We love well only once, the first time. The loves which follow are less involuntary.

L'on n'aime bien qu'une seule fois: c'est la première; les amours qui suivent sont moins involontaires.

Jean de La Bruyere

More information about this quote

Topic

First love Being in love Love

Author

Jean de La Bruyere

Source

The Characters, or The Manners of the Age

Language

French

Time

1688 1680s 17th century

Occupation

Philosopher Writer

From

France Europe

Authentication Score 2

Citation

De La Bruyere, Jean. "Du Coeur [Of the Heart]." Les Caracteres ou Les Moeurs de Ce Siecle [The Characters or The Manners of the Age]. Paris: Chez Estienne Michallet, 1688.

Illustrated Quote

A quote by Jean de la Bruyère about first love: “We love well only once, the first time. The loves which follow are less…”
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A quote by Jean de la Bruyère about first love: “We love well only once, the first time. The loves which follow are less…”
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A quote by Jean de la Bruyère about first love: “We love well only once, the first time. The loves which follow are less…”
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Related Quotes

Below are one or more quotes that share at least one tag with the quote at the top of the page

Another quote from the 1680s

The old pond-
A frog leaps in,
And a splash.

Matsuo Basho

More information about this quote
Topic
Nature scene

Author

Matsuo Basho
Medium
Haiku Poem
Language
Japanese
Time
1686 1680s 17th century
Authentication Score 3
Original Citation

Basho, Matsuo. Haiku. c. 1686.

Current Citation

Basho, Matsuo. Basho: The Complete Haiku, translated by Jane Reichhold. Kodansha International, 2013.

Another quote about Love

What did I know of love's austere and lonely offices?

Robert Hayden

More information about this quote
Topic
Love

Author

Robert Hayden
Source
Those Winter Sundays
Medium
Poem
Language
English
Time
1962 1960s 20th century
Authentication Score 3
Citation

Hayden, Robert. "Those Winter Sundays." A Ballad of Remembrance. Paul Breman, 1962, I. 13.

Another quote originally in French

To be misunderstood even by those whom one loves is the cross and bitterness of life. It is the secret of that sad and melancholy smile on the lips of great men which so few understand; it is the cruelest trial reserved for self-devotion; it is what must have oftenest wrung the heart of the Son of man; and if God could suffer, it would be the wound we should be forever inflicting upon Him. He also-He above all-is the great misunderstood, the least comprehended.

Henri-Frederic Amiel

Read Amiel's Journal at Project Gutenberg
More information about this quote
Topic
Alienation

Author

Henri-Frederic Amiel
Source
Journals of Henri Frederic Amiel
Medium
Personal journal
Language
French
Time
1849 1840s 19th century
Authentication Score 2
Citation

Amiel, Henri-Frederic. Journal entry. 27 May 1849.