proverb · Words worth keeping
Mad love—I for you, and you for another.
Mad love—I for you, and you for another.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Affection runs in different directions: one person loves someone whose attention is elsewhere. The short exchange portrays a painful mismatch rather than a shared relationship or an obligation to return affection.
Example
After learning that a friend wants a different relationship, someone accepts the answer and stops treating repeated invitations as a way to change it.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
The speaker’s for you is met by the other person’s for another. That unequal direction is the centre of the image. Strong feeling does not itself establish reciprocity, and wishing harder cannot make another person’s preference a duty. Mad describes the distressing pattern in this historical wording; it is not a clinical diagnosis. Recognising the mismatch can help someone choose a respectful distance instead of interpreting persistence as proof of love.
When to use it
Use it to distinguish strong affection from mutual interest.
Keep in mind
Unreturned affection gives no right to pressure, blame or diagnose the other person.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional (Spanish-language collection)
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown