
14 Mar Do not hate her
The best way to get a fire under is to tackle it methodically, steadily and surely. It’s no good trying to smother it all at once. Drop her gradually. You’ll reach safety in the end. A mountain stream is more impetuous than a river, but the course of the torrent is soon run; the river flows far and ceaselessly. Your love should be like a cloud, it should gradually melt away into the air. It’s a brutal thing to hate a woman one day whom you worshipped the day before. To make such a sudden change as that, you’d have to have the heart of a barbarian. just give up paying her attentions; that’s enough. If a man finishes up by hating a woman, he’s .either really still in love with her, or else he’s in a frame of mind for which he won’t easily find a cure. It is a disgraceful thing that a man and a woman, who were but lately head over ears in love, should suddenly become at daggers drawn. Even Themis disapproves of conduct such as that. A man will often bring an action against a woman and, notwithstanding, still be in love with her. When love leaves no resentment in its train, it departs quite quietly and peaceably. The other day I had fallen in with a young acquaintance of mine. His mistress was close at hand in a litter. He was upbraiding her with the most violent reproaches. just as he was about to serve his writ he exclaimed, “Let her descend from her litter.” She did so, and no sooner had he set eyes upon her than he was another man. His hands dropped to his side; his tablets fell from his hands. He flung himself into her arms, crying, “You have won! You have won!” It’s much wiser and much surer to let things drop peaceably than to quit the bed for the law-courts. Let her keep the presents you have given her, without making a fuss. It’s very often well worth while to make a slight sacrifice.
LOVE’S CURE
Ovid
Image: Growing Apart (Katelin Kinney) | https://farm9.static.flickr.com/8029/29128331742_b059a56d55_b.jpg