--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why have you been staring at me ever…" description: "\"Why have you been staring at me ever since we met? Because I’m not the Gail Wynand you’d heard about. You see, I love you. And love is exception-making..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ayn-rand-59_and-love_why-have-you-been-staring-at-me-ever-sin_3059440.jpg" --- # Why have you been staring at me ever since we met? Because… ![“Why have you been staring at me ever since we met? Because I’m not the Gail Wynand you’d heard about. You see, I love you. And love is exception-making. If you were in love you’d want to be broken, trampled, ordered, dominated, because that’s the impossible, in the inconceivable for you in your…” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ayn-rand-59_and-love_why-have-you-been-staring-at-me-ever-sin_3059440.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ayn-rand-59_and-love_why-have-you-been-staring-at-me-ever-sin_3059440.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a50/ayn-rand-59_and-love_why-have-you-been-staring-at-me-ever-sin_3059440.jpg) > “Why have you been staring at me ever since we met? Because I’m not the Gail Wynand you’d heard about. You see, I love you. And love is exception-making. If you were in love you’d want to be broken, trampled, ordered, dominated, because that’s the impossible, in the inconceivable for you in your relations with people. That would be the one gift, the great exception you’d want to offer the man you loved. But it wouldn’t be easy for you.” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## 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 an act of making exceptions, demanding vulnerability and surrender to the impossible, offering a profound, challenging gift. **In simple terms:** Love means making exceptions, embracing vulnerability. Key Takeaway Accept love’s demanding, transformative nature. Themes love vulnerability exception‑making Mood intense philosophical Type literary theoretical When to use this quote - relationships - personal development - psychotherapy - artistic expression Key Concepts existentialism romantic idealism Questions to Reflect On - What exceptions does love require? - Can love thrive without sacrifice? A Different Perspective May idealize pain as necessary for love. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gail](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gail/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Staring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/staring/) ## Related quotes > [“You see, I love you. And love is exception-making. If you were in love you’d want to be broken, trampled, dominated, because that’s the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/you-see-i-love-you-and-love-is-exception-making-if-you-were-in-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [ I’ve learned that you can’t predict \[love\] or plan for it. For someone like me who is obsessed with organization and planning, I love… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/i-ve-learned-that-you-can-t-predict-love-or-plan-for-it-for-someone/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [Nothing lasts forever, so what makes love the exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-benjamin/nothing-lasts-forever-so-what-makes-love-the-exception/) [Andre Benjamin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-benjamin/) > [Roark smiled, "Gail, if this boat were sinking, I'd give my life to save you. Not because it's any kind of duty. Only because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/roark-smiled-gail-if-this-boat-were-sinking-i-d-give-my-life-to-save/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Look, Gail." Roark got up, reached out, tore a thick branch off a tree, held it in both hands, one fist closed at each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/look-gail-roark-got-up-reached-out-tore-a-thick-branch-off-a-tree/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Dominique as Gail looks at her "... there is a stage of worship which makes the worshiper himself an object of reverence."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/dominique-as-gail-looks-at-her-there-is-a-stage-of-worship-which/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [No happy person can be quite so impervious to pain (Gail Wynand to Dominique Francon)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/no-happy-person-can-be-quite-so-impervious-to-pain-gail-wynand-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [You were not born to be a second-hander." Howard Roark to Gail Wynand in "The Fountainhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/you-were-not-born-to-be-a-second-hander-howard-roark-to-gail-wynand/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“I won’t beg for anyone’s love, and yours is no exception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elle-aycart/i-won-t-beg-for-anyone-s-love-and-yours-is-no-exception/) [Elle Aycart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elle-aycart/) > [Its so funny how we set qualifications for the right person to love, while at the back of our minds we know that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raina-chapman/its-so-funny-how-we-set-qualifications-for-the-right-person-to-love/) [Raina Chapman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raina-chapman/) > [If nothings forever, why do we make love an exception.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-nothings-forever-why-do-we-make-love-an-exception/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [..If what they say is 'nothing lasts for ever' then what makes.. love the exception?..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-3000/if-what-they-say-is-nothing-lasts-for-ever-then-what-makes-love-the/) Andre 3000 > [It was nobody’s choice. It was a chemical reaction. I had to cut it. It basically fell out. Somebody had said to me that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-sullivan/it-was-nobody-s-choice-it-was-a-chemical-reaction-i-had-to-cut-it-it/) [Charlotte Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-sullivan/) > [Gail had a baby named Ned who was four months old, and a new look of baffled hurt, a left-behind sadness, like she saw…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-woodrell/gail-had-a-baby-named-ned-who-was-four-months-old-and-a-new-look-of/) [Daniel Woodrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-woodrell/) > [Gail Anderson-Dargatz has a noticing eye, a voice as unique as the countryside she writes about, and a heart large enough to love her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hodgins/gail-anderson-dargatz-has-a-noticing-eye-a-voice-as-unique-as-the/) Jack Hodgins ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. 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She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More And love quotes > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. 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I'm a real girly girl and love doing my hair and experimenting with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/anyone-who-knows-me-knows-that-i-am-really-into-hair-i-m-a-real-girly/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) > [“When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/when-we-let-go-of-our-battles-and-open-our-heart-to-things-as-they/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [Only when man succeeds in developing his reason and love further than he has done so far, only when he can build a world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/only-when-man-succeeds-in-developing-his-reason-and-love-further-than/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [I shall pray God to send charity into this hideous world, and sympathy for the weak, and love for the unhappy and unfortunate. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wyndham/i-shall-pray-god-to-send-charity-into-this-hideous-world-and-sympathy/) [John Wyndham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wyndham/) > [And I read the moral--A brave endeavour To do thy duty, whate'er its worth, Is better than life with love forever, And love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-jeffrey-roche/and-i-read-the-moral-a-brave-endeavour-to-do-thy-duty-whate-er-its/) James Jeffrey Roche > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. 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