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Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Meaning

The lack of something increases the desire for it.

Origin

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 in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature, 1832, in a piece by a Miss Stickland:

'Tis absense, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.

The phrase was also source material for the lewd wordplay:

"Absinthe makes the fart grow stronger".

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The meaning and origin of the expression: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Meaning

Origin