--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I place love above everything, it is…" description: "\"If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.\" — Andre Breton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg" --- # If I place love above everything, it is because for me it… ![“If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.” quote by Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg) > “If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.” [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is portrayed as a desperate, overwhelming state that dominates all else. **In simple terms:** Love can feel all‑consuming and desperate. Key Takeaway Recognize love’s intensity and its risks. Themes love despair existence artistic expression Mood melancholic intense Type philosophical artistic When to use this quote - creative work - personal relationships - emotional turmoil Key Concepts surrealism philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What does love demand of you? - Can love coexist with self‑preservation? A Different Perspective Love may lead to loss of self if unchecked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despairing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despairing/) [Despairing State](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despairing-state-3623652/) [Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate/) [Desperate Despairing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desperate-despairing-3623651/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Desperate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-desperate-716405/) ## Related quotes > [You know how many reasons we have to be desperate and despairing, the world is not learning anything. We have seen that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/you-know-how-many-reasons-we-have-to-be-desperate-and-despairing-the/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [You went out with a girl at first because the sheer sight of her made you weak in the knees. You fell in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-eugenides/you-went-out-with-a-girl-at-first-because-the-sheer-sight-of-her-made/) [Jeffrey Eugenides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-eugenides/) > [“Naturally, I have no heroes: I am my heroes. I am my brothers and sisters. I feel myself joined by the soul with all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-childish/naturally-i-have-no-heroes-i-am-my-heroes-i-am-my-brothers-and/) [Billy Childish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-childish/) > [“I learned much too late that what you called love was nothing but a desperate and irrational fear of a life lived alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beau-taplin/i-learned-much-too-late-that-what-you-called-love-was-nothing-but-a/) [Beau Taplin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beau-taplin/) > [“the unrequited lover is the one who waits. He waits and waits, and then waits some more. He is the one who drops vital…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saffron-a-kent/the-unrequited-lover-is-the-one-who-waits-he-waits-and-waits-and-then/) [Saffron A. Kent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saffron-a-kent/) > [“Is anyone anywhere happy? No, not unless they are living in a dream or in an artifice that they or someone else has made.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath-sylvia-plath/is-anyone-anywhere-happy-no-not-unless-they-are-living-in-a-dream-or/) [The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-unabridged-journals-of-sylvia-plath-sylvia-plath/) > [I think the fact that all women get branded as the same, desperate for love, desperate for children, is just a really unmodern attitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-o-porter/i-think-the-fact-that-all-women-get-branded-as-the-same-desperate-for/) [Dawn O'Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-o-porter/) > [“On the table beside me is a book entitled Love’s Desperate Desire. Based on the cover, I would have called it My Spectacular Washboard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-yancey/on-the-table-beside-me-is-a-book-entitled-love-s-desperate-desire/) [Rick Yancey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-yancey/) > [There is a difference between love & being desperate for a relationship because of the fear of being alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/there-is-a-difference-between-love-being-desperate-for-a-relationship/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For whatever reason, loving someone gives you purpose. It fills you with hope, joy and a sense of optimism. But when that person leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilary-maye/for-whatever-reason-loving-someone-gives-you-purpose-it-fills-you/) [Hilary Maye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilary-maye/) > [I hope that the kind reader recognises this as a despairing attempt at humour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-springer/i-hope-that-the-kind-reader-recognises-this-as-a-despairing-attempt/) [Nancy Springer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-springer/) > [I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just don't linger there for too long. There's too much to laugh about, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-raboteau/i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-myself-despair-i-just-don-t-linger/) [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) > [“A despairing arse will never produce a happy fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frater-u-d/a-despairing-arse-will-never-produce-a-happy-fart/) [Frater U.D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frater-u-d/) > [First, I thought, almost despairing, This must crush my spirit now; Yet I bore it, and am bearing- Only do not ask me how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/first-i-thought-almost-despairing-this-must-crush-my-spirit-now-yet-i/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) ## More by Andre Breton > [Of all the arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/of-all-the-arts-in-which-the-wise-excel-nature-s-chief-masterpiece-is/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Under his (Marc Chagall, ed.) sole impulse metaphor made its triumphal entry into modern painting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/under-his-marc-chagall-ed-sole-impulse-metaphor-made-its-triumphal/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Psychic automatism in its pure state, by which one proposes to express -- verbally, by means of the written word, or in any other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/psychic-automatism-in-its-pure-state-by-which-one-proposes-to-express/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [The art of Frida Kahlo is a ribbon around a bomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/the-art-of-frida-kahlo-is-a-ribbon-around-a-bomb/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Let us not mince words: The marvelous is always beautiful, anything marvelous is beauitful, in fact only the marvelous is beautiful”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/let-us-not-mince-words-the-marvelous-is-always-beautiful-anything/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“There has never been any forbidden fruit. Only temptation is divine. To feel the need to vary the object of this temptation, to replace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/there-has-never-been-any-forbidden-fruit-only-temptation-is-divine-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“It was really a star, a star you were heading toward. You can't fail to reach it. Hearing you speak, I felt that nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/it-was-really-a-star-a-star-you-were-heading-toward-you-can-t-fail-to/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“All my life my heart has yearned for a thing I cannot name.” andre breton”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/all-my-life-my-heart-has-yearned-for-a-thing-i-cannot-name-andre/) [andre breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [“Unless you have been inside a sanitarium you do not know that madmen are made there, just as criminals are made in our reformatories.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/unless-you-have-been-inside-a-sanitarium-you-do-not-know-that-madmen/) [André Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [A game: say something. Close your eyes and say something. Anything, a number, a name. Like this (she closes her eyes): Two, two what?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/a-game-say-something-close-your-eyes-and-say-something-anything-a/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [...with the end of my breath, which is the beginning of yours.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/with-the-end-of-my-breath-which-is-the-beginning-of-yours/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Past and future monopolize the poet’s sensory and intellectual faculties, detached from the immediate spectacle. These two philtres become utterly clear the moment one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/past-and-future-monopolize-the-poet-s-sensory-and-intellectual/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [I am the soul in limbo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/i-am-the-soul-in-limbo/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) > [Surrealism will usher you into death, which is a secret society. It will glove your hand, burying therein the profound M with which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/surrealism-will-usher-you-into-death-which-is-a-secret-society-it-2/) [Andre Breton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) [Explore all 141 Andre Breton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/) ## More Despairing quotes > [“An atheist is someone who is disappointed in his search of god. He is a man who strongly needed god but couldn't find him.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/an-atheist-is-someone-who-is-disappointed-in-his-search-of-god-he-is/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [First, I thought, almost despairing, This must crush my spirit now; Yet I bore it, and am bearing- Only do not ask me how.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-heine/first-i-thought-almost-despairing-this-must-crush-my-spirit-now-yet-i/) [Heinrich Heine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-heine/) > [“A despairing arse will never produce a happy fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frater-u-d/a-despairing-arse-will-never-produce-a-happy-fart/) [Frater U.D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frater-u-d/) > [I don't keep from despairing. I let myself despair. I just don't linger there for too long. There's too much to laugh about, two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-raboteau/i-don-t-keep-from-despairing-i-let-myself-despair-i-just-don-t-linger/) [Emily Raboteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-raboteau/) > [I hope that the kind reader recognises this as a despairing attempt at humour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-springer/i-hope-that-the-kind-reader-recognises-this-as-a-despairing-attempt/) [Nancy Springer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-springer/) > [All my work shares a kind of balance between black comedy and sad and despairing melancholy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-mcdonagh/all-my-work-shares-a-kind-of-balance-between-black-comedy-and-sad-and/) [Martin McDonagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-mcdonagh/) > [“Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bangambiki-habyarimana/once-you-believe-that-god-is-not-a-private-property-of-anybody-you/) [Bangambiki Habyarimana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bangambiki-habyarimana/) > [Paradoxically, the only thing that helps when I'm feeling despairing about writing is to write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-van-den-berg/paradoxically-the-only-thing-that-helps-when-i-m-feeling-despairing/) [Laura van den Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-van-den-berg/) > [“Love makes you strong when others are weak, brave when others are scared, hopeful when others are despairing and cheerful when others are sad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/love-makes-you-strong-when-others-are-weak-brave-when-others-are/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“Despairing of love and of chastity, I at last bethought myself of debauchery, a substitute for love, which quiets the laughter, restores silence, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/despairing-of-love-and-of-chastity-i-at-last-bethought-myself-of/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [Newman cast a despairing glance at his small store of fuel, but, not having the courage to say no-a word which in all his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/newman-cast-a-despairing-glance-at-his-small-store-of-fuel-but-not/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [I don't think that people are disinterested or uninterested in politics. I think very often they are disengaged from the formal political process. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bercow/i-don-t-think-that-people-are-disinterested-or-uninterested-in/) [John Bercow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bercow/) > [“The angel descended when you were least expecting it. Tracy felt something quietly go click in his despairing heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-russell/the-angel-descended-when-you-were-least-expecting-it-tracy-felt/) [Paul Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-russell/) > ['Money Changes Everything' is this terribly despairing, heartbreaking song.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greil-marcus/money-changes-everything-is-this-terribly-despairing-heartbreaking/) [Greil Marcus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greil-marcus/) > [“The river itself is not a hundred yards across, and pa and Vernon and Vardaman and Dewey Dell are the only things in sight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/the-river-itself-is-not-a-hundred-yards-across-and-pa-and-vernon-and-2/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) [Browse all 55 Despairing quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despairing/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state of affairs imaginable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andre Breton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despairing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/andr-breton-2478_despairing_if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-b_405021.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If I place love above everything, it is because for me it is the most desperate, the most despairing state…” — Andre Breton", "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": "Andre Breton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andr-breton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If I place love above everything,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-breton/if-i-place-love-above-everything-it-is-because-for-me-it-is-the-most/#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 } } ] } ```