Unlucky charms, perhaps?

"I believe
I met beautiful twice. She was trying
Both times (so I thought) not to laugh"

But that we had the gift be given us, to see ourselves as others see us (Burns)
The lines in italic are from Philip Larkin's poem "Wild Oats", and to me they
strike the deepest chord of any part of that poem.
He writes of two contrasting experiences with women in his life, the attainable
and the unattainable. Quite simply he is besotted with the embodiment of his
dreams, but lacking the courage to face up to possible (probable?) rejection,
he settles for the safe harbour of her rather plain friend.
Their relationship is a rocky one, finally ending with him admitting that he
cannot commit of himself to "love", all the time keeping close to hand his vain
hope of romantic liaison with his dream girl.  It is a classic scenario, he grows
to despise the girl he professes to want, because she becomes the object
separating him from his dream,and perhaps his addiction to the dream denies him
any chance of happiness with someone attainable.
By refusing either to act on, or to put away, his fantasy he has become bitter,
against both women and against his own self, and doubtless he has caused much
upset for the girl who either loved him or was at least prepared to settle for
what he could offer in the way of love.
There are many unanswered questions in my mind, such as was his obsession with
the unattainable beauty known to the plain girl, and was success with the
beautiful girl really so far beyond anything he could hope for.
It is the cruellest twist in life that there are some people whose love we cannot
find it in ourselves to reciprocate, whether that be the most shallow level of
physical infatuation or the deepest loving of another's soul.  And facing up to
the fact that we love someone who cannot love us is humiliating and belittling. 
But it is life.
Love is not physical attraction, it is not a desire to possess, it is a wish to
make two lives into one being, a living love.
Some are lucky and have found love which can be requited, but I wonder how many
settle for a watered down love, and come to despise it for being the barrier to
a richer experience of loving. And if they do, how many are haunted by their
"unlucky charms" too?