--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love feels like a great misfortune, a…" description: "\"Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.\" — Slavoj Žižek" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/slavoj-i-ek-1738_emergencies_love-feels-like-a-great-misfortune-a-mon_901113.png" --- # Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite… ![“Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.” quote by Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/slavoj-i-ek-1738_emergencies_love-feels-like-a-great-misfortune-a-mon_901113.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/slavoj-i-ek-1738_emergencies_love-feels-like-a-great-misfortune-a-mon_901113.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e5d/slavoj-i-ek-1738_emergencies_love-feels-like-a-great-misfortune-a-mon_901113.png) > “Love feels like a great misfortune, a monstrous parasite, a permanent state of emergency that ruins all small pleasures.” [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) ## 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 destructive, invasive force that turns joy into constant crisis. **In simple terms:** Love can feel like a relentless, harmful parasite. Key Takeaway Guard against love’s consuming demands. Themes love misfortune parasitic Mood melancholic philosophical Type critical reflective When to use this quote - romantic relationships - personal boundaries - emotional health Key Concepts existential dread relationship dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How does love create both pain and meaning? - Can love be balanced health desire? A Different Perspective Love also offers growth and connection. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Misfortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortune/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Parasites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parasites/) [Pleasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pleasure/) [Ruins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ruins/) [Small pleasures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/small-pleasures/) ## Related quotes > [“as in Heinrich Heine’s (a contemporary of Kierkegaard’s) well-known saying that one should value above everything else ‘freedom, equality and crab soup’. ‘Crab soup’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/as-in-heinrich-heine-s-a-contemporary-of-kierkegaard-s-well-known/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [Man's great misfortune is that he has no organ, no kind of eyelid or brake, to mask or block a thought, or all thought,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-valery/man-s-great-misfortune-is-that-he-has-no-organ-no-kind-of-eyelid-or/) [Paul Valery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-valery/) > [This great misfortune, to be incapable of solitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/this-great-misfortune-to-be-incapable-of-solitude/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) > [The door could not be heard slamming; they had probably left it open, as is the custom in homes where a great misfortune has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-kafka/the-door-could-not-be-heard-slamming-they-had-probably-left-it-open/) [Franz Kafka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-kafka/) > [It is a great misfortune to be alone, my friends; and it must be believed that solitude can quickly destroy reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jules-verne/it-is-a-great-misfortune-to-be-alone-my-friends-and-it-must-be/) [Jules Verne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jules-verne/) > [Men cling to life even at the cost of enduring great misfortune.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/men-cling-to-life-even-at-the-cost-of-enduring-great-misfortune/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [I have had a great misfortune; my dear old dog is dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-russell-mitford/i-have-had-a-great-misfortune-my-dear-old-dog-is-dead/) [Mary Russell Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-russell-mitford/) > [“And even though we may be involved with the most important affairs, achieve distinction or fall into some great misfortune- all the same, let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/and-even-though-we-may-be-involved-with-the-most-important-affairs/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [It is a great misfortune to be of use to nobody; scarcely less to be of use to everybody.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baltasar-gracian/it-is-a-great-misfortune-to-be-of-use-to-nobody-scarcely-less-to-be/) [Baltasar Gracian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baltasar-gracian/) > [It is my great misfortune that I have to measure your love by the money gifts you give for Daridranarayana.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-my-great-misfortune-that-i-have-to-measure-your-love-by-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [For an enemy so relentless in the war for our subjugation, we could not be expected to mourn; yet, in view of its political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-davis/for-an-enemy-so-relentless-in-the-war-for-our-subjugation-we-could/) [Jefferson Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-davis/) > [What passes out of one's mouth passes into a hundred ears. 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The great misfortune is to do it solemnly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-de-montaigne/no-one-is-exempt-from-speaking-nonsense-the-great-misfortune-is-to-do/) [Michel de Montaigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-de-montaigne/) > [It is a great misfortune neither to have enough wit to talk well nor enough judgment to be silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-de-la-bruyere/it-is-a-great-misfortune-neither-to-have-enough-wit-to-talk-well-nor/) [Jean de la Bruyere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-de-la-bruyere/) ## More by Slavoj Žižek > [The ultimate goal of radical politics is gradually to displace the limit of social exclusions, empowering the excluded agents (sexual and ethnic minorities) by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-ultimate-goal-of-radical-politics-is-gradually-to-displace-the/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In Kant’s description, ethical duty functions like a foreign traumatic intruder that from the outside disturbs the subject’s homeostatic balance, its unbearable pressure forcing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-kant-s-description-ethical-duty-functions-like-a-foreign-traumatic/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [I think Kafka was right when he said that for a modern, secular, nonreligious man, state bureaucracy is the only remaining contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/i-think-kafka-was-right-when-he-said-that-for-a-modern-secular/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“The cliche about prison life is that I am actually integrated into it, ruined by it, when my accommodation to it is so overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/the-cliche-about-prison-life-is-that-i-am-actually-integrated-into-it/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [“In our quest for entertainment and instant gratification, we have become detached from the real world and its problems, contributing to the erosion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slavoj-i-ek/in-our-quest-for-entertainment-and-instant-gratification-we-have/) [Slavoj Žižek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slavoj-i-ek/) > [The problem for us is not are our desires satisfied or not. 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