The return makes one love the farewell.

The line suggests that separation is not only bearable but can become meaningful when it is framed by the hope or reality of reunion. A farewell hurts because it marks loss; yet the prospect of return retroactively softens that pain, even making the goodbye feel like a necessary prelude to renewed affection. Musset’s writing often dwells on the emotional oscillation between absence and presence—how longing intensifies attachment and how memory and anticipation reshape experience. In that sense, the quote captures a romantic psychology: distance can deepen love, and the promise of coming back can make parting itself feel almost sweet, because it contains the seed of return.