Stendhal quotes on mother

The "falling in love" process

Crystallization is a concept, developed in 1822 by the French writer Stendhal, which describes the process, or mental metamorphosis, in which the characteristics of a new love are transformed into perceptual diamonds of shimmering beauty.

According to a quotation by Stendhal: What I call 'crystallization' is the operation of the mind that draws from all that presents itself the discovery that the loved object has some new perfections.^[1]

Origin of term

In the summer of 1818 Stendhal took a trip to the salt mines of Hallein near Salzburg with his friend and associate Madame Gherardi.

Here they discovered the phenomenon of salt “crystallization” and used it as a metaphor for human relationships.

"In the salt mines, nearing the end of the winter season, the miners will throw a leafless wintry bough into one of the abandoned workings.

Two or three months later, through the effects of the waters saturated with