--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I had been deceived, it was because…" description: "\"“If I had been deceived, it was because, for a moment, I had loved. 'I am one of those who love, not those who hate,' declares Sophocles' Antigone. No ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/amelie-nothomb-1581_time_if-i-had-been-deceived-it-was-because-fo_1843183.jpg" --- # If I had been deceived, it was because, for a moment, I… ![“If I had been deceived, it was because, for a moment, I had loved. 'I am one of those who love, not those who hate,' declares Sophocles' Antigone. No one has ever said anything more beautiful.” quote by Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/amelie-nothomb-1581_time_if-i-had-been-deceived-it-was-because-fo_1843183.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/amelie-nothomb-1581_time_if-i-had-been-deceived-it-was-because-fo_1843183.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/691/amelie-nothomb-1581_time_if-i-had-been-deceived-it-was-because-fo_1843183.jpg) > ““If I had been deceived, it was because, for a moment, I had loved. 'I am one of those who love, not those who hate,' declares Sophocles' Antigone. No one has ever said anything more beautiful.”” [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love makes us vulnerable to deception, yet it is a noble, beautiful choice that distinguishes us from hatred. **In simple terms:** Love can blind us, but it is noble. Key Takeaway Value love over fear. Themes love vulnerability beauty Mood reflective admiring Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - literary analysis - moral reflection Key Concepts human nature ethical choice Questions to Reflect On - What does loving despite risk reveal about us? - Can love truly outweigh hate? A Different Perspective Love can be exploited, leading to pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Antigone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antigone/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“As Antigone said, I am neither a dweller among men nor ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/as-antigone-said-i-am-neither-a-dweller-among-men-nor-ghosts/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“My part is not a heroic one, but I shall play my part.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/my-part-is-not-a-heroic-one-but-i-shall-play-my-part/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [What does it mean to be a used white wife, a mother, a tragic girl writing poems? 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Even the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/love-unconquerable-waster-of-rich-men-keeper-of-warm-lights-and-all/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“Leave me to my own absurdity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/leave-me-to-my-own-absurdity/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I was born to share love, not hate”, said Antigone. “Go then, and share your love for the dead”, responds Creon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/i-was-born-to-share-love-not-hate-said-antigone-go-then-and-share/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“May the dead forgive me, I can do no other But as I am commanded; to do more is madness." - Ismene”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/may-the-dead-forgive-me-i-can-do-no-other-but-as-i-am-commanded-to-do/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Miss Havisham is an important feminine literary figure in the tradition of Antigone (though it's significant that Antigone is fighting to bury something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/miss-havisham-is-an-important-feminine-literary-figure-in-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/money-there-s-nothing-in-the-world-so-demoralizing-as-money/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“There was the girl, screaming like an angry bird, When it finds its nest left empt and little ones gone." - Sentry”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/there-was-the-girl-screaming-like-an-angry-bird-when-it-finds-its/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“Money! Money's the curse of man, none greater. That's what wrecks cities, banishes men from homes, Tempts and deludes the most well-meaning soul, Pointing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/money-money-s-the-curse-of-man-none-greater-that-s-what-wrecks-cities/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Goodbye to the sun that shines for me no longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/goodbye-to-the-sun-that-shines-for-me-no-longer/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“perhaps you know that Ingeborg Bachmann poem from the last years of her life that begins "I lose my screams" dear Antigone, I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/perhaps-you-know-that-ingeborg-bachmann-poem-from-the-last-years-of/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [“This consideration takes us very close to what it is that makes Greek tragedy “tragic.” A play about an unambiguously heroic young woman, someone’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/this-consideration-takes-us-very-close-to-what-it-is-that-makes-greek/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [“Hail the sun! the brightest of all that ever Dawned on the City of Seven Gates, City of Thebes! Hail the golden dawn over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/hail-the-sun-the-brightest-of-all-that-ever-dawned-on-the-city-of/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) ## More by Amélie Nothomb > [God isn't chocolate, he's the encounter between chocolate and the palate capable of appreciating it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/god-isn-t-chocolate-he-s-the-encounter-between-chocolate-and-the/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“The nature of the epistolary genre was revealed to me: a form of writing devoted to another person. Novels, poems, and so on, were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/the-nature-of-the-epistolary-genre-was-revealed-to-me-a-form-of/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“I glanced at the contents of what I was photocopying. 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But it's really at the moment when I write them down - when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/of-course-you-have-memories-and-these-memories-are-convincing-but-it/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [When you have a lot of success you don't need vanity any more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/when-you-have-a-lot-of-success-you-don-t-need-vanity-any-more/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [It’s true that someone will always say that good and evil don’t exist: that is a person who has never had any dealings with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/it-s-true-that-someone-will-always-say-that-good-and-evil-don-t-exist/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“War reveals people's deeper nature.' 'I don't like that idea. It would suggest that we need to be put to the test. I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/war-reveals-people-s-deeper-nature-i-don-t-like-that-idea-it-would/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [“Society conspires against her from early infancy. Her brain is steadily filled with plaster until it sets: ‘If you’re not married by the time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/society-conspires-against-her-from-early-infancy-her-brain-is/) [Amélie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) > [If you admire yourself in the mirror, let it be in fear and not delight, because the only thing that beauty will bring to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amelie-nothomb/if-you-admire-yourself-in-the-mirror-let-it-be-in-fear-and-not/) [Amelie Nothomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) [Explore all 75 Amélie Nothomb quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amelie-nothomb/) ## More Antigone quotes > [“My part is not a heroic one, but I shall play my part.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anouilh/my-part-is-not-a-heroic-one-but-i-shall-play-my-part/) [Jean Anouilh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anouilh/) > [“As Antigone said, I am neither a dweller among men nor ghosts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/as-antigone-said-i-am-neither-a-dweller-among-men-nor-ghosts/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [“This consideration takes us very close to what it is that makes Greek tragedy “tragic.” A play about an unambiguously heroic young woman, someone’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-mendelsohn/this-consideration-takes-us-very-close-to-what-it-is-that-makes-greek/) [Daniel Mendelsohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-mendelsohn/) > [“perhaps you know that Ingeborg Bachmann poem from the last years of her life that begins "I lose my screams" dear Antigone, I take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/perhaps-you-know-that-ingeborg-bachmann-poem-from-the-last-years-of/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [Goodbye to the sun that shines for me no longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/goodbye-to-the-sun-that-shines-for-me-no-longer/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“Money! Money's the curse of man, none greater. That's what wrecks cities, banishes men from homes, Tempts and deludes the most well-meaning soul, Pointing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/money-money-s-the-curse-of-man-none-greater-that-s-what-wrecks-cities/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“There was the girl, screaming like an angry bird, When it finds its nest left empt and little ones gone." - Sentry”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/there-was-the-girl-screaming-like-an-angry-bird-when-it-finds-its/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Money: There's nothing in the world so demoralizing as money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/money-there-s-nothing-in-the-world-so-demoralizing-as-money/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Miss Havisham is an important feminine literary figure in the tradition of Antigone (though it's significant that Antigone is fighting to bury something and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-mullen/miss-havisham-is-an-important-feminine-literary-figure-in-the/) [Laura Mullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-mullen/) > [“May the dead forgive me, I can do no other But as I am commanded; to do more is madness." - Ismene”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/may-the-dead-forgive-me-i-can-do-no-other-but-as-i-am-commanded-to-do/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“I was born to share love, not hate”, said Antigone. “Go then, and share your love for the dead”, responds Creon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/i-was-born-to-share-love-not-hate-said-antigone-go-then-and-share/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [“Leave me to my own absurdity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/leave-me-to-my-own-absurdity/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) > [Love, unconquerable, Waster of rich men, keeper Of warm lights and all-night vigil In the soft face of a girl: Sea-wanderer, forest-visitor! 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Hail the golden dawn over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophocles/hail-the-sun-the-brightest-of-all-that-ever-dawned-on-the-city-of/) [Sophocles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophocles/) [Browse all 26 Antigone quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/antigone/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If I had been deceived, it was because, for a moment, I had loved. 'I am one of those who love, not those who hate,' declares Sophocles' Antigone. 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