--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love was like notches on a speaker that…" description: "\"“Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked up and down, the decibels of desire, the frequencies of feeling. Sometimes she thought that s..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg" --- # Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked… ![“Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked up and down, the decibels of desire, the frequencies of feeling. Sometimes she thought that she might have cranked it all the way up and broken the dial before the music had even started.” quote by Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg) > ““Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked up and down, the decibels of desire, the frequencies of feeling. Sometimes she thought that she might have cranked it all the way up and broken the dial before the music had even started.”” [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Desire fluctuates like volume control, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes silent, risking damage if pushed too far. **In simple terms:** Love’s intensity can be hard to manage. Key Takeaway Balance emotional intensity. Themes love control emotion Mood introspective cautious Type novelistic metaphorical When to use this quote - romantic relationships - personal growth - communication challenges Key Concepts analogy psychology relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - Do you adjust love’s volume? - When does passion become harmful? A Different Perspective Excessive intensity may break connections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cranked Decibels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cranked-decibels-6081759/) [Decibels Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decibels-desire-6081761/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Like](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-like/) [Memoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memoir/) [Speaker Cranked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/speaker-cranked-6081758/) [Thought Cranked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thought-cranked-6081760/) ## Related quotes > [The memoir by women, read by female readers, is considered a market form, not "great literature."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-zambreno/the-memoir-by-women-read-by-female-readers-is-considered-a-market/) [Kate Zambreno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-zambreno/) > [Maybe I will write a memoir, perhaps I'll do some essays, or maybe I will write a mystery story.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-herbert-donald/maybe-i-will-write-a-memoir-perhaps-i-ll-do-some-essays-or-maybe-i/) [David Herbert Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-herbert-donald/) > [A tree's wood is also its memoir.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hope-jahren/a-tree-s-wood-is-also-its-memoir/) [Hope Jahren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hope-jahren/) > [“As well as writing, 2004 saw my first attempt at wine making: the elixir of life. Unfortunately, my effort tasted more like the elixir…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-briggs/as-well-as-writing-2004-saw-my-first-attempt-at-wine-making-the/) [Craig Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-briggs/) > [“One thing I always admired about Daddy was the way he could bounce back from adversity. From the very beginning of his life, he’d…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-k-campbell/one-thing-i-always-admired-about-daddy-was-the-way-he-could-bounce/) [L.K. Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-k-campbell/) > [By calling it a memoir, I meant is as a collection of memories. I thought it was (a more) artful (title) than documentary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-merchant/by-calling-it-a-memoir-i-meant-is-as-a-collection-of-memories-i/) [Natalie Merchant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-merchant/) > [A memoir takes some particular threads, some incidents, some experience from a person's life and gives an account of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-hell/a-memoir-takes-some-particular-threads-some-incidents-some-experience/) [Richard Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-hell/) > [“I used to teach at an abused children's home. I told the kids, "You all have a manure pile of memories. Nothing you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-o-donnell/i-used-to-teach-at-an-abused-children-s-home-i-told-the-kids-you-all/) [Rebecca O'Donnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-o-donnell/) > [“FROM a six-year-old: Told by a well-meaning friend, ‘Alex, do you know what the one thing is that the more you give, the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hamilton/from-a-six-year-old-told-by-a-well-meaning-friend-alex-do-you-know/) [Susan Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hamilton/) > [Memoirs are going to be problematic sells for a while, though, because even if memoir means "based in memory," right now, in the collective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-monroe/memoirs-are-going-to-be-problematic-sells-for-a-while-though-because/) [Debra Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-monroe/) > [“I am not and autobiographical writer--one can't be without a solid and explicable self--and read all autobiographical writers with the same curiosity. What kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yiyun-li/i-am-not-and-autobiographical-writer-one-can-t-be-without-a-solid-and/) [Yiyun Li](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yiyun-li/) > [“When I first met Billy I thought about sucking his eyes right out of their sockets. They’re like turquoise gum drops.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jo-treggiari/when-i-first-met-billy-i-thought-about-sucking-his-eyes-right-out-of/) [Jo Treggiari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jo-treggiari/) > [I think some of the best sex writing is going to come from the unexpected sources, not the same old same old. Like I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-kramer-bussel/i-think-some-of-the-best-sex-writing-is-going-to-come-from-the/) [Rachel Kramer Bussel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-kramer-bussel/) > [“A bookshop is a peaceful sanctuary of silent voices waiting to heard”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mala-naidoo/a-bookshop-is-a-peaceful-sanctuary-of-silent-voices-waiting-to-heard/) [Mala Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mala-naidoo/) > [The man is always the last to know when Cupid has struck him -Anonymous, Memoirs of a Mistress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sabrina-jeffries/the-man-is-always-the-last-to-know-when-cupid-has-struck-him/) [Sabrina Jeffries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sabrina-jeffries/) ## More by Alice Pung > [“To be part of the Cabinet, I'd had to keep my true self apart. and there's only so much of yourself you can hide,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/to-be-part-of-the-cabinet-i-d-had-to-keep-my-true-self-apart-and/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“And here was the bitter paradox of adolescense: alone, I was most myself, most true. But the self that really mattered was the self…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/and-here-was-the-bitter-paradox-of-adolescense-alone-i-was-most/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“Love was a verb with a certain amount of energy attached to it - a daily quota - and you had to choose on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/love-was-a-verb-with-a-certain-amount-of-energy-attached-to-it-a/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“I was crying out of frustration, frustration that I could not be left alone, that no girl at this school could possibly be allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/i-was-crying-out-of-frustration-frustration-that-i-could-not-be-left/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“I wish I could have told you how much talking and writing to you meant to me all year. How you were my bullshit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/i-wish-i-could-have-told-you-how-much-talking-and-writing-to-you/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“She had always thought the word 'pheromones' made it sound as though molecules were floating in the air, shaped like little fluted horns, ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/she-had-always-thought-the-word-pheromones-made-it-sound-as-though/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) > [“I wasn't afraid of being alone, but I was afraid of what people would think about my solitary state. People, even well-intentioned people, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/i-wasn-t-afraid-of-being-alone-but-i-was-afraid-of-what-people-would/) [Alice Pung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) [Explore all 8 Alice Pung quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) [Ted Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-martinez/) > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked up and down, the decibels of desire, the frequencies of feeling. Sometimes she thought that she might have cranked it all the way up and broken the dial before the music had even started.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alice Pung" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that-could-be-cranked-up-and-down/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Desire" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that-could-be-cranked-up-and-down/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/697/alice-pung-48282_desire_love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that_792174.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Love was like notches on a speaker that could be cranked up and down, the decibels of desire, the…” — Alice Pung", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alice Pung", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-pung/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Love was like notches on a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that-could-be-cranked-up-and-down/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-pung/love-was-like-notches-on-a-speaker-that-could-be-cranked-up-and-down/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```