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Maybe that's the reason,' Adam said slowly, feeling his way. 'Maybe if I had loved him I would have been jealous of him. You were. Maybe-maybe love makes you suspicious and doubting. Is it true that when you love a woman you are never sure-never sure of her because you aren't sure of yourself? I can see it pretty clearly. I can see how you loved him and what it did to you. I did not love him. Maybe he loved me. He tested me and hurt me and punished me and finally he sent me out like a sacrifice, maybe to make up for something. But he did not love you, and so he had faith in you. Maybe - why, maybe it's a kind of reverse.

John Steinbeck#27

RelationshipsJealousyLoveTrust

About this quote

What does it mean?
Love can cause jealousy and suspicion, while lack of love can lead to trust.
In plain terms
Love makes you jealous and suspicious, but not loving can make you trusted.
What can you take from it?
Love brings doubt; sometimes not loving brings faith.

Where it applies

  • relationship conflict
  • family dynamics
  • self reflection

Putting it to work

  • examine trust
  • communicate doubts
  • understand love

Questions to consider

  • Does love always bring insecurity?
  • Can trust exist without love?

Another view

It simplifies complex feelings into a binary of love and suspicion.

More from John Steinbeck

  1. Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of a man. Nothing was ever created by two men…

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  2. It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no …

    Permalink to quote #28
  3. How can we live without our lives? How will we know it's us without our past?

    Permalink to quote #25

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