"To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful"
About this Quote
As a model and public figure, Myerson’s authority here isn’t academic; it’s social and experiential. She’s speaking from a world where attraction can be instantaneous, public, and rewarded - a flashbulb event. Falling in love is framed as frictionless: chemistry, glamour, momentum. Falling out of love, by contrast, isn’t granted the same narrative support. There’s no cultural script for clean exits, only for loyalty, drama, or collapse. That’s the subtext: we romanticize beginnings and moralize endings, so disenchantment feels like failure rather than change.
The quote’s bite comes from its refusal to sentimentalize. It doesn’t pretend heartbreak is poetic; it’s “awful” in the plainest sense - awkward conversations, shared routines turning sour, the guilt of being the person who leaves. By making the language itself pivot, Myerson mirrors the experience: one small internal shift, and everything that once felt simple becomes unbearable.
Quote Details
| Topic | Heartbreak |
|---|---|
| Source | Bess Myerson — quotation attributed on Wikiquote: "To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful" (see Bess Myerson page). |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Myerson, Bess. (2026, January 15). To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-fall-in-love-is-awfully-simple-but-to-fall-out-121268/
Chicago Style
Myerson, Bess. "To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-fall-in-love-is-awfully-simple-but-to-fall-out-121268/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"To fall in love is awfully simple, but to fall out of love is simply awful." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/to-fall-in-love-is-awfully-simple-but-to-fall-out-121268/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.










