--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great lovers will always be unhappy…" description: "\"The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the same intensity of thought that they have f..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg" --- # The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them… ![“The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the same intensity of thought that they have for her – otherwise they feel betrayed.” quote by Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg) > “The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the same intensity of thought that they have for her – otherwise they feel betrayed.” [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intense love demands equal emotional depth; lacking it feels like betrayal, leading to unhappiness. **In simple terms:** Deep love expects matching intensity, otherwise it feels like betrayal. Key Takeaway Seek balanced expectations in relationships. Themes love expectations betrayal intimacy Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - romantic partnership - friendship - family dynamics Key Concepts reciprocity emotional labor idealization Questions to Reflect On - Do you expect the same intensity from others as you feel? - How can you communicate needs without demanding equality? A Different Perspective Unrealistic expectations can cause resentment and pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beloved](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beloved/) [Great lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-lovers/) [Intensity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intensity/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Lovers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lovers/) [Unhappy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unhappy/) ## Related quotes > [Great lovers will always be unhappy, because, for them, love is of supreme importance. Consequently they demand of their beloved the same intensity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is-of/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginningmay feel betrayed and criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoru-iwata/we-are-all-too-keenly-aware-that-those-of-you-who-supported-us-by/) [Satoru Iwata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satoru-iwata/) > [Yes, definitely I do feel betrayed, but I've got to take everything that's happened and learn from it. I accept that that's a chapter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cheryl-cole/yes-definitely-i-do-feel-betrayed-but-i-ve-got-to-take-everything/) [Cheryl Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cheryl-cole/) > [youth, when it is hurt, likes to feel itself betrayed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/youth-when-it-is-hurt-likes-to-feel-itself-betrayed/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum and don't interrupt our patterns slightly. When we feel betrayed or disappointed, does it occur to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/ordinarily-we-are-swept-away-by-habitual-momentum-and-don-t-interrupt/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [I gave a helpless laugh. “Damned if I know. I think…we seem to have reached impasse. I feel betrayed by your friendship with Verlane.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-lanyon/i-gave-a-helpless-laugh-damned-if-i-know-i-think-we-seem-to-have/) [Josh Lanyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josh-lanyon/) > [History shows that there is no more potent engine for reform than the passion of voters who feel betrayed by the politicians they hoped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-moritz/history-shows-that-there-is-no-more-potent-engine-for-reform-than-the/) [Michael Moritz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-moritz/) > [With others, I feel betrayed that those who had the authority in the Church to stop Brendan Smyth failed to act on the evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-brady/with-others-i-feel-betrayed-that-those-who-had-the-authority-in-the/) [Sean Brady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-brady/) > [It is less painful, it turns out, to feel betrayed than to feel forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-grosz/it-is-less-painful-it-turns-out-to-feel-betrayed-than-to-feel/) [Stephen Grosz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-grosz/) > [Also she had the power of silent sympathy. That sounds rather dull, I know, but it's not so dull as it sounds. It just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-nesbit/also-she-had-the-power-of-silent-sympathy-that-sounds-rather-dull-i/) [E. Nesbit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-nesbit/) > [“The easy way to be unhappy is to love something and not let yourself have it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conquering-your-quarterlife-crisis/the-easy-way-to-be-unhappy-is-to-love-something-and-not-let-yourself/) Conquering Your Quarterlife Crisis > [Are people so unhappy when they love?" "Yes, Christine, when they love and are not sure of being loved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gaston-leroux/are-people-so-unhappy-when-they-love-yes-christine-when-they-love-and/) [Gaston Leroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gaston-leroux/) > [“What other than mental illness spurs normal people to write prolifically? The chief cause is not quite illness, but nearly: love, especially unhappy love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-w-flaherty/what-other-than-mental-illness-spurs-normal-people-to-write/) [Alice W. Flaherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-w-flaherty/) > [While many a soul are unhappy with love, no one is ever happy without it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/while-many-a-soul-are-unhappy-with-love-no-one-is-ever-happy-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you're getting this down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-allen/therefore-to-be-unhappy-one-must-love-or-love-to-suffer-or-suffer/) [Woody Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-allen/) ## More by Cesare Pavese > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [In the mental disturbance and effort of writing, what sustains you is the certainty that on every page there is something left unsaid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/in-the-mental-disturbance-and-effort-of-writing-what-sustains-you-is/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why does a man who is truly in love insist that this relationship must continue and be "lifelong"? Because life is pain and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/why-does-a-man-who-is-truly-in-love-insist-that-this-relationship/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [I thought of how many places there are in the world that belong in this way to someone, who has it in his blood…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/i-thought-of-how-many-places-there-are-in-the-world-that-belong-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Now that I've seen what war is, what civil war is, I know that everybody, if one day it should end, ought to ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/now-that-i-ve-seen-what-war-is-what-civil-war-is-i-know-that/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [It had to happen to you, to concentrate your whole life on one point, and then discover that you can do anything except live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/it-had-to-happen-to-you-to-concentrate-your-whole-life-on-one-point/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There is only one pleasure-that of being alive. All the rest is misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-is-only-one-pleasure-that-of-being-alive-all-the-rest-is-misery/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [But here's the worst part: the trick to life lies in hiding from those we hold most dear how much they mean to is;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/but-here-s-the-worst-part-the-trick-to-life-lies-in-hiding-from-those/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/traveling-is-a-brutality-it-forces-you-to-trust-strangers-and-to-lose/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [“Meanwhile we arrived at our lane and the sight of the olive tree rubbed me the wrong way. I began to see that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/meanwhile-we-arrived-at-our-lane-and-the-sight-of-the-olive-tree/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Verrà la morte e avrà i tuoi occhi. (Death will come and it will have your eyes.)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/verr-la-morte-e-avr-i-tuoi-occhi-death-will-come-and-it-will-have/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [All our "most sacred affections " are merely prosaic habit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/all-our-most-sacred-affections-are-merely-prosaic-habit/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [There comes a day when, for someone who has persecuted us, we feel only indifference, a weariness at his stupidity. Then we forgive him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/there-comes-a-day-when-for-someone-who-has-persecuted-us-we-feel-only/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/a-consoling-thought-what-matters-is-not-what-we-do-but-the-spirit-in/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [One does not kill oneself for love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/one-does-not-kill-oneself-for-love-of-a-woman-but-because-love-any/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) [Explore all 171 Cesare Pavese quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) ## More Beloved quotes > [My Chosen Daughter, No one can define you without your permission. I want you to be so secure in who you are in Me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/god/my-chosen-daughter-no-one-can-define-you-without-your-permission-i/) God > [Why should the Marquis de Cussy wage war on soup? I cannot understand a dinner without it. I hold soup to be the well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-antoine-careme/why-should-the-marquis-de-cussy-wage-war-on-soup-i-cannot-understand/) [Marie-Antoine Careme](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-antoine-careme/) > [Beloved, let your eyes half close, and your heart beat Over my heart, and your hair fall over my breast, Drowning love's lonely hour…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/beloved-let-your-eyes-half-close-and-your-heart-beat-over-my-heart/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [I made you, dear, and all I make is perfect. Please come close, for I desire you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teresa-of-vila/i-made-you-dear-and-all-i-make-is-perfect-please-come-close-for-i/) [Teresa of Avila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teresa-of-vila/) > [A lover asked his beloved, Do you love yourself more than you love me? Beloved replied, I have died to myself and I live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-lover-asked-his-beloved-do-you-love-yourself-more-than-you-love-me/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He who believes in God is not careful for the morrow, but labors joyfully and with a great heart. "For He giveth His beloved,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/he-who-believes-in-god-is-not-careful-for-the-morrow-but-labors/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [My beloved like a jewel on my crown, In my vast and blue sky you are like a full-moon. I wish to stay entrapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ranjan-dey/my-beloved-like-a-jewel-on-my-crown-in-my-vast-and-blue-sky-you-are/) [Ranjan Dey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ranjan-dey/) > [Love is doing what will enthrall the beloved with the greatest and longest joy. What will enthrall the beloved this way is the glory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/love-is-doing-what-will-enthrall-the-beloved-with-the-greatest-and/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Rest you well, beloved Jesus, Caesar’s Lord and Israel’s King, In the brooding of the Spirit, in the darkness of the spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-t-wright-2/rest-you-well-beloved-jesus-caesar-s-lord-and-israel-s-king-in-the/) [N. T. Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-t-wright-2/) > [My beloved friend - one of the most unique and charming personalities of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/my-beloved-friend-one-of-the-most-unique-and-charming-personalities/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [A lover goes toward his beloved as enthusiastically as a schoolboy leaving his books, but when he leaves his girlfriend, he feels as miserable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/a-lover-goes-toward-his-beloved-as-enthusiastically-as-a-schoolboy/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I lost my dad when I was younger, and I know what its like to lose a beloved parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-elkeles/i-lost-my-dad-when-i-was-younger-and-i-know-what-its-like-to-lose-a/) [Simone Elkeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-elkeles/) > [My beloved dog defied treatment from the best and most expensive veterinarians, holistic practitioners, trainers, and animal communicators. 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So, too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-augustine/wicked-sons-do-not-have-the-holy-ghost-in-the-same-way-as-do-beloved/) [Saint Augustine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-augustine/) [Browse all 1,440 Beloved quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beloved/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the same intensity of thought that they have for her – otherwise they feel betrayed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cesare Pavese" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beloved" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/712/cesare-pavese-1924_beloved_the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy_1668660.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The great lovers will always be unhappy, because for them love is great and so they ask of their beloved the…” — Cesare Pavese", "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": "Cesare Pavese", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The great lovers will always be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/the-great-lovers-will-always-be-unhappy-because-for-them-love-is/#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 } } ] } ```