--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I do believe that love is based in large…" description: "\"“I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the feeling that requires the largest dose of imag..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png" --- # I do believe that love is based in large measure on its… ![“I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the feeling that requires the largest dose of imagination, not only when one senses its presence, when one sees it coming, and not only when the person who has experienced and lost love feels a need…” quote by Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png) > ““I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the feeling that requires the largest dose of imagination, not only when one senses its presence, when one sees it coming, and not only when the person who has experienced and lost love feels a need to explain it to him or herself, but also while that love is evolving and is in full flow. Let us say it is a feeling which always demands an element of fiction beyond that afforded by reality. In other words, love always has an imaginary side to it, however tangible or real we believe it to be at any given moment. It is always about to be fulfilled, it is the realm of what might be. Or rather, of what might have been.”” [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love intertwines anticipation and memory, requiring imagination to fill gaps between present experience and imagined futures. **In simple terms:** Love needs imagination and memory. Key Takeaway Embrace love’s imagined possibilities. Themes love memory imagination anticipation fiction Mood nostalgic reflective thoughtful Type philosophical literary emotional When to use this quote - relationships - creative writing - therapy - personal reflection Key Concepts psychology romantic idealism subjective reality Questions to Reflect On - How does imagination shape your experience of love? - What role does memory play in longing? A Different Perspective Love’s idealization can cause disappointment when reality falls short. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anticipation Recollection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anticipation-recollection-3167154/) [Explain Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-love/) [Imagination](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) [Imagination Senses](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination-senses-2462238/) [Lost love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lost-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Imaginary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-imaginary-4638252/) ## Related quotes > [I don’t think we ever really live in the present; instead, we’re either just this side of the past or future, wavering anxiously between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-hull/i-don-t-think-we-ever-really-live-in-the-present-instead-we-re-either/) [Jonathan Hull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-hull/) > [It is anticipation and recollection that fill the heart—never the sensation of the moment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-zelazny/it-is-anticipation-and-recollection-that-fill-the-heart-never-the/) [Roger Zelazny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-zelazny/) > [Fishing seems to be divided, like sex, into three unequal parts: anticipation and recollection and, in between, actual performance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-gingrich/fishing-seems-to-be-divided-like-sex-into-three-unequal-parts/) [Arnold Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-gingrich/) > [“Things are pretty, graceful, rich, elegant, handsome, but until they speak to the imagination, not yet beautiful. This is the reason why beauty is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/things-are-pretty-graceful-rich-elegant-handsome-but-until-they-speak/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“And with distance in time it is the same as with distance in place. The imagination has its atmosphere and its sunlight as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hurrell-mallock/and-with-distance-in-time-it-is-the-same-as-with-distance-in-place/) [William Hurrell Mallock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hurrell-mallock/) > [The imagination and the senses cannot be gratified at the same time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-imagination-and-the-senses-cannot-be-gratified-at-the-same-time/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Fear of error which everything recalls to me at every moment of the flight of my ideas, this mania for control, makes men prefer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-aragon/fear-of-error-which-everything-recalls-to-me-at-every-moment-of-the/) [Louis Aragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-aragon/) > [Metaphors think with the imagination and the senses. The hot chili peppers in them explode in the mouth and the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-hirshfield/metaphors-think-with-the-imagination-and-the-senses-the-hot-chili/) [Jane Hirshfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-hirshfield/) > [Even though you may think you don't understand or know why things happen the way they do or you can't explain why you love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelesy-burns/even-though-you-may-think-you-don-t-understand-or-know-why-things/) [Chelesy Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelesy-burns/) > [I love my life more than anything because you are my life. I don't have a heart because you stole it from me. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samii/i-love-my-life-more-than-anything-because-you-are-my-life-i-don-t/) [Samii](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samii/) > [Loving Someone Doesn't Need A Reason .. If You Can Explain Why You Love Someone It's Called Like .. If YOu Can't Explain It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/km-ii/loving-someone-doesn-t-need-a-reason-if-you-can-explain-why-you-love/) [KM II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/km-ii/) > [“How could she explain to him what her love was like? That although it was a love stronger than death, it wasn’t the kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-pym/how-could-she-explain-to-him-what-her-love-was-like-that-although-it/) [Barbara Pym](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-pym/) > [“It is impossible to explain how you can love someone so much that it’s difficult to be around him. And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mackenzi-lee/it-is-impossible-to-explain-how-you-can-love-someone-so-much-that-it/) [Mackenzi Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mackenzi-lee/) > [It's difficult to explain love. You want to explain water? You need a book for it. There are many different ways to explain what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/it-s-difficult-to-explain-love-you-want-to-explain-water-you-need-a/) [Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/) > [I can't explain love, but when I say it I mean it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livefree2dream44/i-can-t-explain-love-but-when-i-say-it-i-mean-it/) [Livefree2dream44](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livefree2dream44/) ## More by Javier Marías > [We all have to lead our own life, and we only have the one life, and the only people who can live life not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/we-all-have-to-lead-our-own-life-and-we-only-have-the-one-life-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“And we offer each other words of consolotation or distraction or encouragement when we see that one or the other of us is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/and-we-offer-each-other-words-of-consolotation-or-distraction-or/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“The principal and the most common problem at the beginning of any fairly conventional marriage is that regardless of the facilities for disengagement available…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/the-principal-and-the-most-common-problem-at-the-beginning-of-any/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Jedan par, pomislih, koji zavisi i živi od svojih prepreka; jedan par koji će se rasturiti kad ih ne bude bilo, ako ga pre…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/jedan-par-pomislih-koji-zavisi-i-ivi-od-svojih-prepreka-jedan-par/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“I knew that Sundays in England aren't just ordinary dull Sundays, the same the world over, which demand that one simply tiptoe through without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-knew-that-sundays-in-england-aren-t-just-ordinary-dull-sundays-the/) [Javier Marias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Everything can be ridiculous or tragic according to who is doing the telling or how they tell it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/everything-can-be-ridiculous-or-tragic-according-to-who-is-doing-the/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [Life is a very bad novelist. It is chaotic and ludicrous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/life-is-a-very-bad-novelist-it-is-chaotic-and-ludicrous/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Writing novels allows the novelist to spend much of his time in a fictional world, which is really the only or at least the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/writing-novels-allows-the-novelist-to-spend-much-of-his-time-in-a/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Everything that happens to us, everything that we say or hear, everything that we see with our own eyes or we articulate with our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/everything-that-happens-to-us-everything-that-we-say-or-hear/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“... los planes que uno se traza no son más que tentativas y pruebas, cartas que se van descubriendo y la mayoría de ellas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/los-planes-que-uno-se-traza-no-son-m-s-que-tentativas-y-pruebas/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“When the abuse is mutual, it dissolves of its own accord, the way it does in quarrels between brothers and sister when they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/when-the-abuse-is-mutual-it-dissolves-of-its-own-accord-the-way-it/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“Jeg ønsker å være der han er, og det eneste området hvor jeg vet at vi er sammen, er i fortiden, i det som…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/jeg-nsker-v-re-der-han-er-og-det-eneste-omr-det-hvor-jeg-vet-at-vi-er/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“... I had stayed still and let the days pass, which is the best way to allow things in the real world to dissolve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-had-stayed-still-and-let-the-days-pass-which-is-the-best-way-to/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [I have a tendency to want to understand everything people say and everything I hear, both at work and outside, even at a distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-have-a-tendency-to-want-to-understand-everything-people-say-and/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) > [“What happened between us both happened and didn't happen, it's the same with everything, why do or not do something, why say "yes" or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/what-happened-between-us-both-happened-and-didn-t-happen-it-s-the/) [Javier Marías](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) [Explore all 71 Javier Marías quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/) ## More Imagination quotes > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/a-rock-pile-ceases-to-be-a-rock-pile-the-moment-a-single-man/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [Imagination is the greatest nation in the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/imagination-is-the-greatest-nation-in-the-world/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Merkel has realized that the euro is not working, but she cannot change the narrative she has created because that narrative has caught the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-soros/merkel-has-realized-that-the-euro-is-not-working-but-she-cannot/) [George Soros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-soros/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Jonah Lehrer is one of the most talented explainers of science that we’ve got. What a pleasure it is to follow his investigation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-foer/jonah-lehrer-is-one-of-the-most-talented-explainers-of-science-that/) [Joshua Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-foer/) > [If you've got creativity, imagination, and intelligence, and you want to be hypnotised, then there's no reason you shouldn't be able to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-barry/if-you-ve-got-creativity-imagination-and-intelligence-and-you-want-to/) [Keith Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-barry/) > [“The power of imagination is strongest in the place of solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/the-power-of-imagination-is-strongest-in-the-place-of-solitude/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [A beard is something that is almost like a mirror to the viewer. When someone sees you wearing a beard, they're seeing something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/a-beard-is-something-that-is-almost-like-a-mirror-to-the-viewer-when/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/while-the-world-of-reality-has-its-limits-the-world-of-your/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [Edgy is fine - I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination - but what's wrong with a good ol' belly laugh?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-burnett/edgy-is-fine-i-m-not-a-prude-by-any-stretch-of-the-imagination-but/) [Carol Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-burnett/) > [With VR, we have this same vision, which is create this ultimate platform for sharing your imagination. Our huge community of 300,000 developers creates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-baszucki/with-vr-we-have-this-same-vision-which-is-create-this-ultimate/) [David Baszucki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-baszucki/) > [I like the idea of letting the music do its own work and the stories being more expressionful - if that's a word -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-flynn/i-like-the-idea-of-letting-the-music-do-its-own-work-and-the-stories/) [Johnny Flynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-flynn/) [Browse all 9,060 Imagination quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imagination/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the feeling that requires the largest dose of imagination, not only when one senses its presence, when one sees it coming, and not only when the person who has experienced and lost love feels a need to explain it to him or herself, but also while that love is evolving and is in full flow. Let us say it is a feeling which always demands an element of fiction beyond that afforded by reality. In other words, love always has an imaginary side to it, however tangible or real we believe it to be at any given moment. It is always about to be fulfilled, it is the realm of what might be. Or rather, of what might have been.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Javier Marías" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Imagination" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e60/javier-mar-as-2874_imagination_i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large_559044.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I do believe that love is based in large measure on its anticipation and on its recollection. It is the…” — Javier Marías", "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": "Javier Marías", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/javier-mar-as/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I do believe that love is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/javier-mar-as/i-do-believe-that-love-is-based-in-large-measure-on-its-anticipation/#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 } } ] } ```