If we learn to love someone for their imperfections that reflect our own, we eventually thought that even the most beautiful things are damaged

Meaning: Distance may weaken a mild attachment while making an intense one feel stronger. The contrast between cooling and inflaming describes different possible responses to absence, rather than a dependable rule for measuring love or deciding how relationships should work.

Meaning: Affection can become excessive indulgence when it prevents a child from learning limits or acting independently. The saying questions how care is expressed, rather than suggesting that a child needs less love.

Meaning: The mind is compared to ground that needs deliberate cultivation. The saying encourages useful learning and attention, while its corn-and-thistles contrast should not turn rest, disability or a different way of thinking into evidence of a defective character.