Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[welkins2139]

"My dear boy, the people who love only once in their lives are really the shallow people. What they call their loyalty, and their fidelity, I call either the lethargy of custom or their lack of imagination.
Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect--simply a confession of failure. Faithfulness! I must analyse it some day. The passion for property is in it. There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up. But I don't want to interrupt you. Go on with your story."

Would you explain the bold text?

Thank you

[Anuradha Chepur]

Faithfulness is to the emotional life what consistency is to the life of the intellect--simply a confession of failure.
The author opines that faithfulness (in a man-woman relationship) is actually a negative quality - it's a sign of failure, just as satisfaction is a block for growth.

The passion for property is in it.
Faithfulness, in effect, means you are treating someone like some property you can't let go off.