Love Quote by John Fowles
““She died." I had to prompt him. "Soon after?" "In the early hours of February the nineteenth, 1916." I tried to see the expression on his face, but it was too dark. "There was a typhoid epidemic. She was working in a hospital." "Poor girl." "All past. All under the sea." "You make it seem present." "I do not wish to make you sad." "The scent of lilac." "Old man's sentiment. Forgive me." There was a silence between us. He was staring into the night. The bat flitted so low that I saw its silhouette for a brief moment against the Milky Way. "Is this why you never married?" "The dead live." The blackness of the trees. I listened for footsteps, but none came. A suspension. "How do they live?" And yet again he let the silence come, as if the silence would answer my questions better than he could himself; but just when I had decided he would not answer, he spoke. "By love.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, 1969
A dialogue explores grief, memory, and the lingering presence of the dead.
In simple terms: Talking about loss and love.
Key Takeaway
Listen to silence and ask love.
Themes
loss
memory
love
death
silence
Mood
melancholic
introspective
Type
literary
philosophical
When to use this quote
- mourning a artistic creation
- relationship counseling
- historical reflection
Key Concepts
existentialism
romanticism
psychology
Questions to Reflect On
- How does silence convey meaning?
- Can love truly transcend death?
A Different Perspective
Love may not answer all questions about death.
