Love is not like money
Kierkegaard contrasts love with financial support.
If you stop sending someone money, they lose and you keep the cash.
We talk about love the same way: "I've given up on him," as if we still own our love and he's the one left short.
But love doesn't work that way. The moment you give up your love, you've lost the quality of being loving.
He says language is quietly mocking the speaker, who doesn't notice he's describing his own loss.
Example: After a falling out, someone says, "I'm done with my brother." They picture the brother losing their support.
But the speaker has also lost something: their own capacity for patience and love has shrunk.
Kierkegaard contrasts love with financial support.
If you stop sending someone money, they lose and you keep the cash.
We talk about love the same way: "I've given up on him," as if we still own our love and he's the one left short.
But love doesn't work that way. The moment you give up your love, you've lost the quality of being loving.
He says language is quietly mocking the speaker, who doesn't notice he's describing his own loss.
Example: After a falling out, someone says, "I'm done with my brother." They picture the brother losing their support.
But the speaker has also lost something: their own capacity for patience and love has shrunk.