St. Augustine says in his Confessions , III 1:⁠—

“I loved not yet, yet I loved to love⁠ ⁠… I sought what I might love, in love with loving.”

“I loved not yet, yet I loved to love⁠ ⁠… I sought what I might love, in love with loving.”

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I think it is Coleridge who says:⁠—

“The desire of man is for the woman, but the desire of woman is for the desire of man.”