useless, the extravagant, excess, that which serves no purpose.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The speaker craves excess and extravagance, believing that happiness alone is insufficient without superfluous pleasures and grand experiences.
In simple terms: People want more than basic happiness; they desire luxury and spectacle.
Key Takeaway
Seek balance between necessity and indulgence.
Themes
desire
luxury
fulatisfaction
materialism
excess
Mood
longing
reflective
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- personal relationships
- artistic pursuits
- wealth accumulation
- social status
- creative expression
Key Concepts
philosophy
human nature
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- What truly fulfills you beyond basic needs?
- How do you differentiate between healthy indulgence and harmful excess?
A Different Perspective
Excess can lead to emptiness if not grounded in meaning.