Yes, I know that Easter is almost here, and yes, I realize the irony that the origins of the word
“passion” are directly interpreted as
"the sufferings of Christ on the Cross.” Although this phrase is still commonly used (most notably as the controversial movie by Mel Gibson), modern language has adopted the more shall we say,
“humanistic” usage in daily conversation. Let’s examine some different aspects of
passion quotes to fully understand what happened.
"In her first passion, a woman loves her lover, in all the others all she loves is love." This questionable summation by
Lord Byron, the patron saint of romantic and financial excess, suggests that once a woman has become, shall we say, more
“knowledgeable” in the ways of romance she is only concerned with being satisfied with her own emotional needs rather than the object of her affection? Well,
Byron was notorious for making bad choices, so he probably got burned a time or two. I prefer to remember his more eloquent poem
, "She walks in Beauty, like the night, of cloudless climes and starry skies, And all that's best of dark and bright, Meet in her aspect and her eyes..." Byron redeems himself with that passion quote.
The Greek philosopher
Aristotle was a bit more cerebral in his observations than Byron, it would appear, although the implications in his passion quote,
"The true end of tragedy is to purify the passions" do seem to suggest that venturing into the ribald would spice up one’s love life. Maybe you can relate to this one:
"It is easy to fly into a passion... anybody can do that, but to be angry with the right person to the right extent and at the right time and in the right way, that is not easy." Truly, this is an art that needs practice. French salon hostess and 18th century socialite Julie de Lespinasse succinctly sums it up this way:
"You know that when I hate you, it is because I love you to a point of passion that unhinges my soul." Now that’s what I call a passion quote!
One of my favorite writers is
Oscar Wilde, whose wickedly delightful writings transcend the centuries. He pulled no punches on his observations of human relationships, having experienced the heights and depths of his own flawed, but immense passions. Ladies, do you see your husband in
this quote? “
Even the scarlet flowers of passion seem to grow in the same meadow as the poppies of oblivion." Hmm, I think you know what I mean here.
The 15th century writer and philosopher
Machiavelli captured our final aspect of passion with his summation:
"Ambition is so powerful a passion in the human breast that however high we reach we are never satisfied." I’ve known people like that. Most of them were workaholics who spent little time at home with their loved ones, leading to this passion quote by
Francois De La Rochefoucauld,
"Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire." In his own flowery French way, he’s saying,
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder” or
“why haven’t you called me, you insensitive jerk!”
Yes, passion can mean many things. It can be the
“I’m hot for you” kind, or the
“I’m so mad I could kill you right now” kind, or even the safer
“I’m really excited about this project!” kind of passion. The bottom line is that it’s important to have something that inspires you to jump out of bed in the morning and take on the world. But consider one piece of advice that you won’t find in these passion quotes: before you get too carried away with your passion, be sure your life insurance is fully paid up!
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