--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The beginning of love is a horror of…" description: "\"The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness.\" — Robert Bly" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png" --- # The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness. ![“The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness.” quote by Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png) > “The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness.” [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love starts with a painful sense of emptiness before fulfillment. **In simple terms:** Love begins with feeling empty. Key Takeaway Embrace the emptiness as part of love's journey. Themes love emptiness growth psychology Mood melancholic introspective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - starting a relationship - personal healing - creative writing Key Concepts existential longing self‑discovery attachment Questions to Reflect On - What does emptiness teach you about desire? - How can you transform void into connection? A Different Perspective Emptiness may lead to despair, not love. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginning Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning-love/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror/) [Horror Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horror-emptiness-5396438/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Horror](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-horror/) [Love is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is/) ## Related quotes > [I love Halloween, and I love spooky stuff. I love horror movies. I love everything creepy, and I've always kind of wanted to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-petras/i-love-halloween-and-i-love-spooky-stuff-i-love-horror-movies-i-love/) [Kim Petras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-petras/) > [“I LOVE horror movies, man... I just don't want to LIVE in one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-x-stone/i-love-horror-movies-man-i-just-don-t-want-to-live-in-one/) [D.X. Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-x-stone/) > [I've always loved... actually I didn't always love horror films. I started out and I only liked comedies and dramas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-raimi/i-ve-always-loved-actually-i-didn-t-always-love-horror-films-i/) [Sam Raimi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-raimi/) > [I love all kinds of movies. I love a really good comedy and not the cheesy ones. My parents hate this, but I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liana-liberato/i-love-all-kinds-of-movies-i-love-a-really-good-comedy-and-not-the/) [Liana Liberato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liana-liberato/) > [I was a strange, dark little dude. I fell in love with horror movies, at a very early age. Somehow, as a first grader,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-roday/i-was-a-strange-dark-little-dude-i-fell-in-love-with-horror-movies-at/) [James Roday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-roday/) > [“People who love horror films are people with boring lives... when a really scary movie is over, you're reassured to see that you're still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryu-murakami/people-who-love-horror-films-are-people-with-boring-lives-when-a/) [Ryu Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryu-murakami/) > [I love horror movies! I've loved horror movies since I was about eight years old, not that an 8-year-old should be watching The Shining,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandra-breckenridge/i-love-horror-movies-i-ve-loved-horror-movies-since-i-was-about-eight/) [Alexandra Breckenridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandra-breckenridge/) > [The beginning of love is all about the butterflies, but the end of it is when you can't get out of bed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-swift/the-beginning-of-love-is-all-about-the-butterflies-but-the-end-of-it/) [Taylor Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-swift/) > [“There are people in the world, who are just wrong, and then there are the masses of population that are right, or at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-stroube/there-are-people-in-the-world-who-are-just-wrong-and-then-there-are/) [J.D. Stroube](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-stroube/) > [“The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves and not to twist them to fit our own image.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-beginning-of-love-is-to-let-those-we-love-be-perfectly-themselves/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [LOVE IS NOT THE DESTINY BUT A JOURNEY OF LIFETIME. It is not how much love we have in the beginning, but how much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/love-is-not-the-destiny-but-a-journey-of-lifetime-it-is-not-how-much/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-have-to-walk-carefully-in-the-beginning-of-love-the-running/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The vail is being raised. For many, we are living in the last days. For us, it's only the beginning. One love, one conscious,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ab-soul/the-vail-is-being-raised-for-many-we-are-living-in-the-last-days-for/) [Ab-Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ab-soul/) > [Always keep the smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-imad/always-keep-the-smile-because-the-smile-is-the-beginning-of-love/) [Adam Imad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-imad/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) ## More by Robert Bly > [I use the phrase 'sibling society' to suggest a culture fundamentally without fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, or ancestors. The thinking is horizontal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-use-the-phrase-sibling-society-to-suggest-a-culture-fundamentally/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [All of Japan once a year will get up on their rooftops, because that's the night that the shepherd boy from one side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/all-of-japan-once-a-year-will-get-up-on-their-rooftops-because-that-s/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I got about half the time I wanted to write poetry. I got about half the time I needed to be a father. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-got-about-half-the-time-i-wanted-to-write-poetry-i-got-about-half/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every noon as the clock hands arrive at twelve, I want to tie the two arms together, And walk out of the bank carrying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-noon-as-the-clock-hands-arrive-at-twelve-i-want-to-tie-the-two/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Rumi is astounding, fertile, abundant, almost more an excitable library of poetry than a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/rumi-is-astounding-fertile-abundant-almost-more-an-excitable-library/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One could say the higher the spirit goes, the more deeply the soul sinks down into the waters of melancholy and tragedy. Drowning in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-could-say-the-higher-the-spirit-goes-the-more-deeply-the-soul/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Don't go outside your house to see flowers. My friend, don't bother with that excursion. Inside your body there are flowers. One flower has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/don-t-go-outside-your-house-to-see-flowers-my-friend-don-t-bother/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The models of adulthood are disappearing fast. How can two people have a new marriage if neither of them is an adult?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-models-of-adulthood-are-disappearing-fast-how-can-two-people-have/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [I have spent many years trying to recover a common language, one that can cross the distance between people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/i-have-spent-many-years-trying-to-recover-a-common-language-one-that/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [One out of three black men are in the criminal justice system in some form. Their despair is beginning to resonate through the entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/one-out-of-three-black-men-are-in-the-criminal-justice-system-in-some/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Sociological prose is generally written without images in an exact form for an academic audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/sociological-prose-is-generally-written-without-images-in-an-exact/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [We spend our life until we’re twenty deciding what parts of ourself to put into the bag, and we spend the rest of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/we-spend-our-life-until-we-re-twenty-deciding-what-parts-of-ourself/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [Every modern male has, lying at the bottom of his psyche, a large, primitive being covered with hair down to his feet. Making contact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/every-modern-male-has-lying-at-the-bottom-of-his-psyche-a-large/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [My feeling is that poetry is also a healing process, and then when a person tries to write poetry with depth or beauty, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/my-feeling-is-that-poetry-is-also-a-healing-process-and-then-when-a/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) > [The ancestors are very much invested in the children, because the children are the ones who are going to continue the world that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-ancestors-are-very-much-invested-in-the-children-because-the/) [Robert Bly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) [Explore all 135 Robert Bly quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/) ## More Emptiness quotes > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [Go into emptiness, strike voids, bypass what he defends hit him where he does not expect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/go-into-emptiness-strike-voids-bypass-what-he-defends-hit-him-where/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-ve-always-been-a-very-restless-person-i-work-hard-spend-too-much/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“ Desolation would not be the proper word to describe his feelings now; it was more the sense of emptiness he imagined he might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shusaku-endo/desolation-would-not-be-the-proper-word-to-describe-his-feelings-now/) [Shusaku Endo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shusaku-endo/) > [“those of little merit would not even have doubts about this doctrine of emptiness. even suspicion that objects are empty wrecks the seeds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aryadeva/those-of-little-merit-would-not-even-have-doubts-about-this-doctrine/) [aryadeva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aryadeva/) > [Anyone whose goal is 'something higher' must expect someday to suffer vertigo. What is vertigo? Fear of falling? No, Vertigo is something other than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/anyone-whose-goal-is-something-higher-must-expect-someday-to-suffer-2/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“I close my eyes and I let my body shut itself down and I let my mind wander. It wanders to a familiar place.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-frey/i-close-my-eyes-and-i-let-my-body-shut-itself-down-and-i-let-my-mind/) [James Frey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-frey/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [“Only the thirsty knows the real taste of water; only the lonely knows the real weight of emptiness!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/only-the-thirsty-knows-the-real-taste-of-water-only-the-lonely-knows/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [What I was trying to convey there was the kind of waste land that was left after the war. It was a bit like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-martin/what-i-was-trying-to-convey-there-was-the-kind-of-waste-land-that-was/) [George Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-martin/) > [“Everything we perceive to be solid and static is made up of almost entirely empty space.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-p-kauffman/everything-we-perceive-to-be-solid-and-static-is-made-up-of-almost/) [Joseph P. Kauffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-p-kauffman/) > [But what was there to say? Only that there were tears. Only that Quietness and Emptiness fitted together like stacked spoons. Only that there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/but-what-was-there-to-say-only-that-there-were-tears-only-that/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [I got this emptiness inside that got me fighting for approval because I missed out on my daddy saying, Way to Go.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-got-this-emptiness-inside-that-got-me-fighting-for-approval-because/) [Lecrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [“As we see it, space is possible only when the primordial Being swallows emptiness. Space is born when the Being accepts emptiness, the Nonbeing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dejan-stojanovic/as-we-see-it-space-is-possible-only-when-the-primordial-being/) [Dejan Stojanovic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dejan-stojanovic/) [Browse all 1,374 Emptiness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Bly" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emptiness/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Emptiness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emptiness/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/robert-bly-3269_emptiness_the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emp_1480740.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The beginning of love is a horror of emptiness.” — Robert Bly", "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": "Robert Bly", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bly/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The beginning of love is a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emptiness/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bly/the-beginning-of-love-is-a-horror-of-emptiness/#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 } } ] } ```