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What is flirtation?

Walking along West Fourth with Moumita last Saturday, we stopped in front of those fold up tables full of used/new books. She picked up The Second Sex and then noticed The Incredible Lightness of Being. Our hands reached for the same book as we exclaimed, delighted by the title and author we had both heard much about. I admit she had seen the book before me, and technically, had purchasing rights to the book. She relented however, when I promised to finish it quickly and lend it to her. I added Kundera to my collection.

And to my online Blog, a collection of myself online, I've added the following quotes:

"What is flirtation? One might say that it is behavior leading another to believe that sexual intimacy is possible, while preventing that possibility from becoming a certainty. In other words, flirting is a promise of sexual intercourse without the guarantee." (142)

"The meeting of umbrellas was a test of strength" (135)

"...in the realm of possibility, an infinite number of unconsummated loves for other men" (34)

Making love with a woman and sleeping with a woman are two separate passions, not merely different but opposite. Love does not make itself felt in the desire for copulation (a desire that extends to an infinite number of women) but in the desire for shared sleep (a desire limited to one woman). (15)

Chance and chance alone has a message for us. Everything that occurs out of necessity, everything expected, repeated day in and day out, is mute. Only chance can speak to us. (48)

What is unique about the "I" hides itself exactly in what is unimaginable about a person. All we are able to imagine is what makes everyone like everyone else, what people have in common. The individual "I" is what differs from the common stock, that is, what cannot be guessed at or calculated, what must be unveiled, uncovered, conquered. (199)

It is a completely selfless love [the love between a human being and a dog]. [s]he did not ever ask him to love her back. Nor had she ever asked herself the questions that plague human couples: Does he love me? Does he love anyone more than me? Does he love me more than I love him? Perhaps all the questions we ask of love, to measure, test, probe and save it have the additional effect of cutting it short. Perhaps the reason e are unable to love is that we yearn to be loved, that is, we demand something (love) from our partner instead of delivering ourselves up to him demand-free and asking for nothing but his company. (297)

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