The kiss is not only the key technique of love-making, nor the cinematic substitute for intercourse forbidden by censorship: it is the triumphant symbol of the role of the face and the soul in the 20th century love.The kiss is of a piece with the eroticism of the face, both unknown in ancient times and still unknown in certain civilisations. The kiss is not only the discovery of a new tactile voluptuousness. It brings to life unconscious myths with which identify the breath from one's mouth with the soul; it thus symbolises a communication of symbiosis of souls.
The kiss [...] is the profound expression of a complex of love which eroticises the soul and mystifies the body.
Edgar Morin, Les Stars
