--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Bodies count, of course - they count more…" description: "\"Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're willing to admit - but we don't fall in love with bodies, we fall in love with each other. We all ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg" --- # Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're… ![“Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're willing to admit - but we don't fall in love with bodies, we fall in love with each other. We all know that, but the moment we go beyond a catalogue of surface qualities and appearances, words begin to fail us, to crumble apart in mystical…” quote by Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg) > “Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're willing to admit - but we don't fall in love with bodies, we fall in love with each other. We all know that, but the moment we go beyond a catalogue of surface qualities and appearances, words begin to fail us, to crumble apart in mystical confusions and cloudy, unsubstantial metaphors.” [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love transcends physical appearance; true connection is found in mutual understanding beyond superficial traits. **In simple terms:** Love goes beyond looks. Key Takeaway Seek deeper connection beyond surface. Themes love intimacy identity perception philosophy Mood reflective thoughtful introspective Type philosophical literary romantic When to use this quote - romantic relationships - friendships - counseling - artistic collaborations - social gatherings Key Concepts existentialism human connection subjectivity Questions to Reflect On - How do you recognize love beyond appearance? - What habits reinforce superficial judgments? A Different Perspective Physical attraction alone cannot sustain lasting intimacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Confusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/confusion/) [Don't fall in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/don-t-fall-in-love/) [Fall in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fall-in-love/) [Falling in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/falling-in-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Metaphor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor/) [Moments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moments/) [Mystical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystical/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) ## Related quotes > [We are born sad and we die sad, but meanwhile we love bodies whose sad beauty is a miracle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-benedetti/we-are-born-sad-and-we-die-sad-but-meanwhile-we-love-bodies-whose-sad/) [Mario Benedetti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-benedetti/) > [I really want to have a full album that I could just play all day. I love bodies of work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ice-spice/i-really-want-to-have-a-full-album-that-i-could-just-play-all-day-i/) [Ice Spice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ice-spice/) > [“Two bodies attract each other directly as the product of their masses and inversely as the square of their distance.' It sounds like a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/two-bodies-attract-each-other-directly-as-the-product-of-their-masses/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [As a physician who knows the importance of body image to our overall health, I wanted to have a way to inspire women to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-northrup/as-a-physician-who-knows-the-importance-of-body-image-to-our-overall/) [Christiane Northrup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-northrup/) > [I love bodies of work and albums and stuff like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauv/i-love-bodies-of-work-and-albums-and-stuff-like-that/) [Lauv](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauv/) > [I've dealt with numbers all my life, of course, and after a while you begin to feel that each number has a personality of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-ve-dealt-with-numbers-all-my-life-of-course-and-after-a-while-you/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Don't Fall in Love with a Dreamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-carnes/don-t-fall-in-love-with-a-dreamer/) [Kim Carnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-carnes/) > [You don't fall in love with a gender, you fall in love with a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-don-t-fall-in-love-with-a-gender-you-fall-in-love-with-a-person/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We don't fall in love, we fall in lust. We ascend to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-don-t-fall-in-love-we-fall-in-lust-we-ascend-to-love/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [Don't forget I'm just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-roberts/don-t-forget-i-m-just-a-girl-standing-in-front-of-a-boy-asking-him-to/) [Julia Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-roberts/) > [You don't fall in love because you fall in love; you fall in love because of the need, desperate, to fall in love. when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/you-don-t-fall-in-love-because-you-fall-in-love-you-fall-in-love/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [Take a chance. Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. And don’t fall in love with Plan A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huma-abedin/take-a-chance-don-t-be-afraid-of-what-you-don-t-know-and-don-t-fall/) Huma Abedin > [I told myself a while back, 'Love what you do, but don't fall in love with what you do.' That way you won't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-fillion/i-told-myself-a-while-back-love-what-you-do-but-don-t-fall-in-love/) [Nathan Fillion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-fillion/) > [I don't fall in love anymore. Just like I don't get the mumps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-h-eg/i-don-t-fall-in-love-anymore-just-like-i-don-t-get-the-mumps/) [Peter Høeg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-h-eg/) > [I chose the actors that I was in love with. I cannot work with people that I don't personally like a lot. They can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-chose-the-actors-that-i-was-in-love-with-i-cannot-work-with-people/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) ## More by Paul Auster > [“On his best walks, he was able to feel that he was nowhere. And this, finally, was all he ever asked of things: to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/on-his-best-walks-he-was-able-to-feel-that-he-was-nowhere-and-this/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No es que escribir me produzca un gran placer, pero es mucho peor si no lo hago.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/no-es-que-escribir-me-produzca-un-gran-placer-pero-es-mucho-peor-si/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [You see, the interesting thing about books, as opposed, say, to films, is that it's always just one person encountering the book, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/you-see-the-interesting-thing-about-books-as-opposed-say-to-films-is/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I'm not a man deeply interested in technology. It eludes me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-m-not-a-man-deeply-interested-in-technology-it-eludes-me/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The joke is the purest, most essential form of storytelling. Every word has to count.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-joke-is-the-purest-most-essential-form-of-storytelling-every-word/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“What people saw when he appeared before them, then, was not really him, but a person he had invented, an artificial creature he could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/what-people-saw-when-he-appeared-before-them-then-was-not-really-him/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I had made an empirical discovery and it carried all the weight of a mathematical proof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-had-made-an-empirical-discovery-and-it-carried-all-the-weight-of-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [As long as there's one person to believe it, there's no story that can't be true.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/as-long-as-there-s-one-person-to-believe-it-there-s-no-story-that-can/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Writing has always had a tactile quality for me. It's a physical experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/writing-has-always-had-a-tactile-quality-for-me-it-s-a-physical/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [People look at the same passage, and one person will say this is the best thing he's ever read, and another person will say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/people-look-at-the-same-passage-and-one-person-will-say-this-is-the/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [I was very moved to see that the name of the boat was Hamlet - an imaginary character becomes so important to people, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/i-was-very-moved-to-see-that-the-name-of-the-boat-was-hamlet-an/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [The ideal reader's the same, and I suppose this person has never had a face or a gender or an age. It's just some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/the-ideal-reader-s-the-same-and-i-suppose-this-person-has-never-had-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“Most lives vanish. A person dies, and little by little all traces of that life disappear. An inventor survives in his inventions, an architect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/most-lives-vanish-a-person-dies-and-little-by-little-all-traces-of/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“and cut down many trees. When the Humans”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/and-cut-down-many-trees-when-the-humans/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) [Explore all 582 Paul Auster quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) ## More Appearance quotes > [Your looks don't make you pretty, it's the person inside who makes you pretty!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chan/your-looks-don-t-make-you-pretty-it-s-the-person-inside-who-makes-you/) [Aaron Chan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chan/) > [I just worried about my weight. Worried about my appearance and thought I wan't pretty enough to be a pop star. It was very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-durham/i-just-worried-about-my-weight-worried-about-my-appearance-and/) [Judith Durham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-durham/) > [The essence of worldliness is exclusion of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-jacobsen/the-essence-of-worldliness-is-exclusion-of-god/) [Henry Jacobsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-jacobsen/) > [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) > [First impressions are often the truest, as we find (not infrequently) to our cost, when we have been wheedled out of them by plausible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/first-impressions-are-often-the-truest-as-we-find-not-infrequently-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [The turning points of lives are not the great moments. The real crises are often concealed in occurrences so trivial in appearance that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-turning-points-of-lives-are-not-the-great-moments-the-real-crises/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [You can have a nice body, dress with the latest fashion. But if you don't have self-confidence sweetheart, forget about looking sexy, you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/you-can-have-a-nice-body-dress-with-the-latest-fashion-but-if-you-don/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [So may the outward shows be least themselves; The world is still deceived with ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-may-the-outward-shows-be-least-themselves-the-world-is-still/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [We are one of many appearances of the thing called Life; we are not its perfect image, for it has no perfect image except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-eiseley/we-are-one-of-many-appearances-of-the-thing-called-life-we-are-not/) [Loren Eiseley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-eiseley/) > [I'm OK with my appearance. I have made my peace with it after a long and frankly exhausting battle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-m-ok-with-my-appearance-i-have-made-my-peace-with-it-after-a-long/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [There is no society or conversation to be kept up in the world without good-nature, or something which must bear its appearance and supply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-no-society-or-conversation-to-be-kept-up-in-the-world/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Appearance records are pretty special. Mine means a lot to me, not only because I love stats, but because it shows that I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-james/appearance-records-are-pretty-special-mine-means-a-lot-to-me-not-only/) [David James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-james/) > [Every man would fall in love with their voice, their lovely appearance, but no man would ever get past that. They'd never really know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-hocking/every-man-would-fall-in-love-with-their-voice-their-lovely-appearance/) [Amanda Hocking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-hocking/) > [I already know what things look like - I don't want description. People believe in appearances, and I don't believe in appearances at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duane-michals/i-already-know-what-things-look-like-i-don-t-want-description-people/) [Duane Michals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duane-michals/) Browse all 2,446 Appearance quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're willing to admit - but we don't fall in love with bodies, we fall in love with each other. We all know that, but the moment we go beyond a catalogue of surface qualities and appearances, words begin to fail us, to crumble apart in mystical confusions and cloudy, unsubstantial metaphors.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Paul Auster" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-than-we-re-willing-to-admit/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Appearance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-than-we-re-willing-to-admit/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e3/paul-auster-351_appearance_bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-t_487109.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Bodies count, of course - they count more than we're willing to admit - but we don't fall in love with…” — Paul Auster", "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": "Paul Auster", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Bodies count, of course - they...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-than-we-re-willing-to-admit/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/bodies-count-of-course-they-count-more-than-we-re-willing-to-admit/#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 } } ] } ```