---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: dating you would be like a series of…"
description: "\"dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions.\" — John Green"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg"
---

#  dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root…

![“dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions.” quote by John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg)

> “dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions.”

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Dating feels like painful procedures mixed with occasional intimacy, highlighting uneven experiences.

**In simple terms:** Dating can be both painful and rewarding.

Key Takeaway

Accept the mix of pain and pleasure.

Themes

relationships intimacy pain

Mood

reflective wry

Type

humorous contemplative

When to use this quote

- first dates
- long‑term relationships
- balancing intimacy and conflict

Key Concepts

Emotional volatility expectations

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a relationship feel worthwhile?
- How can you reduce the “painful” moments?

A Different Perspective

Not all relationships involve pain.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Canals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canals/) [Dating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dating/) [Root canals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/root-canals/) [Roots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/roots/)

## Related quotes

> [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/)

[Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/)

> [Marriage. It's a hard term to define. Especially for me--I've ducked it like root canal. Still there's no denying the fact that marriage ranks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-schneider/marriage-it-s-a-hard-term-to-define-especially-for-me-i-ve-ducked-it/)

[Andrew Schneider](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-schneider/)

> [I had rather get a root canal without anesthesia than to call your customer service office for help.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-jones/i-had-rather-get-a-root-canal-without-anesthesia-than-to-call-your/)

[Jon Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-jones/)

> [I could give you absolutely sterling advice on how to avoid writing, how when you run out of things to do other than going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-kushner/i-could-give-you-absolutely-sterling-advice-on-how-to-avoid-writing/)

[Tony Kushner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-kushner/)

> [I hate dentists. That's why my tooth fell out. I was in the middle of a root canal and wouldn't go back, so it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-moss/i-hate-dentists-that-s-why-my-tooth-fell-out-i-was-in-the-middle-of-a/)

[Kate Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-moss/)

> [Remember, the political idea being expressed a year ago was that because the GOP interpreted its 1994 mandate as a call to budget-balancing austerity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jude-wanniski/remember-the-political-idea-being-expressed-a-year-ago-was-that/)

[Jude Wanniski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jude-wanniski/)

> [The average household might prepare for root canal, traffic accident, unemployment or illness, but how the household will meet, manage and even survive violent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-longenecker/the-average-household-might-prepare-for-root-canal-traffic-accident/)

[John Longenecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-longenecker/)

> [I've come to look upon death the same way I look upon root-canal work. Everyone else seems to get through it all right, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-heller/i-ve-come-to-look-upon-death-the-same-way-i-look-upon-root-canal-work/)

[Joseph Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-heller/)

> [Love is the grand prize and the garbage heap. Love is a spiritual root canal and the only thing that makes life worth living.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-fulghum/love-is-the-grand-prize-and-the-garbage-heap-love-is-a-spiritual-root/)

[Robert Fulghum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-fulghum/)

> [Homework, root canals, and deadlines are the important things in life, and only when we have these major dramas taken care of can we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-heimel/homework-root-canals-and-deadlines-are-the-important-things-in-life/)

[Cynthia Heimel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-heimel/)

> [The last time I had this much fun was a root-canal operation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-ziegler/the-last-time-i-had-this-much-fun-was-a-root-canal-operation/)

Larry Ziegler

> [I have had a number of patients with breast cancer, all of whom had root canals on the tooth related to the breast area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-diamond/i-have-had-a-number-of-patients-with-breast-cancer-all-of-whom-had/)

[John Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-diamond/)

> [So we took out those 3 root canals when she had 3-6 months to live. And that was 6 years ago, and she is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-huggins/so-we-took-out-those-3-root-canals-when-she-had-3-6-months-to-live/)

Hal Huggins

> [“Look, you’re right. Maybe I don’t like you the way someone should like you. I don’t like you in the call-you-and-read-you-a-poem-every-night-before-you-go-to-bed way. I’m crazy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/look-you-re-right-maybe-i-don-t-like-you-the-way-someone-should-like/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [He took a bite, swallowed. "God. If asparagus tasted like that all the time, I'd be vegetarian, too." Some people in a lacquered wooden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-took-a-bite-swallowed-god-if-asparagus-tasted-like-that-all-the/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

## More by John Green

> [Issac:"I dislike living in a world without Augustus Waters." Computer: "I don't understand-" Issac: "Me neither. Pause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/issac-i-dislike-living-in-a-world-without-augustus-waters-computer-i/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“I just want to stay away from people and read books and think”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-just-want-to-stay-away-from-people-and-read-books-and-think/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [She smiled with all the delight of a kid on Christmas morning and said, "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/she-smiled-with-all-the-delight-of-a-kid-on-christmas-morning-and/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [A Margo for each of us--and each more mirror than window.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/a-margo-for-each-of-us-and-each-more-mirror-than-window/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/no-one-ever-says-good-bye-unless-they-want-to-see-you-again/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [Neither novels or their readers benefit from any attempts to divine whether any facts hide inside a story. Such efforts attack the very idea…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/neither-novels-or-their-readers-benefit-from-any-attempts-to-divine/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“Traffic's not too bad on Sheridan, and I'm cornering the car like it's the Indy 500, and we're listening to my favorite NMH song,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/traffic-s-not-too-bad-on-sheridan-and-i-m-cornering-the-car-like-it-s/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“Praise God for good nurses.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/praise-god-for-good-nurses/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [So I was ugly. I was never fat, really, and I never wore headgear or had zits or anything. But I was ugly. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/so-i-was-ugly-i-was-never-fat-really-and-i-never-wore-headgear-or-had/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [Nothing has ever looked like that ever in all of human history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/nothing-has-ever-looked-like-that-ever-in-all-of-human-history/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“said to him quietly, as if I couldn’t hear or something. Dad was about to respond but I interrupted.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/said-to-him-quietly-as-if-i-couldn-t-hear-or-something-dad-was-about/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [I believe humans have souls, and I believe in the conservation of souls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-believe-humans-have-souls-and-i-believe-in-the-conservation-of-souls/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [“He was hot. A nonhotboy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault. But a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/he-was-hot-a-nonhotboy-stares-at-you-relentlessly-and-it-is-at-best/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [I think if you keep the box closed long enough you do kill the cat, actually.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/i-think-if-you-keep-the-box-closed-long-enough-you-do-kill-the-cat/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

> [Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. (...) You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/imagining-the-future-is-a-kind-of-nostalgia-you-spend-your-whole-life/)

[John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

[Explore all 3,614 John Green quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/)

## More Canals quotes

> [When you have a cavity in your tooth and you let it get worse, eventually you have to get a root canal. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivia-newton-john/when-you-have-a-cavity-in-your-tooth-and-you-let-it-get-worse/)

[Olivia Newton-John](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivia-newton-john/)

> [Actors do have good and bad sides. It's because the passage down the birth canal distorts the face. People born by caesarean section are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-griffiths/actors-do-have-good-and-bad-sides-it-s-because-the-passage-down-the/)

[Richard Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-griffiths/)

> [My daughter squealed again and both Bubba and I winced. It’s not an attractive sound, that. It’s high-pitched and it enters your ear canals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-lehane/my-daughter-squealed-again-and-both-bubba-and-i-winced-it-s-not-an/)

[Dennis Lehane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-lehane/)

> [The citizens of Love Canal provided an example of how a blue-collar community with few resources can win against great odds (a multi-billion-dollar international…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-gibbs/the-citizens-of-love-canal-provided-an-example-of-how-a-blue-collar/)

[Lois Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-gibbs/)

> [The problem was that Panama technically belonged to Colombia, which refused to sign a treaty leasing it to the United States. So Roosevelt sent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-barry/the-problem-was-that-panama-technically-belonged-to-colombia-which/)

[Dave Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-barry/)

> [All this piling up of one technology on top of another-railroad on steamboat, interstate highway on railroad, hydroelectric dam on watermill-had reduced the Mississippi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/all-this-piling-up-of-one-technology-on-top-of-another-railroad-on/)

[Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/)

> [I miss that time. The cities back then, just after the forests died, were full of wonders, and you'd stumble on them--these princes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-miss-that-time-the-cities-back-then-just-after-the-forests-died/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [One learns little more about a man from his feats of literary memory than from the feats of his alimentary canal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-moore-colby/one-learns-little-more-about-a-man-from-his-feats-of-literary-memory/)

[Frank Moore Colby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-moore-colby/)

> [“The city's canals outnumber those in Venice,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lonely-planet/the-city-s-canals-outnumber-those-in-venice/)

Lonely Planet

> [I have had a number of patients with breast cancer, all of whom had root canals on the tooth related to the breast area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-diamond/i-have-had-a-number-of-patients-with-breast-cancer-all-of-whom-had/)

[John Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-diamond/)

> [The digestive canal represents a tube passing through the entire organism and communicating with the external world, i.e. as it were the external surface…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivan-pavlov/the-digestive-canal-represents-a-tube-passing-through-the-entire/)

[Ivan Pavlov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivan-pavlov/)

> [People generally have more feeling for canals and roads than education. However, I hope we can advance them with equal pace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/people-generally-have-more-feeling-for-canals-and-roads-than/)

[Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/)

> [The crowning fortune of a man is to be born to some pursuit which finds him employment and happiness, whether it be to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-crowning-fortune-of-a-man-is-to-be-born-to-some-pursuit-which/)

[Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/)

> [Equally important is the lack of cultivable land for farmers, a profound problem when you take into account that Afghanistan has always largely been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/equally-important-is-the-lack-of-cultivable-land-for-farmers-a/)

[Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/)

> [You can replace houses. You can't replace people. I mean, it's left me speechless. I was talking to P.J. about it. When the storm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-paul/you-can-replace-houses-you-can-t-replace-people-i-mean-it-s-left-me/)

[Chris Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-paul/)

[Browse all 129 Canals quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canals/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "John Green"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unnecessary-root-canals/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Canals"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unnecessary-root-canals/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/517/john-green-12_canals_dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unn_260848.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“dating you would be like a series of unnecessary root canals interspersed with occasional makeout sessions.” — John Green",
                "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": "John Green",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "dating you would be like a...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unnecessary-root-canals/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/dating-you-would-be-like-a-series-of-unnecessary-root-canals/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
