Love, I thought to myself abstractedly. Not 'This is love' or 'Is this love?' Not a sentence, not a certainty, not a thought with moving parts or direction. Just love, all of it, as it is. Whether it's enough or not. Wthether it's real or we're making it up. However shoddy it gets, or bent out of shape. It's still extraordinary. However foolish, however vain. However badly it ends. Love.

Meaning: Possessiveness and a demand for dominance can make equal companionship difficult. Love and lordship are pictured as unwilling to share their place with others.

Meaning: A wish to possess or rule can interfere with friendship. The saying invites scrutiny of exclusivity and power in relationships rather than treating them as unavoidable.

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.

Editorial context: This saying endorses beating a woman. It records an abusive viewpoint, not valid advice or a justification for violence.

Meaning: This saying presents beating a woman as a way to improve her behaviour, alongside beating an animal or tree. It expresses an abusive viewpoint, not a valid instruction for relationships or care.