---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To long for love, to have experienced…"
description: "\"To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep pleasure, even once, is to understand the mercilessness of having a human body whose memory rides ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg"
---

#  To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep…

![“To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep pleasure, even once, is to understand the mercilessness of having a human body whose memory rides desire's back unanchored from season to season.” quote by Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg)

> “To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep pleasure, even once, is to understand the mercilessness of having a human body whose memory rides desire's back unanchored from season to season.”

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

## 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 and desire leave a lasting imprint on the body, making longing a perpetual, unanchored ache across time.

**In simple terms:** Passionate love leaves an unending ache in the body.

Key Takeaway

Embrace love fully, even its pain.

Themes

love desire impermanence body memory

Mood

melancholic introspective

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- Romantic relationships
- artistic inspiration
- grief processing

Key Concepts

Existential longing sensory memory temporal dislocation

Questions to Reflect On

- What does desire teach us about our mortality?
- How can we balance longing with present living?

A Different Perspective

May romanticize suffering.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Desire Unanchored](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire-unanchored-3863909/) [Experienced Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experienced-passion-1097169/) [Human body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-body/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Memories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memories/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Passion Deep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion-deep-2074240/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Seasons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seasons/)

## Related quotes

> [I hated him with a passion so deep, sometimes it felt like love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-guillemets/i-hated-him-with-a-passion-so-deep-sometimes-it-felt-like-love/)

[Terri Guillemets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-guillemets/)

> [I think we have all experienced passion that is not in any sense reasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/i-think-we-have-all-experienced-passion-that-is-not-in-any-sense/)

[Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/)

> [“Most people - and I'm guilty of it as well - think of passion as hot, fiery, impulsive. But listening to you made me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-speedwell/most-people-and-i-m-guilty-of-it-as-well-think-of-passion-as-hot/)

[Rowan Speedwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-speedwell/)

> [“Cat was no novice, but the term “sexual satisfaction” didn’t even come close to what Wilson McKay had done to her. It was magnificent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-sala/cat-was-no-novice-but-the-term-sexual-satisfaction-didn-t-even-come/)

[Sharon Sala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-sala/)

> [What Flaubert refers to as the “mélancholies du voyage” is like the sadness I feel as one season departs and another arrives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/what-flaubert-refers-to-as-the-m-lancholies-du-voyage-is-like-the/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Human ingenuity has given centuries to the goal of ensuring that the human body might move around at an even 68 degrees all year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lance-morrow/human-ingenuity-has-given-centuries-to-the-goal-of-ensuring-that-the/)

[Lance Morrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lance-morrow/)

> [“artificial intelligence is forcing human endeavor away from simple, algorithmic and repetitive tasks towards solving problems and incubating new ideas. It is the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gyan-nagpal/artificial-intelligence-is-forcing-human-endeavor-away-from-simple/)

[Gyan Nagpal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gyan-nagpal/)

> [“My holy of holies are the human body, health, intelligence, talent, inspiration, love, and the most absolute freedom - freedom from force and falsity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/my-holy-of-holies-are-the-human-body-health-intelligence-talent/)

[Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/)

> [“We are his temple. We do not turn in a certain directlon to pray. We are not bound by having to go into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/we-are-his-temple-we-do-not-turn-in-a-certain-directlon-to-pray-we/)

[Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/)

> [If the estimated age of the cosmos were shortened to seventy-two years, a human life would take about ten seconds. But look at time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-grudin/if-the-estimated-age-of-the-cosmos-were-shortened-to-seventy-two/)

[Robert Grudin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-grudin/)

> [“Can I tell you a boring science fact?" she whispered. "I bet you didn't learn it in Shadowhunter history class." "If you're trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/can-i-tell-you-a-boring-science-fact-she-whispered-i-bet-you-didn-t/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [Alas, everything that men say to one another is alike; the ideas they exchange are almost always the same, in their conversation. But inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-de-musset/alas-everything-that-men-say-to-one-another-is-alike-the-ideas-they/)

[Alfred de Musset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-de-musset/)

> [We are beginning to see intimations of this in the implantation of computer devices into the human body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-kurzweil/we-are-beginning-to-see-intimations-of-this-in-the-implantation-of/)

[Ray Kurzweil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-kurzweil/)

> [The human body has been designed to resist an infinite number of changes and attacks brought about by its environment. The secret of good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-johnson/the-human-body-has-been-designed-to-resist-an-infinite-number-of/)

[Harry Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-johnson/)

> [Don't think you can...know you can! You human body is the most impressive tool you'll ever own. Even if you can't control everything, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hardy/don-t-think-you-can-know-you-can-you-human-body-is-the-most/)

[Jeff Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hardy/)

## More by Gretel Ehrlich

> [“To yield is to be preserved whole. To be bent is to become straight. To be hollow is to be filled. To be tattered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-yield-is-to-be-preserved-whole-to-be-bent-is-to-become-straight-to/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Turbulence, like many forms of trouble, cannot always be seen. We bounce so hard my arms sail helplessly above my head. In evolution, wing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/turbulence-like-many-forms-of-trouble-cannot-always-be-seen-we-bounce/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [From the clayey soil of northern Wyoming is mined bentonite, which is used as filler in candy, gum, and lipstick. We Americans are great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/from-the-clayey-soil-of-northern-wyoming-is-mined-bentonite-which-is/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Finally, the lessons of impermanence taught me this: loss constitutes an odd kind of fullness; despair empties out into an unquenchable appetite for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/finally-the-lessons-of-impermanence-taught-me-this-loss-constitutes/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [If anything is endemic to Wyoming it is wind. This big room of space is swept out daily, leaving a bone yard of fossils,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/if-anything-is-endemic-to-wyoming-it-is-wind-this-big-room-of-space/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Everything in nature invites us constantly to be what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/everything-in-nature-invites-us-constantly-to-be-what-we-are/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Between highway sounds I heard waves and thought how the curve of the coastline here had sheltered and nurtured live-born sharks, humans, and migrating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/between-highway-sounds-i-heard-waves-and-thought-how-the-curve-of-the/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [Walking is also an ambulation of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/walking-is-also-an-ambulation-of-mind/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [As fog moved to the mainland I heard a flock of birds fly over. They sounded like a dress rustling, a dress being unfastened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/as-fog-moved-to-the-mainland-i-heard-a-flock-of-birds-fly-over-they/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [History is not truth versus falsehoods, but a mixture of both, a mélange of tendencies, reactions, dreams, errors, and power plays. What's important is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/history-is-not-truth-versus-falsehoods-but-a-mixture-of-both-a-m/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [“What shocks me so is the detachment with which we dispense destruction -- not just bombs, but blows to the head of the earth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/what-shocks-me-so-is-the-detachment-with-which-we-dispense/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [“Like water, I have no skin...only surface tension. (Gretel Ehrlich)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/like-water-i-have-no-skin-only-surface-tension-gretel-ehrlich/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [What Flaubert refers to as the “mélancholies du voyage” is like the sadness I feel as one season departs and another arrives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/what-flaubert-refers-to-as-the-m-lancholies-du-voyage-is-like-the/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [“Space is an arena where the rowdy particles that are the building blocks of life perform their antics. All spring, things fall; the general…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/space-is-an-arena-where-the-rowdy-particles-that-are-the-building/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

> [There is nothing in nature that can't be taken as a sign of both mortality and invigoration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/there-is-nothing-in-nature-that-can-t-be-taken-as-a-sign-of-both/)

[Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

[Explore all 71 Gretel Ehrlich quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/)

## More Body quotes

> [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/)

[Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/)

> [The very purpose for being in this body, for every one of us, is to live and rejoice in that virgin area, that untouched,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/the-very-purpose-for-being-in-this-body-for-every-one-of-us-is-to/)

[Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/)

> [Because of the womb being a central phenomenon in the feminine body, the whole psychology of woman differs: she is non-aggressive, non-inquiring, non-questioning, non-doubting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/because-of-the-womb-being-a-central-phenomenon-in-the-feminine-body/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/)

[Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/)

> [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/)

[Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/)

> [Practically all animals which move fast in a homogeneous medium have found means of giving their body a streamlined shape, thereby reducing friction to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/konrad-lorenz/practically-all-animals-which-move-fast-in-a-homogeneous-medium-have/)

[Konrad Lorenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/konrad-lorenz/)

> [If the media is sending girls the message that their value lies in their bodies, this can only leave them feeling disempowered and distract…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-siebel-newsom/if-the-media-is-sending-girls-the-message-that-their-value-lies-in/)

[Jennifer Siebel Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-siebel-newsom/)

> [Boys and boys' body image and clothes have become just as important an issue for boys as for girls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalind-wiseman/boys-and-boys-body-image-and-clothes-have-become-just-as-important-an/)

[Rosalind Wiseman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalind-wiseman/)

> [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/)

[Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/)

> [Racism is a cancer. You cannot ignore it and it'll go away. If you ignore cancer, it simply metastasizes and consumes the whole body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-davis/racism-is-a-cancer-you-cannot-ignore-it-and-it-ll-go-away-if-you/)

[Daryl Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-davis/)

> [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/)

[Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/)

> [I read a couple of books about neuroscience and the relationship between the mind and the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-kinnaman/i-read-a-couple-of-books-about-neuroscience-and-the-relationship/)

[Joel Kinnaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-kinnaman/)

> [If japa is maintained, no useless talk during work will be possible. The mind will always remain peaceful. Modern day diseases are mostly psychosomatic.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/if-japa-is-maintained-no-useless-talk-during-work-will-be-possible/)

[Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/)

> [It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ... My work requires it - but I myself have no need or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marsden-hartley/it-is-the-incongruous-thing-in-my-entire-life-this-isolation-my-work/)

[Marsden Hartley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marsden-hartley/)

> [My friends, this body - perhaps more than any other gathering in human history - now faces that difficult task.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/my-friends-this-body-perhaps-more-than-any-other-gathering-in-human/)

[Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/)

[Browse all 20,814 Body quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep pleasure, even once, is to understand the mercilessness of having a human body whose memory rides desire's back unanchored from season to season.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Gretel Ehrlich"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-passion-s-deep-pleasure-even/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Body"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-passion-s-deep-pleasure-even/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df2/gretel-ehrlich-9636_body_to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-pas_1239510.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“To long for love, to have experienced passion's deep pleasure, even once, is to understand the mercilessness…” — Gretel Ehrlich",
                "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": "Gretel Ehrlich",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "To long for love, to have...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-passion-s-deep-pleasure-even/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/to-long-for-love-to-have-experienced-passion-s-deep-pleasure-even/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
