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Separation intensifies love, as in After a year in another country she accepted his proposal, so I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder, or, used ironically, The boss leaves earlier every day; oh well, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Although versions of this saying date from Roman times, it only became popular after Thomas Haynes Bayly used it as the last line of a song in The Isle of Beauty (1850). The opposite sentiment is expressed by FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT.
American Heritage Idioms
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Phrase(s): Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Prov. You will like someone or something better if that person or thing is far away. • Ever since Carla’s boyfriend moved away, she can’t stop thinking about him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs