Absence

It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a firmer outline and then cease to change.
- Sidonie Gabrielle Claudine Colette, 1873 - 1954

Our hours in love have wings; in absence, crutches.
- Colley Cibber, 1671 - 1757

In the absence of touching and being touched, people of all ages can sicken and grow touch starved.
- Diane Ackerman, A Natural History of The Senses

Absence abates a moderate passion and intensifies a great one - as the wind blows out a candle but fans fire into flame.
- François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Maxims

The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
- Henry Alfred Kissinger

Absence of proof is not proof of absence.
- John Michael Crichton