I have observed a strange idea of love that many people seem to have: they see love as a kind of gift that has to be given back. Someone says, “I love you,” and if the other person does not reply with an “I love you, too,” the first person gets upset. But love doesn’t always have to be reciprocated. We can just love. If love doesn’t come back to you, it is still love that you give and that you feel. We do not always have to look to get something back for what we give, do we?
17th Karmapa
from the book The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out
translated by Ngodup Tsering Burkhar & Damchö Diana Finnegan
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book The Heart Is Noble:
- Loving Responsibility
- Making healthy relationships possible
- Authentic love
- Facing Impermanence Wisely
- The kindness we receive from others
- Our relationship to the material world
- We truly have everything we need already
- Capacity for Change
- Who are you
- Let the moon be the keeper of my love
- True Wealth
- Taking delight in your inner nature
- Reality is your teacher
- We need space to grow and learn from our own mistakes
- Interdependent reality
- Protective Inner Wisdom
- The Wealth of Contentment
- Social action
- Life in Balance
- Boxing Love with Our Expectations