'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
Interpretation
The experience of love is more valuable than never having loved, even if it ends in loss.
This quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson suggests that the joy and fulfillment derived from love outweigh the pain of loss. It emphasizes that the courage to love, despite the risk of heartache, enriches our lives and contributes to our personal growth and understanding of relationships.
In practice
In a speech at a wedding, one might say this quote to emphasize the joy of love.
Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
Love as distinct from "being in love" is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit.
Not everyone is your brother or sister in the faith, but everyone is your neighbor, and you must love your neighbor.
No more words. We know them all, all the words that should not be said. But you have made my world more perfect.
If I never see you again I will always carry you inside outside on my fingertips and at brain edges and in centers centers of what I am of what remains.
Are there not thousands in the world who love their fellows even to the death, who feel the giant agony of the world, and more, like slaves to poor humanity, labor for mortal good?
What is important is how well we love. God will make our _x000D_ love fruitful, whether we see that fruitfulness or not.
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