what do you think of this quote from robert heinlein?

I knew this girl. She was superhot. I was madly in love with her. I've seen recent pictures of her. I am no longer in love with her. Make of that what you will.

The reason I mention this is I don't need an artist's picture of her in her current age to be able to visualize what she looked like when she was in the prime of her beauty. In fact, I can vividly recall what she used to look like. But as her looks have changed so have my feelings for her despite me being able to clearly remember what she used to look like - know what I mean?

Take my answer with a pinch of salt here and there. And by that I mean I may not have been madly in love with her, just blown away by her looks. Of course, it's easy for me to say that now. But even back then I was simultaneously in love with another girl. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's complicated. One shouldn't fall in love with a girl purely because of her looks because once that fades, what remains? Maybe that's why I've also fallen in love with girls who weren't necessarily knockouts but who I really liked personality wise. But when I was in love with one such girl I was walking down a street and I saw a stunningly beautiful girl and I was like,"If I had a girlfriend I would leave her for her in a minute." So, you see I can't fall in love with a girl purely because of her looks because once those fade I know not much else would remain, but I also can't fall in love with a girl who I really like personality wise and is a not bad looker because when I see a knockout I'm going to resent being with her and not being able to leave her for the knockout. It's a tough situation I'm in.

You asked, I answered, funny what train of thought a quote can get you on.

But don't forget to take my answer with a pinch of salt. I don't necessarily 100% mean every word that I've written here.

Robert Heinlein is overlooking the fact that not all girls are pretty. Some women may actually find aging more agreeable than others, since as women grow older the differences between the beautiful and the plain are less marked. There is what Mary Kenny describes as a 'levelling up'.

Moreover, even a beautiful woman, if she has brains, may have things in her life that matter to her more than being admired. Heinlein evidently expects women to care for nothing except being admired. But a woman of sense will remember her beautiful youth with pleasure, and get on with enjoying the other things that make life worth living - watching her children and grandchilden grow up for instance, learning new things, visiting new places etc. Growing old is not a 'tragedy' for most people it is better than the alternative.

I feel like a great artist - I have no trouble seeing the lovely young girl inside an old lady's frame. Never had that problem - you may recall that I say that a beautiful woman remains a beautiful woman no matter what her age. and I've had the exact experience, saying that you can still worship tht gorgeous young thing in the woman you meet.

"Growing old doesn't matter to you and me; we were never meant to be admired-but it does to them."

I think that sums it up. Of course, there a lot more to it than that, since this sort of says that a woman's most important asset is her marketability (bad word there) in the breeding stakes - which is sort of what this is saying.

Hey, hey, hey! Sex obectivism to the max here! Whoo-hoo! What woman worth her salt wouldn't want to be a sex object, desired by many?

He seems to think that women want to be admired for their beauty their entire lives. That when we grow old we still require that adoration, that may be true for some women, but not for all. Beauty is too short lived and fleeting to be looked as as something to aspire to forever. Growing old does not matter to everyone.

As for Rodin, he was a great sculptor and did in a sense portray some of those aspects in his work, but he was also influenced and likely appropriated ideas from a younger protegee, Camille Claudel. This does not diminish his work, but many great's I'm discovering had help from lots of other people.

I think that there are some words of wisdom there. However, I do not think of old people as ugly or "ruined" though, perhaps I will think that of myself in 20 years. Nor do I think that the vanity in women that he suggests is unique to women. I'm pretty damned vain myself.

Still, I admire the way that he captured the wonders of what a great artist can do.

Sounds good...if the artist is using abstract art.

Art is meant for entertainment. It is to show something better than it really is.

I actually like that. That was very interesting.

YES. a beautiful quote and extremely insightful...............only people who are truely spiritual and insightful from life and who are not shallow will understand this quote though!

:)))) Lovely I like it- thanks for sharing with us.