Skip to content
quotesby

Kyaren, I don't want to leave you Then don't It's because I love you that I want to leave If you love me, you'll stay' he had known it, from the moment she appeared in the door. He couldn't leave her. When the change came, it would come, and then it would be irreversible, and then he would leave because he loved someone else and there was something in him that made it impossible for him to love 2 people at once. But not the one person was Kyaren, and he could not leave her because she wanted him to stay. 'Ill hurt you You could not hurt me worse than leaving me now, for no reason

Orson Scott Card#819

LoveChoiceSufferingEmotionRelationshipLoyalty

About this quote

What does it mean?
A lover cannot leave despite loving someone else because the other person begs them to stay, causing mutual pain.
In plain terms
He cannot leave her because she wants him to stay, even though he loves someone else.
What can you take from it?
Staying out of pity or love can hurt both people.

Where it applies

  • unrequited love
  • staying in a relationship
  • choosing between partners

Putting it to work

  • setting boundaries
  • making honest choices

Questions to consider

  • Is staying always kinder?
  • Can you love two people at once?

Another view

This view suggests staying is worse than leaving, which is a subjective moral judgment.

More from Orson Scott Card

  1. He is so young He was never young

    Permalink to quote #818
  2. She thinks it's all better now, Josif thought bitterly. She thinks she's kept me. She would have kept me better if she had let me go now.

    Permalink to quote #820
  3. That when Bant left it was the end of the world for Josif, because when he attached to somebody he didn't know how to let go

    Permalink to quote #817

Related quotes

  1. Amor e fogo que arde sem se ver, E ferida que doi, e nao se sente; E um contentamento descontente, E dor que desatina sem doer. E um nao querer mais que bem qu…

    Luis de CamoesLuis de Camoes quote #2
  2. The lyf so short, the craft so longe to lerne. Th' assay so hard, so sharp the conquerynge, The dredful joye, alwey that slit so yerne; Al this mene I be love.

    Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer quote #1
  3. Next to the coming to a good understanding with a new mistress, I love a quarrel with an old one.

    George EtheregeGeorge Etherege quote #1