Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

[Hosannainthehighest]

Is this statement biblical?

 

[bliz]

No.

 

[SmileAndAHandshake]

Is this statement biblical?

Is it biblical? Gosh I don't think it matters, and I personally don't much care if it's biblical or not.. my tentative answer to the question of "is it in the Bible" would be "No" though. The only thing of importance to me is the fact that I don't think it's truthful statement for everyone. People handle someone's absence in totally unique ways.

 

[teddyv]

I prefer the Barenaked Ladies take on it.

"Absence makes the heart grow fungus".

 

[Autumnleaf]

No. It is something people say to try to encourage people who have to spend time apart. Its like telling a fat person they are just big boned.

 

[believetheunseen]

Did a little research just to make sure, and didn't find any biblical basis for that comment.
Didn't think there would be but wanted to answer with as much knowledge as possible.
Thomas Haynes Bayly, an English writer, is credited with popularizing the saying, but it was found in an anonymous poem before them.
This is a part of the poem Bayly wrote that has it:
What would not I give to wander
Where my old companions dwell?
Absence makes the heart grow fonder:
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well!



Just thought that was interesting.


Nostalgia, I think that's the "feeling" suggested by the saying, wouldn't you?

 

[Beautiful Fireball]

I don't think it is, but I'm not sure that it makes that big of a difference

 

[JohnDB]

That "quote" isn't exactly accurate...

The original is "absinthe makes the heart grow fonder".

Absinthe is a narcotic laced aperitif of sorts. Thought to be somewhat of a "love potion"

The stuff is addictive and...well..makes a person lose whatever inhibitions they once had. It is illegal in America but there are a few places in Europe I think it still exists.

I have heard of something similar these days called "voo" or Vue. But am really unsure as I haven't seen or tasted it myself.

 

[alfrodull]

I don't think it is, but I'm not sure that it makes that big of a difference

Well, it would if you were concerned with scriptural inerrancy, since the statement's not true.

 

[DZoolander]

Well - apart from the biblical stuff - I've always found that quote to be off the mark. Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder - it makes the heart apathetic.

For example - I think about my first crush when I was a kid. For two years I sat around thinking about her all the time. I hated the idea of summer (when most people loved it) - because for two months I wouldn't be able to see her.

28 years later - except to point out something like this - the girl never crosses my mind. I moved off to a different school - didn't see her any more - and as the days went by thought about her less and less.

Same goes for every other person that's ever been involved in my life. It's absence of someone that removes them from your heart. It doesn't strengthen your feelings for them. Maybe in the short run - like a few weeks or months - but if you ain't gonna see them any more - you're going to stop thinking about them.

So - yeah - I agree with Autumnleaf. It's simply a platitude we tell people to make them feel better about compelled separation.

 

[jdorsey]

That "quote" isn't exactly accurate...

The original is "absinthe makes the heart grow fonder".

Uh, not true. That is a song lyrics, but more commonly recognized as an episode title to a show called Californication on Showtime. It really is absence.
Why would absinthe make you miss someone more?

 

[DZoolander]

I think the gist was "Absinthe is an aphrodisiac, therefore the longing in your loins makes the heart grow fonder." lol

 

[jdorsey]

I think the gist was "Absinthe is an aphrodisiac, therefore the longing in your loins makes the heart grow fonder." lol

Ooh I get it, lol.
Either way, it's wrong.

 

[JohnDB]

Uh, not true. That is a song lyrics, but more commonly recognized as an episode title to a show called Californication on Showtime. It really is absence.
Why would absinthe make you miss someone more?

The expression is from before there was television...

So...I doubt I would know it from the Showtime channel...as it is I don't have television in my home...nor cable television. Not even a radio. I have a radio in my pickup...but that is about it.

And as far as a song lyric...dunno about that one either.

 

[Nobility]

Is there not a verse int he bible that talks about not being seperated for too long?

To be honest, I find it does make my heart grow fonder towards my hubby... but there are also a lot of tears and pain in knowing he's going away (when he works away for a week at a time ... week after week).

 

[Hosannainthehighest]

are you talking about the verse that is referring to refraining from sex for prayer and fasting but then coming back together straight after?

 

[ImperialPhantom]

Well, it would if you were concerned with scriptural inerrancy, since the statement's not true.

No, it's more along the lines of 'who cares'. It's not biblical that Corvettes are fast cars, but does that affect whether it's true or not?

 

[bliz]

That "quote" isn't exactly accurate...

The original is "absinthe makes the heart grow fonder".

Absinthe is a narcotic laced aperitif of sorts. Thought to be somewhat of a "love potion"

The stuff is addictive and...well..makes a person lose whatever inhibitions they once had. It is illegal in America but there are a few places in Europe I think it still exists.

I have heard of something similar these days called "voo" or Vue. But am really unsure as I haven't seen or tasted it myself.

Took me some time to do a little research, and there are quite a number of different thoughts about the origins of this phrase, but none that I found had anything to do with absinthe.

The Roman poet Sextus Propertius gave us the earliest form of this saying in Elegies:

"Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows."
​

The contemporary version appears first as the title of an anonymous English poem in 1602. It wasn't until the 19th century that the phrase began to be used more widely, with Thomas Haynes Bayly's (1797-1839) song Isle of Beauty, published posthumously in 1850:

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, Isle of Beauty, Fare thee well!"
​

Thomas Haynes Bayly is credited with popularizing the phrase, but he took it from Francis Davison's Poetical Rhapsody (1602).

Cliché: Absence makes the heart grow fonder Cliché: Absence makes the heart grow fonder Explanation: 1. When you are not with a loved one, you tend to miss them even more. Country: United States

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

In 1604, Shakespeare echoed this sentiment in "Othello" (Act 1, scene ii), when Desdemona confessed, "I dote upon his very absence." James Howell, in "Familiar Letters" (1650) says that, "Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweeteneth it."
There are other references to this proverb in literature, but it was originally the first line of an anonymous poem which appeared in Davison's "Poetical Rhapsody" in 1602.

Absithe, by the way, is now legal again in the US. The drink never did contain a narcotic and the myth of it's addictiveness and impact on inhibitions were made up by the wine industry that was losing business to absinthe, so they sought to disparage the competition.

Absinthe: The Truth Behind the Myth

If you believe I am in error, please, correct me.

 

[Conservativation]

"absinthe makes one big boned"

Is that a fair amalgam of so far whats said here?