--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You see the first thing we love is a…" description: "\"“You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg" --- # You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at… ![“You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which seems to be seen best for the first time: a curtain parts and what had not yet ever been seen is devoured by the eyes: the scene consecrates the…” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg) > ““You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which seems to be seen best for the first time: a curtain parts and what had not yet ever been seen is devoured by the eyes: the scene consecrates the object I am going to love. The context is the constellation of elements, harmoniously arranged that encompass the experience of the amorous subject... Love at first sight is always spoken in the past tense. The scene is perfectly adapted to this temporal phenomenon: distinct, abrupt, framed, it is already a memory (the nature of a photograph is not to represent but to memorialize)... this scene has all the magnificence of an accident: I cannot get over having had this good fortune: to meet what matches my desire. The gesture of the amorous embrace seems to fulfill, for a time, the subject's dream of total union with the loved being: The longing for consummation with the other... In this moment, everything is suspended: time, law, prohibition: nothing is exhausted, nothing is wanted: all desires are abolished, for they seem definitively fulfilled... A moment of affirmation; for a certain time, though a finite one, a deranged interval, something has been successful: I have been fulfilled (all my desires abolished by the plenitude of their satisfaction).”” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love at first sight is framed by an immediate, vivid scene that becomes a memory, turning desire into a fleeting, intense affirmation that feels complete yet is inherently temporary. **In simple terms:** First love is a powerful, brief, scene‑driven experience. Key Takeaway Notice how initial impressions shape lasting feelings. Themes love first sight memory desire temporality Mood romantic reflective melancholic Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - first date - artistic inspiration - marketing a - personal reflection Key Concepts Phenomenology visual perception psychology of attraction Questions to Reflect On - What scene sparked your first love? - How do you sustain desire after the initial thrill? A Different Perspective Such intense moments may fade, leaving only the memory, not the ongoing relationship. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affirmation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmation/) [Amorous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/amorous/) [Chance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chance/) [Consummation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consummation/) [Context](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/context/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [First sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-sight/) [Fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fortune/) [Gesture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gesture/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love at first sight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-at-first-sight/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Moment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moment/) [Satisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/satisfaction/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [I personally think that all the scene that you see, love scene, is pretty real, almost 100 percent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tommy-wiseau/i-personally-think-that-all-the-scene-that-you-see-love-scene-is/) [Tommy Wiseau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tommy-wiseau/) > [You dont need a love scene to show love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-grant/you-dont-need-a-love-scene-to-show-love/) [Lee Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-grant/) > [You don't need a love scene to show love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-grant/you-don-t-need-a-love-scene-to-show-love/) [Lee Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-grant/) > [It's one of those scenarios where no, I never imagined that I'd be directed in a love scene - not even a love scene…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-haden-church/it-s-one-of-those-scenarios-where-no-i-never-imagined-that-i-d-be/) [Thomas Haden Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-haden-church/) > [Every scene is a love scene. The actor should ask the question: 'Where is the love?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shurtleff/every-scene-is-a-love-scene-the-actor-should-ask-the-question-where/) [Michael Shurtleff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shurtleff/) > [In movies, you just see somebody close their eyes, and you go on to the next scene.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tig-notaro/in-movies-you-just-see-somebody-close-their-eyes-and-you-go-on-to-the/) [Tig Notaro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tig-notaro/) > [You can't create a movie as you think about it. And what's in the scene is not what's being seen. A shot always means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruno-dumont/you-can-t-create-a-movie-as-you-think-about-it-and-what-s-in-the/) [Bruno Dumont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruno-dumont/) > [“A week ago, I would have snorted at those words. Love was no more real than the “god” Amy worshipped. I’d heard of “love”…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-revis/a-week-ago-i-would-have-snorted-at-those-words-love-was-no-more-real/) [Beth Revis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-revis/) > [Love is a context, not a behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-ferguson/love-is-a-context-not-a-behavior/) [Marilyn Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-ferguson/) > [When you have three days to work on a scene, you can give all that love to the movie.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-you-have-three-days-to-work-on-a-scene-you-can-give-all-that/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [I am afraid. But I start again from the beginning, trace my own steps to the scene of the love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paritoshik-sharma/i-am-afraid-but-i-start-again-from-the-beginning-trace-my-own-steps/) [Paritoshik Sharma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paritoshik-sharma/) > [“To a woman sexual intimacy is more a tool to get mentally close to her partner than merely a means to physical pleasure.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/to-a-woman-sexual-intimacy-is-more-a-tool-to-get-mentally-close-to/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-proper-rewards-are-not-simply-tacked-on-to-the-activity-for-which/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I didn't care who we were. I required no consummation. I knew that whoever we were and whatever we had would never stop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-ellroy/i-didn-t-care-who-we-were-i-required-no-consummation-i-knew-that/) [James Ellroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-ellroy/) > [“Sex is not just about going in or letting in, it is really about welcoming your dearly beloved into the deepest regions of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/sex-is-not-just-about-going-in-or-letting-in-it-is-really-about/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Affirmation quotes > [One of the most powerful concepts, one which is a sure cure for lack of confidence, is the thought that God is with you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/one-of-the-most-powerful-concepts-one-which-is-a-sure-cure-for-lack/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [I started with the belief that every person who came to the laboratory was free to accept or to reject the dictates of authority.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-milgram/i-started-with-the-belief-that-every-person-who-came-to-the/) [Stanley Milgram](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-milgram/) > [Art, if it is successful in the task of questioning reality, if it is good painting and not merely a performance of dexterity, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-swift/art-if-it-is-successful-in-the-task-of-questioning-reality-if-it-is/) [Patrick Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-swift/) > [There's a certain feeling of giving, a certain feeling of generosity in love songs. When you sing a song of love, you're actually giving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/there-s-a-certain-feeling-of-giving-a-certain-feeling-of-generosity/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [Communism... is the genuine resolution of the antagonism between man and nature and between man and man; it is the true resolution of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/communism-is-the-genuine-resolution-of-the-antagonism-between-man-and/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The future teachers I try to recruit are those show have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-kozol/the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-are-those-show-have-refused-to/) [Jonathan Kozol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-kozol/) > [Affirmations need to be used if they are to become incorporated into the fabric of your being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-maisel/affirmations-need-to-be-used-if-they-are-to-become-incorporated-into/) [Eric Maisel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-maisel/) > [That the sun will not rise tomorrow is no less intelligible a proposition, and implies no more contradiction, than the affirmation, that it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/that-the-sun-will-not-rise-tomorrow-is-no-less-intelligible-a/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [“Affirmation without discipline is like enthusiasm without direction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-mininni/affirmation-without-discipline-is-like-enthusiasm-without-direction/) [Lisa Mininni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-mininni/) > [Whenever I'm in need of inspiration and mantras, I go straight to simple affirmations. 'I am strong', 'I am brave', 'I can do this'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-mraz/whenever-i-m-in-need-of-inspiration-and-mantras-i-go-straight-to/) [Jason Mraz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-mraz/) > [We in the Jewish community are comparatively lucky. All of traditions have anti-gay pieces but the Jewish tradition doesn't have as many anti-sexuality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-michaelson/we-in-the-jewish-community-are-comparatively-lucky-all-of-traditions/) [Jay Michaelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-michaelson/) > [I have a magical work in a magical way. I give magical service for magical pay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-scovel-shinn/i-have-a-magical-work-in-a-magical-way-i-give-magical-service-for/) [Florence Scovel Shinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-scovel-shinn/) > [“On one side it seems there is faith in a Creator-God - and at the same time, the rejection of his creation; and on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-schmemann/on-one-side-it-seems-there-is-faith-in-a-creator-god-and-at-the-same/) [Alexander Schmemann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-schmemann/) > [For you deal here above all with human life, and human life is sacred; no one may dare make an attempt upon it. Respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-paul-vi/for-you-deal-here-above-all-with-human-life-and-human-life-is-sacred/) [Pope Paul VI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-paul-vi/) > [An affirmation is a strong, positive statement that something is already so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakti-gawain/an-affirmation-is-a-strong-positive-statement-that-something-is/) [Shakti Gawain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakti-gawain/) [Browse all 540 Affirmation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affirmation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its suddenness; and of all things, it is the scene which seems to be seen best for the first time: a curtain parts and what had not yet ever been seen is devoured by the eyes: the scene consecrates the object I am going to love. The context is the constellation of elements, harmoniously arranged that encompass the experience of the amorous subject... Love at first sight is always spoken in the past tense. The scene is perfectly adapted to this temporal phenomenon: distinct, abrupt, framed, it is already a memory (the nature of a photograph is not to represent but to memorialize)... this scene has all the magnificence of an accident: I cannot get over having had this good fortune: to meet what matches my desire. The gesture of the amorous embrace seems to fulfill, for a time, the subject's dream of total union with the loved being: The longing for consummation with the other... In this moment, everything is suspended: time, law, prohibition: nothing is exhausted, nothing is wanted: all desires are abolished, for they seem definitively fulfilled... A moment of affirmation; for a certain time, though a finite one, a deranged interval, something has been successful: I have been fulfilled (all my desires abolished by the plenitude of their satisfaction).”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roland Barthes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-scene-for-love-at-first-sight/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affirmation" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-scene-for-love-at-first-sight/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/12d/roland-barthes-1062_affirmation_you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-sce_2846744.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You see the first thing we love is a scene. For love at first sight requires the very sign of its…” — Roland Barthes", "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": "Roland Barthes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“You see the first thing we...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-scene-for-love-at-first-sight/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/you-see-the-first-thing-we-love-is-a-scene-for-love-at-first-sight/#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 } } ] } ```