"A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest"
About this Quote
Rowland wrote in an era when courtship was supposed to be delicate theater, policed by propriety and fueled by double standards. Her joke is to treat that theater as a transaction log, a ledger of escalating claims. The subtext isn’t just “men are like this.” It’s that social norms train both sexes into roles that curdle desire: pursuit becomes possession; affection becomes obligation. “Endures” is the dagger because it suggests marriage’s steady-state isn’t passion but tolerance - and it invites readers to laugh at the bleakness rather than admit it hurts.
As a journalist and a professional observer of manners, Rowland weaponizes compression: one sentence, six beats, an entire romantic lifecycle. It’s a cynical vaudeville routine with a feminist edge, exposing how quickly the language of love can start sounding like property law.
Quote Details
| Topic | Romantic |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rowland, Helen. (2026, January 17). A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-man-snatches-the-first-kiss-pleads-for-the-31424/
Chicago Style
Rowland, Helen. "A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-man-snatches-the-first-kiss-pleads-for-the-31424/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-man-snatches-the-first-kiss-pleads-for-the-31424/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.





