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:
- Boxing Love with Our Expectations
- There are no fixed starting points
- Nothing is intrinsically bad
- Difference without Division
- Breaking barriers
- Healthy relationships
- Take joy in your sincere intentions
- Just not been introduced before
- Finding our nobility of heart
- Authentic love toward others
- There are no fixed starting points
- Expanding our sense of ourselves
- Our life is vast
- Open-minded
- Greed is a recipe for dissatisfaction
- Balanced Life
- Distinguishing between wants and needs
- Disconnected from our own noble heart
- Boxed limitless potential