--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is it possible for a person to love…" description: "\"Is it possible for a person to love without wanting love back? Is anything so pure? Or is love, by its nature, a reciprocity, like oceans and clouds, a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c9/alan-lightman-2270_clouds_is-it-possible-for-a-person-to-love-with_2827606.png" --- # Is it possible for a person to love without wanting love… ![“Is it possible for a person to love without wanting love back? Is anything so pure? Or is love, by its nature, a reciprocity, like oceans and clouds, an evaporating of seawater and a replenishing by rain?” quote by Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c9/alan-lightman-2270_clouds_is-it-possible-for-a-person-to-love-with_2827606.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c9/alan-lightman-2270_clouds_is-it-possible-for-a-person-to-love-with_2827606.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c9/alan-lightman-2270_clouds_is-it-possible-for-a-person-to-love-with_2827606.png) > “Is it possible for a person to love without wanting love back? Is anything so pure? Or is love, by its nature, a reciprocity, like oceans and clouds, an evaporating of seawater and a replenishing by rain?” [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love may be unreciprocated, but true love seeks the other's well‑being without expectation of return. **In simple terms:** Love can be selfless. Key Takeaway Cultivate love that gives without needing payoff. Themes love selflessness reciprocity Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal relationships - volunteering - parenting - friendship Key Concepts philosophy psychology ethics Questions to Reflect On - Do you love anyone without expecting anything back? - How does self‑less love affect your wellbeing? A Different Perspective Pure love without reciprocity may lead to emotional burnout. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clouds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clouds/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-nature/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Person Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-love/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Pure love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pure-love/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Reciprocity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reciprocity/) [Wanting love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wanting-love/) ## Related quotes > [Unconditional love. That’s what he wants to give her and what he wants from her. People should give without wanting anything in return. All…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/unconditional-love-that-s-what-he-wants-to-give-her-and-what-he-wants/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [I'm a really natural person; I love nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsey-wixson/i-m-a-really-natural-person-i-love-nature/) [Lindsey Wixson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsey-wixson/) > [Love is made of two keys sacrifice and acceptance. Sacrifice everything you have for the person to make their lives better no matter how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reuben-lyimo/love-is-made-of-two-keys-sacrifice-and-acceptance-sacrifice/) [Reuben Lyimo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reuben-lyimo/) > [Nature is purposeless. Nature simply is. We may find nature beautiful or terrible, but those feelings are human constructions. Such utter and complete mindlessness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/nature-is-purposeless-nature-simply-is-we-may-find-nature-beautiful/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“...age sixty-eight and still wanting love to exist in a pure column of light, still convinced that it could.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-wolitzer/age-sixty-eight-and-still-wanting-love-to-exist-in-a-pure-column-of/) [Meg Wolitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-wolitzer/) > [The point is, as death gets closer - what's so wrong with wanting someone you love to live forever?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-meltzer/the-point-is-as-death-gets-closer-what-s-so-wrong-with-wanting/) [Brad Meltzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-meltzer/) > [“People were wired to hell. He wanted to growl like a rabid mastiff when he heard someone say, "The body is a machine." What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/people-were-wired-to-hell-he-wanted-to-growl-like-a-rabid-mastiff/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) > [You can't stop loving or wanting love because when its right, it's the best thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-can-t-stop-loving-or-wanting-love-because-when-its-right-it-s-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“As rash as he, she capitulated with indecent speed, gave herself up to his plundering mouth and tongue, wanting what he wanted, wanting more.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-c-gibbs/as-rash-as-he-she-capitulated-with-indecent-speed-gave-herself-up-to/) [C.C. Gibbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-c-gibbs/) > [“Bein' here with you . . . you've really got under my skin." "You want to break the rule?" He nods slowly. "Yeah." "Why?"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-elkeles/bein-here-with-you-you-ve-really-got-under-my-skin-you-want-to-break/) [Simone Elkeles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-elkeles/) > [I just want to show you how it feels wanting your love like I do. Let's, give it a chance, dont pass it up,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberta-flack/i-just-want-to-show-you-how-it-feels-wanting-your-love-like-i-do-let/) [Roberta Flack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberta-flack/) > [Appreciating what you had. Missing what you don't. Wanting love to love you. We all feel that way huh?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/appreciating-what-you-had-missing-what-you-don-t-wanting-love-to-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wanting you to love me is like wanting a snow in a summer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/wanting-you-to-love-me-is-like-wanting-a-snow-in-a-summer/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) > [“People talk a lot about all the homosexuals there are to see in Greenwich Village, but it was all the neuters that caught my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/people-talk-a-lot-about-all-the-homosexuals-there-are-to-see-in/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [You dont even know.. or realize. Hearts spilled out at this point. Wanting to love again but cant. Cause your always on my mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-dont-even-know-or-realize-hearts-spilled-out-at-this-point/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Alan Lightman > [“In a world of fixed future, there can be no right or wrong. Right and wrong demand freedom of choice, but if each action…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-a-world-of-fixed-future-there-can-be-no-right-or-wrong-right-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [“I've decided that has been the great achievement of our age: to so thoroughly flood the planet with megabits that every image and fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/i-ve-decided-that-has-been-the-great-achievement-of-our-age-to-so/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Every reader gets something different from a book and every reader, in a sense, completes it in a different way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/every-reader-gets-something-different-from-a-book-and-every-reader-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > ["The Diagnosis" is by far my most ambitious book. I such great hopes for it... there was so much I wanted to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/the-diagnosis-is-by-far-my-most-ambitious-book-i-such-great-hopes-for/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [As long as God does not intervene in the contemporary universe in such a way as to violate physical laws, science has no way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/as-long-as-god-does-not-intervene-in-the-contemporary-universe-in/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Except for a God who sits down after the universe begins, all other gods conflict with the assumptions of science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/except-for-a-god-who-sits-down-after-the-universe-begins-all-other/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Each person who gets stuck in time gets stuck alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/each-person-who-gets-stuck-in-time-gets-stuck-alone/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [A writer is someone who has a one-man tent in the desert and occasionally he sees the footprint of an other writer - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/a-writer-is-someone-who-has-a-one-man-tent-in-the-desert-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is a rigid, bonelike structure, extending infinitely ahead and behind, fossilizing the future as well as the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-a-rigid-bonelike-structure-extending-infinitely-ahead-and/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [For me, spirituality includes the belief in things larger than ourselves, an appreciation of nature and beauty, a sensitivity to the world, a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/for-me-spirituality-includes-the-belief-in-things-larger-than/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Writers are a loosely knit community - community is an overstated word. Writers don't see each other very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/writers-are-a-loosely-knit-community-community-is-an-overstated-word/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Imagine a world in which there is no time. Only images.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/imagine-a-world-in-which-there-is-no-time-only-images/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [Time is the clarity for seeing right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/time-is-the-clarity-for-seeing-right-and-wrong/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, time has three dimensions, like space. Just as an object may move in three perpendicular directions, corresponding to horizontal, vertical, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-time-has-three-dimensions-like-space-just-as-an-object/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) > [In this world, there are two times. There is mechanical time and there is body time." "They do not keep clocks in their houses.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-lightman/in-this-world-there-are-two-times-there-is-mechanical-time-and-there/) [Alan Lightman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) [Explore all 174 Alan Lightman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-lightman/) ## More Clouds quotes > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [It lies around us like a cloud- A world we do not see; Yet the sweet closing of an eye May bring us there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harriet-beecher-stowe/it-lies-around-us-like-a-cloud-a-world-we-do-not-see-yet-the-sweet/) [Harriet Beecher Stowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harriet-beecher-stowe/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You always hear actors say, 'Theater is my first love,' and it is. It's a time when you really get to do what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-landecker/you-always-hear-actors-say-theater-is-my-first-love-and-it-is-it-s-a/) [Amy Landecker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-landecker/) > [No matter how strong the storm, how hard the rain and how vicious the wind there is always a gap in the clouds for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-greenhalgh/no-matter-how-strong-the-storm-how-hard-the-rain-and-how-vicious-the/) [Ben Greenhalgh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-greenhalgh/) > [The sacred lamp of day Now dipt in Western clouds his parting day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-falconer/the-sacred-lamp-of-day-now-dipt-in-western-clouds-his-parting-day/) [William Falconer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-falconer/) > [Just as the setting sun turned the clouds to liquid gold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ende/just-as-the-setting-sun-turned-the-clouds-to-liquid-gold/) [Michael Ende](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ende/) > [Evil may mar the divine image and cloud its brilliance, but it cannot destroy it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/evil-may-mar-the-divine-image-and-cloud-its-brilliance-but-it-cannot/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Max—you have a bigger mission than finding the flock's parents. Focus on helping the whole world, not just your friends. I held my wings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-patterson/max-you-have-a-bigger-mission-than-finding-the-flock-s-parents-focus/) [James Patterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-patterson/) > [Sometimes I envy painters, it is wonderful to remain in front of a bouquet of flowers a whole morning, or even longer. A photographer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-boubat/sometimes-i-envy-painters-it-is-wonderful-to-remain-in-front-of-a/) [Edouard Boubat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edouard-boubat/) > [Above the clouds I lift my wing To hear the bells of Heaven ring; Some of their music, though my fights be wild, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-clarence-stedman/above-the-clouds-i-lift-my-wing-to-hear-the-bells-of-heaven-ring-some/) [Edmund Clarence Stedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-clarence-stedman/) > [If you like I'll be furious flesh elemental, or- changing to tones that the sunset arouses- if you like- I'll be extraordinary gentle, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-mayakovsky/if-you-like-i-ll-be-furious-flesh-elemental-or-changing-to-tones-that/) [Vladimir Mayakovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-mayakovsky/) > [Sometimes in life the clouds are too dark to see.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/sometimes-in-life-the-clouds-are-too-dark-to-see/) [Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/) > [May you eat an unfamiliar dessert in a strange land at least once every three years. May you wake up... and start dancing while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-brezsny/may-you-eat-an-unfamiliar-dessert-in-a-strange-land-at-least-once/) [Rob Brezsny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-brezsny/) > [We're thrilled that our partnership with Adobe has now grown to span our three clouds - Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and Dynamics 365 -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-johnson/we-re-thrilled-that-our-partnership-with-adobe-has-now-grown-to-span/) [Peggy Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-johnson/) [Browse all 2,443 Clouds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clouds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is it possible for a person to love without wanting love back? Is anything so pure? 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