The Magic Barrel Love Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)

Quote #4

Perhaps love would now come to him and a bride to that love. And for this sanctified seeking who needed a Salzman? (115)

Leo's still missing the point here. Love isn't just romantic love. It's recognizing the intertwined needs of his fellow travellers on spaceship Earth. He can't go it alone; he needs Salzman to finish this. But he still can't see that. Back to work, Rabbi.

Quote #5

"Love, I have said to myself, should be a by-product of living and worship rather than its own end. Yet for myself I find it necessary to establish the level of my need and fulfill it." (135)

Leo is expressing a need to set out on his own to find love, looking for it on his terms rather than anyone else's. Ironic, isn't it? The good news is that he's going to be disabused of that notion soon, suggesting that love can't come on your term, but on God's.

Quote #6

She lapsed forth to this heart—had lived, or wanted to—more than just wanted, perhaps regretted how she had lived—had somehow deeply suffered: it could be seen in the depths of those reluctant eyes, and from the way the light enclosed and shone from her, and within her, opening realms of possibility: this was her own. (143)

This is the turning point in Leo's search for love. He looks past the physical appearance of Stella and into what he believes to be her soul. That's what real love looks like.