--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll…" description: "\"I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask. I don’t know: but I feel, and I’m tormented.\" — Catullus" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/catullus-11720_and-love_i-hate-and-love-and-why-perhaps-you-ll-a_243320.jpg" --- # I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask. I don’t… ![“I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask. I don’t know: but I feel, and I’m tormented.” quote by Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/catullus-11720_and-love_i-hate-and-love-and-why-perhaps-you-ll-a_243320.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/catullus-11720_and-love_i-hate-and-love-and-why-perhaps-you-ll-a_243320.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/681/catullus-11720_and-love_i-hate-and-love-and-why-perhaps-you-ll-a_243320.jpg) > “I hate and love. And why, perhaps you’ll ask. I don’t know: but I feel, and I’m tormented.” [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) This quote is also attributed to [SangFroid Stalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangfroid-stalker/) in other sources. Attributions for famous quotes are often disputed. ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker experiences intense, contradictory emotions, feeling both love and hatred, leading to inner torment and confusion. **In simple terms:** Strong mixed feelings cause inner conflict. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and explore conflicting emotions. Themes love hate inner conflict passion torment Mood melancholic intense reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - Romantic relationships - personal introspection - artistic expression - mental health - self‑analysis Key Concepts Roman poetry emotional duality psychology Questions to Reflect On - What triggers the love‑hate tension? - How can you reconcile these feelings? A Different Perspective Emotions may be unresolved and cause suffering if not examined. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Hate and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate-and-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love and hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-and-hate/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [“I hate and I love. You ask why I do this? I do not know, but I feel and I am tormented. —CATULLUS”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kami-garcia/i-hate-and-i-love-you-ask-why-i-do-this-i-do-not-know-but-i-feel-and/) [Kami Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kami-garcia/) > [I hate and love. You ask, perhaps, how can that be? I know not, but I feel the agony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/i-hate-and-love-you-ask-perhaps-how-can-that-be-i-know-not-but-i-feel/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [We have pain and hate and love and joy and war in the world because we want them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/we-have-pain-and-hate-and-love-and-joy-and-war-in-the-world-because/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“Odi et amo; quare fortasse requiris, nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. (my translation: I hate and I love, you ask why I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/odi-et-amo-quare-fortasse-requiris-nescio-sed-fieri-sentio-et/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [I hate and love. And why, perhaps youll ask. I dont know: but I feel, and Im tormented.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangfroid-stalker/i-hate-and-love-and-why-perhaps-youll-ask-i-dont-know-but-i-feel-and/) [SangFroid Stalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangfroid-stalker/) > [“Love was supposed to be easy, wasn't it? Then why did she feel so tormented?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/love-was-supposed-to-be-easy-wasn-t-it-then-why-did-she-feel-so/) [Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/) > [Two or three things I know for sure, and one of them is the way you can both hate and love something you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/two-or-three-things-i-know-for-sure-and-one-of-them-is-the-way-you/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [Hate and love are essentially the same in that the person who loves is as easily manipulated as a person who hates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-ludlum/hate-and-love-are-essentially-the-same-in-that-the-person-who-loves/) [Robert Ludlum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-ludlum/) > [All my life I have had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I am here](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/all-my-life-i-have-had-a-choice-of-hate-and-love-i-chose-love-and-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hate and love are reciprocal passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/hate-and-love-are-reciprocal-passions/) [Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/) > [Hate and love are very similar emotions. The opposite of love is you don't care.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/hate-and-love-are-very-similar-emotions-the-opposite-of-love-is-you/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [That was what gospel was meant to do - make you hate and love yourself at the same time, make you ashamed and glorified.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/that-was-what-gospel-was-meant-to-do-make-you-hate-and-love-yourself/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [There is nothing that deceives us more than our own judgment when used to give an opinion on our own works. It is sound…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/there-is-nothing-that-deceives-us-more-than-our-own-judgment-when/) [Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/) > [Mortals have always exaggerated the difference between hate and love. Both come from the heart. You can never hate strongly unless you have loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-pike/mortals-have-always-exaggerated-the-difference-between-hate-and-love/) [Christopher Pike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-pike/) > [Oh, let us lose our milk teeth and cut instead the strong teeth of hate and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-catherine-of-siena/oh-let-us-lose-our-milk-teeth-and-cut-instead-the-strong-teeth-of/) [St. Catherine of Siena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-catherine-of-siena/) ## More by Catullus > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [I hate and I love, and who can tell me why?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/i-hate-and-i-love-and-who-can-tell-me-why/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [The confounding of all right and wrong, in wild fury, has averted from us the gracious favor of the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/the-confounding-of-all-right-and-wrong-in-wild-fury-has-averted-from/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Ah, what is more blessed than to put cares away, when the mind lays by its burden, and tired with labor of far travel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/ah-what-is-more-blessed-than-to-put-cares-away-when-the-mind-lays-by/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [“O furum optime balneariorum Vibenni pater et cineadi fili (nam dextra pater inquinatiore, culo filius est voraciore), cur non exilium malasque in oras itis?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/o-furum-optime-balneariorum-vibenni-pater-et-cineadi-fili-nam-dextra/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Stop wishing to merit anyone's gratitude or thinking that anyone can become grateful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/stop-wishing-to-merit-anyone-s-gratitude-or-thinking-that-anyone-can/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [It is difficult to suddenly give up a long love. Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/it-is-difficult-to-suddenly-give-up-a-long-love-difficile-est-longum/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [“I hate and I love. Why do I do this, you may ask? I do not know, but I feel it, and I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/i-hate-and-i-love-why-do-i-do-this-you-may-ask-i-do-not-know-but-i/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [“I hate & love. And if you should ask how I can do both, I couldn't say; but I feel it, and it shivers me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/i-hate-love-and-if-you-should-ask-how-i-can-do-both-i-couldn-t-say/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Oh, this age! How tasteless and ill bred it is!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/oh-this-age-how-tasteless-and-ill-bred-it-is/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love. Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/let-us-live-my-lesbia-and-let-us-love-vivamus-mea-lesbia-atque-amemus/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [To whom do I give my new elegant little book? Cui dono lepidum novum libellum?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/to-whom-do-i-give-my-new-elegant-little-book-cui-dono-lepidum-novum/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [I hate and I love. Perchance you ask why I do that. I know not, but I feel that I do and I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/i-hate-and-i-love-perchance-you-ask-why-i-do-that-i-know-not-but-i/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [What woman says to fond lover should be written on air or the swift water. \[Lat., Mulier cupido quod dicit amanti, In vento et…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/what-woman-says-to-fond-lover-should-be-written-on-air-or-the-swift/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [What a woman says to her avid lover should be written in wind and running water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/what-a-woman-says-to-her-avid-lover-should-be-written-in-wind-and/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) [Explore all 55 Catullus quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) ## More And love quotes > [Broken by hardships, disappointments and tragedy, people can become discouraged and cynical. But lives can also be mended. 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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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