--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love is not affectionate feeling, but a…" description: "\"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved persons ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.\" — C S Lewis" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg" --- # Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for… ![“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved persons ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” quote by C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg) > “Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved persons ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.” [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True love is a steadfast desire for another’s ultimate good, not just affection. **In simple terms:** Love seeks the beloved’s highest good. Key Takeaway Cultivate selfless, purposeful love. Themes selfless love ethical love philosophy Mood reflective hopeful Type spiritual philosophical When to use this quote - marriage counseling - friendship building Key Concepts theology moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you discern true good for others? - When does love become enabling? A Different Perspective Self‑sacrifice can be unhealthy if unreciprocated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Affectionate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affectionate/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is an exquisite and beautiful thing in our nature, that, when the heart is touched and softened by some tranquil happiness or affectionate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/it-is-an-exquisite-and-beautiful-thing-in-our-nature-that-when-the/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There is nothing so strong as the force of love; there is no love so forcible as the love of an affectionate mother to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-grimston/there-is-nothing-so-strong-as-the-force-of-love-there-is-no-love-so/) Elizabeth Grimston > […Jo loved a few persons very dearly and dreaded to have their affection lost or lessened in any way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louisa-may-alcott/jo-loved-a-few-persons-very-dearly-and-dreaded-to-have-their/) [Louisa May Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louisa-may-alcott/) > [“This time, recall being loving, compassionate. It could be loving or compassionate toward a person, a pet, or something else. Any affectionate feeling, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-t-lusk/this-time-recall-being-loving-compassionate-it-could-be-loving-or/) [Julie T. Lusk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-t-lusk/) > [Love is an affectionate and kind feeling produced as a result of relation with any other person. Love is a feeling that represents a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoheb/love-is-an-affectionate-and-kind-feeling-produced-as-a-result-of/) [Zoheb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoheb/) > [I feel so warm When I think of you each night and day, And when I see you, I see bright stars, and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samaria-allen/i-feel-so-warm-when-i-think-of-you-each-night-and-day-and-when-i-see/) Samaria Allen > [“Love, they said, burns you and builds you. But with you, there’s no ash. Just light.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/love-they-said-burns-you-and-builds-you-but-with-you-there-s-no-ash/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [“Human touch is vital. Without it, we wither. With it, we thrive. And it is good preventive medicine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-goodier/human-touch-is-vital-without-it-we-wither-with-it-we-thrive-and-it-is/) [Steve Goodier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-goodier/) > [“All I need to do is place my pen against paper and your love writes for me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamand-kojouri/all-i-need-to-do-is-place-my-pen-against-paper-and-your-love-writes/) [Kamand Kojouri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamand-kojouri/) > [In this would I live; in this would I die; upon this would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withering and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-owen/in-this-would-i-live-in-this-would-i-die-upon-this-would-i-dwell-in/) [John Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-owen/) > [“I don't care a whit for Society. I think people should only marry someone who can offer them some bit of affection. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-st-george/i-don-t-care-a-whit-for-society-i-think-people-should-only-marry/) Harper St. George > [Always when I see a man fond of praise I always think it is because he is an affectionate man craving for affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-butler-yeats/always-when-i-see-a-man-fond-of-praise-i-always-think-it-is-because/) Jack Butler Yeats > [I am convinced that human nature is basically affectionate and good. If our behavior follows our kind and loving nature, immense benefits will result,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/i-am-convinced-that-human-nature-is-basically-affectionate-and-good/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [“Emira realized that Briar probably didn't know how to say good-bye because she never had to do it before. But whether she said good-bye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiley-reid/emira-realized-that-briar-probably-didn-t-know-how-to-say-good-bye/) Kiley Reid ## More by C S Lewis > [You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. --C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/you-are-never-too-old-to-set-another-goal-or-to-dream-a-new-dream-c-s/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/to-love-at-all-is-to-be-vulnerable-love-anything-and-your-heart-will-2/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“I expect most witches are like that. They are not interested in things or people unless they can use them; they are terribly practical".”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/i-expect-most-witches-are-like-that-they-are-not-interested-in-things/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“Supposing there was no intelligence behind the universe, no creative mind. In that case, nobody designed my brain for the purpose of thinking. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/supposing-there-was-no-intelligence-behind-the-universe-no-creative/) [c s lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [What you see and hear depends a great deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/what-you-see-and-hear-depends-a-great-deal-on-where-you-are-standing/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [I sometimes wander whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/i-sometimes-wander-whether-all-pleasures-are-not-substitutes-for-joy/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/aim-at-heaven-and-you-will-get-earth-thrown-in-aim-at-earth-and-you/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“If you're approaching Him not as the goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you're not really approaching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/if-you-re-approaching-him-not-as-the-goal-but-as-a-road-not-as-the/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“Don't you think a dream would feel shy if it were seen walking about in the waking world?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/don-t-you-think-a-dream-would-feel-shy-if-it-were-seen-walking-about/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/now-you-will-have-noticed-that-nothing-throws-him-into-a-passion-so/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/friendship-is-unnecessary-like-philosophy-like-art-it-has-no-survival-2/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“He sees because He loves, and therefore loves although He sees.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/he-sees-because-he-loves-and-therefore-loves-although-he-sees/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [ “I felt sure that \[Oyarsa\] was what we call "good," but I wasn't sure whether I liked "goodness" so much as I had supposed.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/i-felt-sure-that-oyarsa-was-what-we-call-good-but-i-wasn-t-sure/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/if-you-injure-someone-you-dislike-you-will-find-yourself-disliking/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) > [“The man who agrees with us that some question, little regarded by others, is of great importance can be our Friend. He need not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/the-man-who-agrees-with-us-that-some-question-little-regarded-by/) [C S Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) [Explore all 21 C S Lewis quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved persons ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "C S Lewis" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fd/c-s-lewis-3-26944_affection_love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-s_2757130.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved persons ultimate good as far as it can be…” — C S Lewis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "C S Lewis", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-3/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Love is not affectionate feeling, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-3/love-is-not-affectionate-feeling-but-a-steady-wish-for-the-loved-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```