---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Being in love, you know... it's not like…"
description: "\"Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/sarah-waters-2758_being-in-love_being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-hav_75525.png"
---

#  Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary…

![“Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her.” quote by Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/sarah-waters-2758_being-in-love_being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-hav_75525.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/sarah-waters-2758_being-in-love_being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-hav_75525.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da4/sarah-waters-2758_being-in-love_being-in-love-you-know-it-s-not-like-hav_75525.png)

> “Being in love, you know... it's not like having a canary, in a cage. When you lose one sweetheart, you can't just go out and get another to replace her.”

[Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/)

## About This Quote

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

Love is portrayed as a unique, irreplaceable bond, not a disposable commodity.

**In simple terms:** Love is singular, not replaceable.

Key Takeaway

Love cannot be swapped like a pet.

Themes

love loss uniqueness attachment irreplaceability

Mood

melancholy reflective

Type

aphor observation

When to use this quote

- after a breakup
- grieving a lost partner
- reflecting on past relationships

Key Concepts

emotional depth relationship dynamics

Practical Applications

- counseling
- writing about love

Questions to Reflect On

- What makes a love unique?
- How do we cope with irreplaceable loss?

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[Being in love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-in-love/) [Canaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canaries/) [Canary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/canary/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Sweetheart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweetheart/)

## Related quotes

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> [The West is dead... you may lose a sweetheart but you won't forget her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-marion-russell/the-west-is-dead-you-may-lose-a-sweetheart-but-you-won-t-forget-her/)

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> [Better a debauched canary than a pious wolf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anton-chekhov/better-a-debauched-canary-than-a-pious-wolf/)

[Anton Chekhov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anton-chekhov/)

> [Just then Neville caused a slight diversion by turning into a large canary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/just-then-neville-caused-a-slight-diversion-by-turning-into-a-large/)

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> [Chestnut brown canary, ruby throated sparrow, sing a song, don't be long, thrill me to the marrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/chestnut-brown-canary-ruby-throated-sparrow-sing-a-song-don-t-be-long/)

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

> [A caged canary is safe but not free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-e-williams/a-caged-canary-is-safe-but-not-free/)

[Walter E. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-e-williams/)

> [Cruelty is a mystery, and the waste of pain. But if we describe a word to compass these things, a world that is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/cruelty-is-a-mystery-and-the-waste-of-pain-but-if-we-describe-a-word/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [Knowing without any doubt that the newly elected cannot help but be his zombies, Obama is the cat who swallowed the canary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judi-mcleod/knowing-without-any-doubt-that-the-newly-elected-cannot-help-but-be/)

Judi McLeod

> [That's what the cat said to the canary when he swallowed him - 'You'll be all right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alvah-bessie/that-s-what-the-cat-said-to-the-canary-when-he-swallowed-him-you-ll/)

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> [Don't save the canary. Fix the coal mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-godin/don-t-save-the-canary-fix-the-coal-mine/)

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> [You can't soar like an eagle and crap like a canary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-sabol/you-can-t-soar-like-an-eagle-and-crap-like-a-canary/)

[Ed Sabol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-sabol/)

> [The canary is like a man's soul. It sees bars around it, but instead of despairing, it sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/the-canary-is-like-a-man-s-soul-it-sees-bars-around-it-but-instead-of/)

[Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/)

> [It's bad to lose a towel, When yr eyes r full of soap, It's worse to lose a sweetheart, When yr heart is full…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/move-on07/it-s-bad-to-lose-a-towel-when-yr-eyes-r-full-of-soap-it-s-worse-to/)

Move-on07

## More by Sarah Waters

> [“Now, from the crown of my head to the curve of my toe-nails, there was an unguent for every part of me - oil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/now-from-the-crown-of-my-head-to-the-curve-of-my-toe-nails-there-was/)

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[Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/)

> [I barely knew I had skin before I met you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-barely-knew-i-had-skin-before-i-met-you/)

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> [I suppose I really seemed mad, then; but it was only through the awfulness of having said nothing but the truth, and being thought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/i-suppose-i-really-seemed-mad-then-but-it-was-only-through-the/)

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> [My nan was a nursery maid. Most people weren't in big houses. They were maids of all work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/my-nan-was-a-nursery-maid-most-people-weren-t-in-big-houses-they-were/)

[Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/)

> [For was that all, she thought bleakly, that love ever was? Something that saved one from loneliness? A sort of insurance policy against not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/for-was-that-all-she-thought-bleakly-that-love-ever-was-something/)

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> [“And yet, I seemed to feel my eyes bound, too, with bands of silk. And at my throat there was a velvet collar.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/and-yet-i-seemed-to-feel-my-eyes-bound-too-with-bands-of-silk-and-at/)

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> [“No-one speaks. No-one moves (…). We glide, softly, in silence, into our dark and separate hells”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/no-one-speaks-no-one-moves-we-glide-softly-in-silence-into-our-dark/)

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[Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/)

[Explore all 148 Sarah Waters quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/)

## More Being in love quotes

> [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/)

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

> ['I Love You' fails to sum up all the memories, smiles, laughs, trials, and tribulations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raghib-clitso/i-love-you-fails-to-sum-up-all-the-memories-smiles-laughs-trials-and/)

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