Quote#Love
He had never before seen a woman’s lips and teeth which forced upon…
Quote byThomas Hardy · 1840–1928
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), Phase the Third: The Rally, ch. XXIV.
English (original)
He had never before seen a woman’s lips and teeth which forced upon his mind with such persistent iteration the old Elizabethan simile of roses filled with snow. Perfect, he, as a lover, might have called them off-hand. But no—they were not perfect. And it was the touch of the imperfect upon the would-be perfect that gave the sweetness, because it was that which gave the humanity.
— Thomas Hardy
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