--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: O hard, when love and duty clash!" description: "\"O hard, when love and duty clash!\" — Alfred the Great" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alfred-the-great-24036_clash_o-hard-when-love-and-duty-clash-2498971_2498971.png" --- # O hard, when love and duty clash! ![“O hard, when love and duty clash!” quote by Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alfred-the-great-24036_clash_o-hard-when-love-and-duty-clash-2498971_2498971.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alfred-the-great-24036_clash_o-hard-when-love-and-duty-clash-2498971_2498971.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/716/alfred-the-great-24036_clash_o-hard-when-love-and-duty-clash-2498971_2498971.png) > “O hard, when love and duty clash!” [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When personal affection conflicts with responsibility, the tension creates inner turmoil and difficult choices. **In simple terms:** Love and duty can conflict, causing inner struggle. Key Takeaway Balance heart and obligation. Themes duty love conflict responsibility inner turmoil Mood reflective serious Type advice philosophical historical When to use this quote - family decisions - leadership choices - personal relationships - moral dilemmas Key Concepts ethical dilemma emotional loyalty Questions to Reflect On - How do you prioritize love versus duty? - What values guide your hardest decisions? A Different Perspective Sometimes duty must outweigh love, leading to sacrifice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clash/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Duty Clash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty-clash-1042358/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-duty-1042359/) ## Related quotes > [Love is the only duty that we know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/love-is-the-only-duty-that-we-know/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [When there is love, there is no duty. When you love your wife, you share everything with her-your property, your trouble, your anxiety, your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/when-there-is-love-there-is-no-duty-when-you-love-your-wife-you-share/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [Duty without love is deplorable. Duty with love is desirable. Love without duty is Divine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sathya-sai-baba/duty-without-love-is-deplorable-duty-with-love-is-desirable-love/) [Sathya Sai Baba](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sathya-sai-baba/) > [“She had chosen him; she had made him hers. She had done it out of love and duty. -Deming”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-de-la-cruz/she-had-chosen-him-she-had-made-him-hers-she-had-done-it-out-of-love/) [Melissa de la Cruz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-de-la-cruz/) > [Youth's the season made for joys, Love is then our duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/youth-s-the-season-made-for-joys-love-is-then-our-duty/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [Love can do much, but duty more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/love-can-do-much-but-duty-more/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Mine to the core of the heart, my beauty! Mine, all mine, and for love, not duty: Love given willingly, full and free, Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/mine-to-the-core-of-the-heart-my-beauty-mine-all-mine-and-for-love/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [“When a man and a woman come to an alliance with honour, the knowledge that their future has been written for the benefit of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liz-fielding/when-a-man-and-a-woman-come-to-an-alliance-with-honour-the-knowledge/) [Liz Fielding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liz-fielding/) > [“Service is born out of love not duty.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/todd-stocker/service-is-born-out-of-love-not-duty/) [Todd Stocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/todd-stocker/) > [The most beautiful sight this earth affords is a man or woman so filled with love that duty is only a name, and its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-most-beautiful-sight-this-earth-affords-is-a-man-or-woman-so/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Women think of being a man as a gift. It is a duty. Even making love can be a duty. A man has always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/women-think-of-being-a-man-as-a-gift-it-is-a-duty-even-making-love/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [“We do not merely love ourselves more than we love duty; we actually love ourselves more than we love joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-keith-chesterton/we-do-not-merely-love-ourselves-more-than-we-love-duty-we-actually/) [Gilbert Keith Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-keith-chesterton/) > [“But it was hard, oh, it was hard. Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/but-it-was-hard-oh-it-was-hard-faith-in-god-is-an-opening-up-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [It's hard to love some people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lainey-wilson/it-s-hard-to-love-some-people/) [Lainey Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lainey-wilson/) > [I find it hard to love because when I idmit it I think that my past histroy of heartbreak will repeat again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juniorjk/i-find-it-hard-to-love-because-when-i-idmit-it-i-think-that-my-past/) [Juniorjk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juniorjk/) ## More by Alfred the Great > [When the Sun Clearest shineth Serenest in the heaven, Quickly are obscured All over the earth Other stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/when-the-sun-clearest-shineth-serenest-in-the-heaven-quickly-are/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [The greater the man the greater the courtesy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/the-greater-the-man-the-greater-the-courtesy/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Food over flame burns, food over heat cooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/food-over-flame-burns-food-over-heat-cooks/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Science moves, but slowly, slowly, creeping on from point to point.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/science-moves-but-slowly-slowly-creeping-on-from-point-to-point/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [All the youth now in England of free men, who are rich enough to be able to devote themselves to it, be set to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/all-the-youth-now-in-england-of-free-men-who-are-rich-enough-to-be/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [It becomes no man to nurse despair, but, in the teeth of clenched antagonisms, to follow up the worthiest till he die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/it-becomes-no-man-to-nurse-despair-but-in-the-teeth-of-clenched/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Doom very evenly! Do not doom one doom to the rich; another to the poor! Nor doom one doom to your friend; another to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/doom-very-evenly-do-not-doom-one-doom-to-the-rich-another-to-the-poor/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see, Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/for-i-dipt-into-the-future-far-as-human-eye-could-see-saw-the-vision-2/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [A life that moves to gracious ends Thro' troops of unrecording friends, A deedful life, a silent voice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/a-life-that-moves-to-gracious-ends-thro-troops-of-unrecording-friends/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [...For the unquiet heart and brain, A use in measured language lies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/for-the-unquiet-heart-and-brain-a-use-in-measured-language-lies/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [ Time \[is\] flowing in the middle of the night. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/time-is-flowing-in-the-middle-of-the-night/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Ah, what shall I be at fifty, should nature keep me alive, if I find the world so bitter when I am but twenty-five?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ah-what-shall-i-be-at-fifty-should-nature-keep-me-alive-if-i-find-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/one-god-one-law-one-element-and-one-far-off-divine-event-to-which-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [Ah, why should life all labor be?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ah-why-should-life-all-labor-be/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) [Explore all 25 Alfred the Great quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) ## More Clash quotes > [The Clash is pretty much my favorite band, and their songs like 'Rock the Casbah' are political dance tracks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vic-mensa/the-clash-is-pretty-much-my-favorite-band-and-their-songs-like-rock/) [Vic Mensa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vic-mensa/) > [ I can hardly believe what these 12 caricatures \[about Prophet Muhammad\] have caused in the world. We Danes feel like we have been placed… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anders-fogh-rasmussen/i-can-hardly-believe-what-these-12-caricatures-about-prophet-muhammad/) [Anders Fogh Rasmussen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anders-fogh-rasmussen/) > [The clashes of people and the clashes of cultures have assisted me in learning the openness you have to be a part of in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kissey/the-clashes-of-people-and-the-clashes-of-cultures-have-assisted-me-in/) [Kissey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kissey/) > [Truth emerges from the clash of adverse ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/truth-emerges-from-the-clash-of-adverse-ideas/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [A rhododendron bud lavender-tipped. Soon a glory of blooms to clash with the cardinals and gladden the hummingbirds!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-beard/a-rhododendron-bud-lavender-tipped-soon-a-glory-of-blooms-to-clash/) [Dave Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-beard/) > [I didn't read this book--I inhaled it. This a terrific new take on a great old rock n roll story, a clash of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-mckeen/i-didn-t-read-this-book-i-inhaled-it-this-a-terrific-new-take-on-a/) [William McKeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-mckeen/) > [I grew up in the '90s. I listened to a lot of The Clash, Velvet Underground and Roxy Music. I wasn't into Boyzone, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-taylor-johnson/i-grew-up-in-the-90s-i-listened-to-a-lot-of-the-clash-velvet/) [Aaron Taylor-Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-taylor-johnson/) > [I'm still secretly a bit of a punk. Love The Clash and a bit of the Pistols. I guess as I've got older I've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iwan-rheon/i-m-still-secretly-a-bit-of-a-punk-love-the-clash-and-a-bit-of-the/) [Iwan Rheon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iwan-rheon/) > [The Clash, in particular, transcends any category.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-raab/the-clash-in-particular-transcends-any-category/) [Scott Raab](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-raab/) > [Berlin is still a very edgy place, a very cosmopolitan place. It's a place where completely different ideas and cultures come together and clash…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-bremmer/berlin-is-still-a-very-edgy-place-a-very-cosmopolitan-place-it-s-a/) [Ian Bremmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-bremmer/) > [Whats great about The Avengers is that its the next step. Its not just superhero fights super-villain and superhero wins. Its about superheroes that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leterrier/whats-great-about-the-avengers-is-that-its-the-next-step-its-not-just/) [Louis Leterrier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leterrier/) > [So there's always been this clash between what is the public good - that which belongs to all of us in common - and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-abercrombie/so-there-s-always-been-this-clash-between-what-is-the-public-good/) [Neil Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-abercrombie/) > [Human beings have hope. 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