Gaze Quote by André Aciman
““I didn’t have any time left, because he brought his lips to my mouth, a warm, conciliatory, I’ll-meet-you-halfway-but-no-further kiss till he realized how famished mine was. I wished I knew how to calibrate my kiss the way he did. But passion allows us to hide more, and at that moment on Monet’s berm, if I wished to hide everything about me in this kiss, I was also desperate to forget the kiss by losing myself in it.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Call Me by Your Name by André Aciman, 2007
A lover’s intense kiss becomes a desperate attempt to both hide and erase personal longing, revealing how passion can mask deeper needs.
In simple terms: A kiss hides and reveals deep longing.
Key Takeaway
Recognize when intimacy masks unmet needs.
Themes
love
desire
identity
vulnerability
self‑discovery
Mood
melancholic
intense
reflective
Type
literary
emotional
When to use this quote
- romantic encounter
- personal crisis
- self‑exploration
Key Concepts
intimacy
psychology
desire
self‑reflection
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the kiss conceal about the speaker?
- How can passion become a refuge from self‑knowledge?
A Different Perspective
Intimacy can conceal rather than resolve inner emptiness.
