The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends. The friend becomes a traitor by breaking, however unwillingly or sadly, out of our own zone: a hard judgment is passed on him, for all the pleas of the heart.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Absence—that common cure of love.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Achilles absent was Achilles still!
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
—Zhuang Zhou (c.369–c.286 BCE) Chinese Taoist Philosopher
Sometimes, when one person is missing, the whole world seems depopulated.
—Alphonse de Lamartine (1790–1869) French Poet, Politician, Historian
The absence of flaw in beauty is itself a flaw.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Essayist, Physician
Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other.
—Freya Stark (1893–1993) British Explorer, Writer
No more we meet in yonder bowers Absence has made me prone to roving; But older, firmer hearts than ours, Have found monotony in loving.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
Distance of time and place generally cure what they seem to aggravate; and taking leave of our friends resembles taking leave of the world, of which it has been said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning—in other words, of absurdity—the more energetically meaning is sought.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
Sometimes I need what only you can provide—your absence.
—Ashleigh Brilliant (b.1933) British Cartoonist, Author
You cannot shave a man’s head in his absence.
—African Proverb
The absence of war is not peace.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
Absence from those we love is self from self—a deadly banishment.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
As regards the celebrated “struggle for life,” it seems to me for the present to have been rather asserted than proved. It does occur, but as the exception; the general aspect of life is not hunger and distress, but rather wealth, luxury, even absurd prodigality—where there is a struggle it is a struggle for power.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
The absent are always in the wrong
—English Proverb
You’ll find boredom where there is an absence of a good idea.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
—Carl Sagan (1934–96) American Astronomer
Coolness, and absence of heat and haste, indicate fine qualities. A gentleman makes no noise; a lady is serene.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
—Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) American Diplomat, Academician
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Love reckons hours for months, and days for years; and every little absence is an age.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
As the presence of those we love is as a double life, so absence, in its anxious longing and sense of vacancy, is as a foretaste of death.
—Anna Brownell Jameson (1794–1860) Irish-born Literary, Art Critic
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
The joy of life is variety; the tenderest love requires to be renewed by intervals of absence.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Never find fault with the absent.
—Common Proverb
If … happiness is the absence of fever then I will never know happiness. For I am posessed by a fever for knowledge, experience and creation.
—Anais Nin (1903–77) French-American Essayist
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