On Love - B. Russell

[alal6375]

It is an extract from the above essay. Could you please tell me what the meaning of the following sentence is, especially the underlined one:
"Bear in mind also that to the lover the loved one is always the most beautiful thing imaginable, even though to a stranger she may be indistinguishable from an order of smelts."

Cheers and thanks.

[moggy]

Originally Posted by alal6375

It is an extract from the above essay. Could you please tell me what the meaning of the following sentence is, especially the underlined one:
"Bear in mind also that to the lover the loved one is always the most beautiful thing imaginable, even though to a stranger she may be indistinguishable from an order of smelts."

Cheers and thanks.

I can understand why this sentence sounds confusing to you Alal. Smelts are small fish usually served fried. What the writer means is that even though the lover regards his girlfriend/boyfriend as being very beautiful, a stranger may think she/he is not beautiful at all.
Moggy

[alal6375]

Originally Posted by moggy

I can understand why this sentence sounds confusing to you Alal. Smelts are small fish usually served fried. What the writer means is that even though the lover regards his girlfriend/boyfriend as being very beautiful, a stranger may think she/he is not beautiful at all.
Moggy

Thank you Moggy.

If you don't mind I would like to raise another here:
"Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, church or market, is a sympton of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity." - an extract from "Extreme Busyness" of Robert Louis Stevenson. Thanks again.

[moggy]

Originally Posted by alal6375

Thank you Moggy.

If you don't mind I would like to raise another here:
"Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, church or market, is a sympton of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity." - an extract from "Extreme Busyness" of Robert Louis Stevenson. Thanks again.

"Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, church or market, is a sympton of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity."

"Faculty" in this case means "ability or tendency"
"Catholic" in this case means "varied" I'm not entirely sure if "appetite" means appetite for food, or appetite for life, or something entirely different.
"A strong sense of personal identity" means, I think, that the person knows himself well.

Again, this is a style of English I'm not over-familiar with. I hope this sheds some light on the problem!
Moggy

[alal6375]

Originally Posted by moggy

"Extreme busyness, whether at school or college, church or market, is a sympton of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity."

"Faculty" in this case means "ability or tendency"
"Catholic" in this case means "varied" I'm not entirely sure if "appetite" means appetite for food, or appetite for life, or something entirely different.
"A strong sense of personal identity" means, I think, that the person knows himself well.

Again, this is a style of English I'm not over-familiar with. I hope this sheds some light on the problem!
Moggy

I've got an inkling of it.
Thanks, Moggy.

[Naamplao]

Originally Posted by alal6375

It is an extract from the above essay. Could you please tell me what the meaning of the following sentence is, especially the underlined one:
"Bear in mind also that to the lover the loved one is always the most beautiful thing imaginable, even though to a stranger she may be indistinguishable from an order of smelts."

Cheers and thanks.

Smelts are a tiny fish. An order of smelts is something you might eat at a restaurant....do you thing that such a thing as beautiful as a lover to a loved one?

Knowing this jnformation, what do you think the underlined part now means?