Desire Quote by Italo Calvino
““I was living and dying in all the fibers of what is chewed and digested and in all the fibers that absorb the sun, consuming and digesting. Under the thatched arbor of a restaurant on a river-bank, where Olivia had waited for me, our teeth began to move slowly, with equal rhythm, and our eyes stared into each other's with the intensity of serpents'—serpents concentrated in the ecstasy of swallowing each other in turn, as we were aware, in our turn, of being swallowed by the serpent that digests us all, assimilated ceaselessly in the process of ingestion and digestion, in the universal cannibalism that leaves its imprint on every amorous relationship and erases the lines between our bodies and sopa de frijoles, huachinango a la vera cru-zana, and enchiladas.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Invisible Cities, 1972
The passage uses sensual imagery to depict love as a merging, consuming process, blurring boundaries between self and other.
In simple terms: Love is a deep, consuming union.
Key Takeaway
Recognize love’s transformative power.
Themes
love
union
identity
transformation
Mood
poetic
intense
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- romantic relationship
- artistic expression
- culinary metaphor
Key Concepts
Sensory metaphor
philosophical intimacy
Questions to Reflect On
- What does the serpent symbolize in love?
- How does shared experience dissolve individuality?
A Different Perspective
The intense imagery may overwhelm some readers.
![“Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three [great teachers] did not tell - they catalyzed a burning desire to know. Under their influence, the horizons sprung wide and fear went away and the unknown became knowable. But most important of…” quote by John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/84c/john-steinbeck-71_art_teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-t_1738.jpg)
