--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He had known the love that is fed on…" description: "\"He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied.\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png" --- # He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds… ![“He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied.” quote by Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png) > “He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied.” [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A deep, intimate love cannot be satisfied by superficial gestures; it demands profound connection. **In simple terms:** Deep love needs more than surface affection. Key Takeaway Seek genuine intimacy. Themes love intimacy passion Mood reflective melancholic Type literary romantic When to use this quote - relationships - marriage - long‑term partnership Key Concepts emotional depth authenticity Questions to Reflect On - What does true intimacy look like for you? - How can you move beyond surface gestures? A Different Perspective Superficial acts may temporarily soothe but not fulfill. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feds/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) ## Related quotes > [Then stay with me a little longer,' Madame Olenska said in a low tone, just touching his knee with her plumed fan. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/then-stay-with-me-a-little-longer-madame-olenska-said-in-a-low-tone/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The visible world is a daily miracle for those who have eyes and ears; and I still warm hands thankfully at the old fire,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-visible-world-is-a-daily-miracle-for-those-who-have-eyes-and-ears/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“What if we really were known by our love and not by the stereotypes? What if we became authentically infected with the love of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-hardin/what-if-we-really-were-known-by-our-love-and-not-by-the-stereotypes/) Brian Hardin > [I never knew love until I met you, but when I met you I wish I haven't known love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christi-love/i-never-knew-love-until-i-met-you-but-when-i-met-you-i-wish-i-haven-t/) [Christi Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christi-love/) > [This have I known always: Love is no more than the wide blossom which the wind assails, than the great tide that treads the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-st-vincent-millay/this-have-i-known-always-love-is-no-more-than-the-wide-blossom-which/) [Edna St. Vincent Millay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-st-vincent-millay/) > [“I would never have known he existed and neither of us would've ever known a love like ours.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-sterritt/i-would-never-have-known-he-existed-and-neither-of-us-would-ve-ever/) [Kate Sterritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-sterritt/) > [“GERTRUDE (1964) Three men-her husband, a poet, and a young musician-love her, but because none of them will put his love for her before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-jay-schneider/gertrude-1964-three-men-her-husband-a-poet-and-a-young-musician-love/) [Steven Jay Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-jay-schneider/) > [“For the first time since Sarah died, I know she is with me. Not in that cliché watching-over-me-on-a-cloud kind of with me, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-kain/for-the-first-time-since-sarah-died-i-know-she-is-with-me-not-in-that/) Jamie Kain > [Alas...I too have known love, that ruler of hearts, that soul of our soul: it's never brought me anything except one kiss and twenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/alas-i-too-have-known-love-that-ruler-of-hearts-that-soul-of-our-soul/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [Our opinions are what we'll be known for; our love is what we'll be remembered for](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/our-opinions-are-what-we-ll-be-known-for-our-love-is-what-we-ll-be/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [But I hadn't known what love was. And I wondered how you could ever be sure, when you thought you loved someone, if you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-kleypas/but-i-hadn-t-known-what-love-was-and-i-wondered-how-you-could-ever-be/) [Lisa Kleypas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-kleypas/) > [The greatest possession we have costs nothing; it's known as love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jett/the-greatest-possession-we-have-costs-nothing-it-s-known-as-love/) [Brian Jett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jett/) > [You have never known love, Until you have become a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/you-have-never-known-love-until-you-have-become-a-parent/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [“Yet deep inside I know that I'm truly blessed that I was loved by someone like you. I'll always love you my Mia Amor.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimnese-davids/yet-deep-inside-i-know-that-i-m-truly-blessed-that-i-was-loved-by/) Chimnese Davids > [Well, He had known what love was-a sharp pang, a fierce experience, in the midst of whose flames he was struggling! but, through that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gaskell/well-he-had-known-what-love-was-a-sharp-pang-a-fierce-experience-in/) [Elizabeth Gaskell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gaskell/) ## More by Edith Wharton > [“Suddenly the air was full of that deep clangor of bells which periodically covers Rome with a roof of silver.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/suddenly-the-air-was-full-of-that-deep-clangor-of-bells-which/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Untrained human nature was not frank and innocent; it was full of the twists and defences of an instinctive guile. And he felt himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/untrained-human-nature-was-not-frank-and-innocent-it-was-full-of-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“High Pasture Come up--come up: in the dim vale below The autumn mist muffles the fading trees, But on this keen hill-pasture, though the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/high-pasture-come-up-come-up-in-the-dim-vale-below-the-autumn-mist/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“Two ways to be a light for all, is to be a flaming candle or the mirror that reflects it”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/two-ways-to-be-a-light-for-all-is-to-be-a-flaming-candle-or-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“... no treasure-house of Atreus was ever as rich as a well-stored memory.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/no-treasure-house-of-atreus-was-ever-as-rich-as-a-well-stored-memory/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“...the endless labour of rolling human stupidity up the steep hill of understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-endless-labour-of-rolling-human-stupidity-up-the-steep-hill-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material and social interests held together…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of-the-other-marriages-about/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [The real loneliness is living among all these kind people who only ask one to pretend!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/the-real-loneliness-is-living-among-all-these-kind-people-who-only/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [With a shiver of foreboding he saw his marriage becoming what most of the other marriages about him were: a dull association of material…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/with-a-shiver-of-foreboding-he-saw-his-marriage-becoming-what-most-of/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Life is the saddest thing there is, next to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-the-saddest-thing-there-is-next-to-death/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [A classic is classic not because it conforms to certain structural rules, or fits certain definitions (of which its author had quite probably never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/a-classic-is-classic-not-because-it-conforms-to-certain-structural/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [There is too much sour grapes for my taste in the present American attitude. The time to denounce the bankers was when we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/there-is-too-much-sour-grapes-for-my-taste-in-the-present-american/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“But in a few years more perhaps there may be; for, deep within us as the ghost instinct lurks, I seem to see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/but-in-a-few-years-more-perhaps-there-may-be-for-deep-within-us-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/dialogue-in-fiction-should-be-reserved-for-the-culminating-moments/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“These Americans, under their forthcoming manner, their surface-gush, as some might call it, have an odd reticence about what goes on underneath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/these-americans-under-their-forthcoming-manner-their-surface-gush-as/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) [Explore all 504 Edith Wharton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) ## More Bones quotes > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [May nothing entice me till I happily make my way to Jesus Christ! Fire, cross, struggles with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-of-antioch/may-nothing-entice-me-till-i-happily-make-my-way-to-jesus-christ-fire/) [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-of-antioch/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [“We are preaching hope, standing on the bones of the past.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rucyahana/we-are-preaching-hope-standing-on-the-bones-of-the-past/) [John Rucyahana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rucyahana/) > [Men are fair, and they have learned not to personalize anger - they can disagree with you and argue to the bone, but afterward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-farrell/men-are-fair-and-they-have-learned-not-to-personalize-anger-they-can/) [Warren Farrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-farrell/) > [I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-dahmer/i-separated-the-joints-the-arm-joints-the-leg-joints-and-had-to-do/) [Jeffrey Dahmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-dahmer/) > [Flesh forgets. Bone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-bass/flesh-forgets-bone-remembers/) [Jefferson Bass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-bass/) > [One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-diament/one-of-my-favorite-poets-neruda-writes-close-to-the-bone-though-i/) [Anita Diament](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-diament/) > [Death and burial were a public spectacle. 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To set your wisdom (holding not a doubt of it./ Although in truth there's neither bone nor skin to it)/ At work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/review-v-t-to-set-your-wisdom-holding-not-a-doubt-of-it-although-in/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“All right, you deadly little ghostlings,” I muttered. “Mama says go back to bed! - Cat”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/all-right-you-deadly-little-ghostlings-i-muttered-mama-says-go-back/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) > [“In December of 2007 human bones including skulls, which have been radiocarbon dated back to between 1304 and 1424, were found in a museum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/captain-hank-bracker-seawater-one/in-december-of-2007-human-bones-including-skulls-which-have-been/) Captain Hank Bracker, "Seawater One > [When I look at the human brain I'm still in awe of it. 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Especially when you’ve got death breathing down your neck.” “Very funny,” I retorted, since Bones was inches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeaniene-frost/i-m-in-cat-i-d-never-leave-you-especially-when-you-ve-got-death/) [Jeaniene Frost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeaniene-frost/) Browse all 2,113 Bones quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edith Wharton" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-caresses-and-feeds-them-but-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bones" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-caresses-and-feeds-them-but-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/edith-wharton-512_bones_he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-car_2503393.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his…” — Edith Wharton", "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": "Edith Wharton", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He had known the love that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-caresses-and-feeds-them-but-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/he-had-known-the-love-that-is-fed-on-caresses-and-feeds-them-but-this/#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 } } ] } ```