--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For the first time, she recognized the…" description: "\"“For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her early teens, and later as a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/kate-chopin-2624_adolescence_for-the-first-time-she-recognized-the-sy_1825333.jpg" --- # For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of… ![“For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her early teens, and later as a young woman. The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability. The past was…” quote by Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/kate-chopin-2624_adolescence_for-the-first-time-she-recognized-the-sy_1825333.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/kate-chopin-2624_adolescence_for-the-first-time-she-recognized-the-sy_1825333.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c79/kate-chopin-2624_adolescence_for-the-first-time-she-recognized-the-sy_1825333.jpg) > ““For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her early teens, and later as a young woman. The recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability. The past was nothing to her; offered no lesson which she was willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she never attempted to penetrate. The present alone was significant; was hers, to torture her as it was doing then with the biting conviction that she had lost that which she had held, she had been denied that which her impassioned, newly awakened being demanded.”” [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She realizes love's early signs, yet the past offers no guidance, the future remains unknowable, and the present feels painful and inescapable. **In simple terms:** Recognition of love brings pain and isolation. Key Takeaway Accept present feelings without over‑identifying with past or future. Themes love self‑awareness loneliness Mood melancholic introspective Type literary emotional When to use this quote - romantic relationships - self‑reflection - mental health - personal growth Key Concepts psychology existentialism emotional intensity Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing love affect your sense of self? - Can you find meaning in the present despite uncertainty? A Different Perspective The present can be overwhelming without context or hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adolescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Felt Incipiently](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/felt-incipiently-2229414/) [First time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-time/) [Infatuation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infatuation/) [Infatuation Felt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infatuation-felt-2199117/) [Poignancy Revelation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poignancy-revelation-2229415/) [Symptoms Infatuation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/symptoms-infatuation-2229413/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Young woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/young-woman/) ## Related quotes > [ “What had passed between them had been real and true and lived. Not like the silly infatuation she had felt for \[him\] when she… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-liss/what-had-passed-between-them-had-been-real-and-true-and-lived-not/) [David Liss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-liss/) > [“It didn’t feel fleeting and solely physical. It didn’t feel like infatuation. It felt like...recognition. That”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-parker/it-didn-t-feel-fleeting-and-solely-physical-it-didn-t-feel-like/) [Lucy Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-parker/) > [She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering. But the thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/she-was-still-under-the-spell-of-her-infatuation-she-had-tried-to/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“She was a grown young woman when she was overtaken by what she supposed to be the climax of her fate. It was when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/she-was-a-grown-young-woman-when-she-was-overtaken-by-what-she/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Marianne would have thought herself very inexcusable had she been able to sleep at all the first night after parting from Willoughby. She would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-austen/marianne-would-have-thought-herself-very-inexcusable-had-she-been/) [Jane Austen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-austen/) > [“How unfortunate is the guy who does not live in the extravagant memory of an infatuated young woman.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/manu-joseph/how-unfortunate-is-the-guy-who-does-not-live-in-the-extravagant/) [Manu Joseph](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/manu-joseph/) > [One does silly things when one is twelve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/one-does-silly-things-when-one-is-twelve/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Love is when you realize that he's as sexy as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy Connors, as funny as Ralph Nader, as athletic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-viorst/love-is-when-you-realize-that-he-s-as-sexy-as-woody-allen-as-smart-as/) [Judith Viorst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-viorst/) > [Each moment of the happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life. -](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aphra-behn/each-moment-of-the-happy-lover-s-hour-is-worth-an-age-of-dull-and/) [Aphra Behn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aphra-behn/) > [“Love is the illusion you get in the mids of infatuation and happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tia-clark/love-is-the-illusion-you-get-in-the-mids-of-infatuation-and-happiness/) [Tia Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tia-clark/) > [After a semester or so, my infatuation with computers burnt out as quickly as it had begun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-allin-cornell/after-a-semester-or-so-my-infatuation-with-computers-burnt-out-as/) [Eric Allin Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-allin-cornell/) > [Men outlive their love, but they don’t outlive the consequences of their recklessness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/men-outlive-their-love-but-they-don-t-outlive-the-consequences-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [“The smell of her hair lingered just out of reach of his memory and left him with a nervous hum resonating throughout his body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-tomblin/the-smell-of-her-hair-lingered-just-out-of-reach-of-his-memory-and/) [Erik Tomblin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-tomblin/) > [“My whole being is a dark chant that will carry you perpetuating you to the dawn of eternal growths and blossomings in this chant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/forugh-farrokhzad/my-whole-being-is-a-dark-chant-that-will-carry-you-perpetuating-you/) [Forugh Farrokhzad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/forugh-farrokhzad/) > [Love is psychotic infatuation x10](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fade-wane/love-is-psychotic-infatuation-x10/) [Fade Wane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fade-wane/) ## More by Kate Chopin > [“If ever a fusion of two human beings into one has been accomplished on this sphere it was surely their union.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/if-ever-a-fusion-of-two-human-beings-into-one-has-been-accomplished/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [She wanted something to happen - something, anything: she did not know what.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/she-wanted-something-to-happen-something-anything-she-did-not-know/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“His manner invited easy confidence. The preliminary stage of becoming acquainted was one which he always endeavored to ignore when a pretty and engaging…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/his-manner-invited-easy-confidence-the-preliminary-stage-of-becoming/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The trouble is," sighed the Doctor, grasping her meaning intuitively, "that youth is given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-trouble-is-sighed-the-doctor-grasping-her-meaning-intuitively/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [There were days when she was unhappy, she did not know why,--when it did not seem worthwhile to be glad or sorry, to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/there-were-days-when-she-was-unhappy-she-did-not-know-why-when-it-did/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The bird that would soar above the level plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-bird-that-would-soar-above-the-level-plain-of-tradition-and/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [It is greater than the stars - that moving procession of human energy; greater than the palpitating earth and the things growing thereon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/it-is-greater-than-the-stars-that-moving-procession-of-human-energy/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Some people are born with a vital and responsive energy. It not only enables them to keep abreast of the times; it qualifies them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/some-people-are-born-with-a-vital-and-responsive-energy-it-not-only/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“The stillest hour of the night had come, the hour before dawn, when the world seems to hold its breath. The moon hung low,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-stillest-hour-of-the-night-had-come-the-hour-before-dawn-when-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [The city atmosphere certainly has improved her. Some way she doesn't seem like the same woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/the-city-atmosphere-certainly-has-improved-her-some-way-she-doesn-t/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Robert's going had some way taken the brightness, the color, the meaning out of everything. The conditions of her life were in no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/robert-s-going-had-some-way-taken-the-brightness-the-color-the/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/spring-days-and-summer-days-and-all-sorts-of-days-that-would-be-her/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“Do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does she select?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/do-you-suppose-a-woman-knows-why-she-loves-does-she-select/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [“I hope you won't completely forget me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-hope-you-won-t-completely-forget-me/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) > [I'm going to pull myself together for a while and think-try to determine what character of a woman I am; for, candidly, I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-chopin/i-m-going-to-pull-myself-together-for-a-while-and-think-try-to/) [Kate Chopin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) [Explore all 157 Kate Chopin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-chopin/) ## More Adolescence quotes > [They must move from a psychological state of victimization to a psychological state of accepting responsibility. The Palestinians must leave behind their revolutionary adolescence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-shavit/they-must-move-from-a-psychological-state-of-victimization-to-a/) [Ari Shavit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-shavit/) > [Having children truly ends adolescence. We are all either parents or children: responsibility-takers or those who demand from others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-shapiro/having-children-truly-ends-adolescence-we-are-all-either-parents-or/) [Ben Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-shapiro/) > [Teenage girls are extremists who see the world in black-and- white terms, missing shades of gray. Life is either marvelous or notworth living. School…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-pipher/teenage-girls-are-extremists-who-see-the-world-in-black-and-white/) [Mary Pipher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-pipher/) > [Teenagers complain there's nothing to do, then stay out all night doing it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-phillips/teenagers-complain-there-s-nothing-to-do-then-stay-out-all-night/) [Bob Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-phillips/) > [The idols of one's adolescence tend to endure - you never forget how you worshipped them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-idols-of-one-s-adolescence-tend-to-endure-you-never-forget-how/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/) [Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/) > [The donning of the ear buds marks the beginning of teen life, when children set off on their own for the passage through adolescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/the-donning-of-the-ear-buds-marks-the-beginning-of-teen-life-when/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [Adolescence is when the very worst and best impulses in the human soul struggle against each other for possession.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-stanley-hall/adolescence-is-when-the-very-worst-and-best-impulses-in-the-human/) [G. Stanley Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-stanley-hall/) > [Most adults would not dream of belittling, humiliating, or bullying (verbally or physically) another adult. But many of the same adults think nothing of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-steinberg/most-adults-would-not-dream-of-belittling-humiliating-or-bullying/) [Laurence Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-steinberg/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“He'd possessed all the key elements of a school shooter: hormones, misery, ammunition. People wondered how something like Columbine could happen. Jude wondered why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-hill/he-d-possessed-all-the-key-elements-of-a-school-shooter-hormones/) [Joe Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-hill/) > [ I remember realizing, when I did Little Women \[1994\], that that was the only time girls that age were being written about. It was… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/i-remember-realizing-when-i-did-little-women-1994-that-that-was-the/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [Content without style is propaganda or adolescence. Style without content is decadence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/content-without-style-is-propaganda-or-adolescence-style-without/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [Adolescence is interesting. I mean, all of life is interesting and all of life is transitionary. But I think there is an exponential growth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-henson/adolescence-is-interesting-i-mean-all-of-life-is-interesting-and-all/) [Bill Henson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-henson/) > [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/) [Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/) [Browse all 787 Adolescence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adolescence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“For the first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation which she had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl in her early teens, and later as a young woman. 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