--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is a striking resemblance between…" description: "\"There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer.\" — Angela Carter" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg" --- # There is a striking resemblance between the act of love… ![“There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer.” quote by Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg) > “There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer.” [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love can be as intense and painful as torture, blurring the line between pleasure and suffering. **In simple terms:** Love may feel like torture. Key Takeaway Recognize the intensity of love. Themes love pain intimacy Mood conflicted intense Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - relationships - artistic expression - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate love from harm? - Can love be both beautiful and painful? A Different Perspective Love is not always gentle; it can be harsh. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acts of love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acts-of-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) ## Related quotes > [“There was a happy irony in the first cousin of the autocratic Kaiser Wilhelm II and Tsar Nicholas II (with whom George bore a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-ham/there-was-a-happy-irony-in-the-first-cousin-of-the-autocratic-kaiser/) [Paul Ham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-ham/) > [“He was less than the dirt beneath those princess shoes. He'd always known it and still ... his c\*ck turned to steel thinking of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-theia/he-was-less-than-the-dirt-beneath-those-princess-shoes-he-d-always/) [V. Theia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-theia/) > [I couldn't bloody believe a prime-time TV show would have an Iraqi ex-Republican Guard torturer as a main character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naveen-andrews/i-couldn-t-bloody-believe-a-prime-time-tv-show-would-have-an-iraqi-ex/) [Naveen Andrews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naveen-andrews/) > [“We twist and turn, we plead and beg, we offer our tormentor what he wants so that the hurting will stop. And when there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lawrence/we-twist-and-turn-we-plead-and-beg-we-offer-our-tormentor-what-he/) [Mark Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lawrence/) > [Just call in at the torturer on your way out. See when he can fit you in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/just-call-in-at-the-torturer-on-your-way-out-see-when-he-can-fit-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“It is a Bush administration official on the moment when torture breaks a victim: The job of the interrogator is to safely help the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sullivan/it-is-a-bush-administration-official-on-the-moment-when-torture/) [Andrew Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sullivan/) > [Hell is a hell of a lie! God is not a torturer!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/hell-is-a-hell-of-a-lie-god-is-not-a-torturer/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“The Questioner was repacking his tools with a vague air of disappointment. Deciding my legs were steady enough to carry me, I propped myself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-polansky/the-questioner-was-repacking-his-tools-with-a-vague-air-of/) [Daniel Polansky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-polansky/) > [As a playwright, you are a torturer of actors and of the audience as well. You inflict things on people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/as-a-playwright-you-are-a-torturer-of-actors-and-of-the-audience-as/) [Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/) > [“Even torture that is only verbal reinforce the power of the torturer: The prisoner's imagination leads him to dread the next round of interrogations.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/even-torture-that-is-only-verbal-reinforce-the-power-of-the-torturer/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [What I do not know and cannot even hope to understand before I die is why human beings are willfully, coldly, matter-of-factly cruel to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/storm-jameson/what-i-do-not-know-and-cannot-even-hope-to-understand-before-i-die-is/) [Storm Jameson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/storm-jameson/) > [“Because the mankind very himself is a torturer, he created the concept of hell!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/because-the-mankind-very-himself-is-a-torturer-he-created-the-concept/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“You're- you're not going to force me to go back are you?" he said. "Um?" said the duke. He waved his hand irritably. "No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-re-you-re-not-going-to-force-me-to-go-back-are-you-he-said-um/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Man seems to be capable of great virtues but not of small virtues; capable of defying his torturer but not of keeping his temper.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/man-seems-to-be-capable-of-great-virtues-but-not-of-small-virtues-2/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I'm not above anybody. I'm, I'm not better than anybody. I am made of the same material that everybody else is and if somebody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-allende/i-m-not-above-anybody-i-m-i-m-not-better-than-anybody-i-am-made-of/) [Isabel Allende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-allende/) ## More by Angela Carter > [He was a lovely man in many ways. But he kept on insisting on forgiving me when there was nothing to forgive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/he-was-a-lovely-man-in-many-ways-but-he-kept-on-insisting-on/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/reading-a-book-is-like-re-writing-it-for-yourself/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Losing their names, these things underwent a process of uncreation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/losing-their-names-these-things-underwent-a-process-of-uncreation/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I know that whenever a group of women are gathered together, the grandmother always makes a phantom appearance, hovering above them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-know-that-whenever-a-group-of-women-are-gathered-together-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“She herself is a haunted house. She does not possess herself; her ancestors sometimes come and peer out of the window of her eyes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/she-herself-is-a-haunted-house-she-does-not-possess-herself-her/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Hollywood... was the place where the United States perpetrated itself as a universal dream and put the dream into mass production.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/hollywood-was-the-place-where-the-united-states-perpetrated-itself-as/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Is not this whole world an illusion? And yet it fools everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/is-not-this-whole-world-an-illusion-and-yet-it-fools-everybody/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [My paternal grandmother would not light a fire on the Sabbath and piled all Sunday's washing-up in a bucket, to be dealt with on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/my-paternal-grandmother-would-not-light-a-fire-on-the-sabbath-and/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Mother goddesses are just as silly a notion as father gods. If a revival of the myths of these cults gives woman emotional satisfaction,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/mother-goddesses-are-just-as-silly-a-notion-as-father-gods-if-a/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [Out of the frying pan into the fire! What is marriage but prostitution to one man instead of many? No different!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/out-of-the-frying-pan-into-the-fire-what-is-marriage-but-prostitution/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [And each stroke of his tongue ripped off skin after successive skin, all the skins of a life in the world, and left behind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/and-each-stroke-of-his-tongue-ripped-off-skin-after-successive-skin/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [In a secular age, an authentic miracle must purport to be a hoax, in order to gain credit in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/in-a-secular-age-an-authentic-miracle-must-purport-to-be-a-hoax-in/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [We do not go to bed in single pairs; even if we choose not to refer to them, we still drag there with us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/we-do-not-go-to-bed-in-single-pairs-even-if-we-choose-not-to-refer-to/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [I see her as a series of marvellous shapes formed at random in the kaleidoscope of desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/i-see-her-as-a-series-of-marvellous-shapes-formed-at-random-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“Women do not normally fuck in the active sense. They are fucked in the passive tense and hence automatically fucked-up, done over, undone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/women-do-not-normally-fuck-in-the-active-sense-they-are-fucked-in-the/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) [Explore all 263 Angela Carter quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) ## More Acts of love quotes > [All women love semi-rape. They love to be taken.It was his sweet brutality against my bruised body that made his act of love so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-fleming/all-women-love-semi-rape-they-love-to-be-taken-it-was-his-sweet/) [Ian Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-fleming/) > [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“When people think of slavery, they think of whips, chains and neurological implants. While these things may be necessary, the real tools of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalin-ringkvist/when-people-think-of-slavery-they-think-of-whips-chains-and/) Kalin Ringkvist > [Like the Good Samaritan, may we not be ashamed of touching the wounds of those who suffer, but try to heal them with concrete…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/like-the-good-samaritan-may-we-not-be-ashamed-of-touching-the-wounds/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“As the connections have been broken by the fragmentation and isolation of work, they can be restored by restoring the wholeness of work. There…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/as-the-connections-have-been-broken-by-the-fragmentation-and/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [There is no act of love that is not an act of work or courage. No exceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/there-is-no-act-of-love-that-is-not-an-act-of-work-or-courage-no/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [you can't kill love. you can't even kill it with hate. you can kill in-love, and loving, and even loveliness. you can kill them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/you-can-t-kill-love-you-can-t-even-kill-it-with-hate-you-can-kill-in/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [... the greatest act of love is to pay attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-sawyer/the-greatest-act-of-love-is-to-pay-attention/) [Diane Sawyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-sawyer/) > [We make pictures. At the end of the day, we create something potentially significant that did not exist at the beginning of the day.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-mcnally/we-make-pictures-at-the-end-of-the-day-we-create-something/) [Joe McNally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-mcnally/) > [Your work should be an act of love, not a marriage of convenience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/your-work-should-be-an-act-of-love-not-a-marriage-of-convenience/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [During courtship, guarding each other's purity and refraining from intimacy are the acts of lovemaking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-harris/during-courtship-guarding-each-other-s-purity-and-refraining-from/) [Joshua Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-harris/) > [In the act of love, as in photography, there is a form of life and a kind of slow death,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nobuyoshi-araki/in-the-act-of-love-as-in-photography-there-is-a-form-of-life-and-a/) [Nobuyoshi Araki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nobuyoshi-araki/) > [The truth is that, no matter what kind of game you find yourself in, no matter how good or bad the luck, you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-david-roberts/the-truth-is-that-no-matter-what-kind-of-game-you-find-yourself-in-no/) [Gregory David Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-david-roberts/) > [The conclusion I have reached is that, above all, dogs are witnesses. They are allowed access to our most private moments. They are there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-parkhurst/the-conclusion-i-have-reached-is-that-above-all-dogs-are-witnesses/) [Carolyn Parkhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-parkhurst/) > [You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/you-can-give-without-loving-but-you-can-never-love-without-giving-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Browse all 177 Acts of love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acts-of-love/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Angela Carter" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between-the-act-of-love-and-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acts of love" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between-the-act-of-love-and-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/631/angela-carter-1237_acts-of-love_there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between_531278.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a striking resemblance between the act of love and the ministrations of a torturer.” — Angela Carter", "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": "Angela Carter", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is a striking resemblance between...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between-the-act-of-love-and-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/there-is-a-striking-resemblance-between-the-act-of-love-and-the/#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 } } ] } ```