--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love is hungry and severe. Love is not…" description: "\"“Love is hungry and severe. Love is not unselfish or bashful or servile or gentle. Love demands everything. Love is not serene, and it keeps no records..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/catherynne-m-valente-375_faith_love-is-hungry-and-severe-love-is-not-un_2194649.jpg" --- # Love is hungry and severe. Love is not unselfish or… ![“Love is hungry and severe. Love is not unselfish or bashful or servile or gentle. Love demands everything. Love is not serene, and it keeps no records. Love sometimes gives up, loses faith, even hope, and it cannot endure everything. Love, sometimes, ends. But its memory lasts forever, and forever…” quote by Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/catherynne-m-valente-375_faith_love-is-hungry-and-severe-love-is-not-un_2194649.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/catherynne-m-valente-375_faith_love-is-hungry-and-severe-love-is-not-un_2194649.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/af6/catherynne-m-valente-375_faith_love-is-hungry-and-severe-love-is-not-un_2194649.jpg) > ““Love is hungry and severe. Love is not unselfish or bashful or servile or gentle. Love demands everything. Love is not serene, and it keeps no records. Love sometimes gives up, loses faith, even hope, and it cannot endure everything. Love, sometimes, ends. But its memory lasts forever, and forever it may come again. Love is not a mountain, it is a wheel. No harsher praxis exists in this world. There are three things that will beggar the heart and make it crawl - faith, hope and love - and the cruelest of these is love.”” [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love is demanding, intense, and often painful, yet its memory endures and can return. **In simple terms:** Love is fierce and lasting. Key Takeaway Accept love’s challenges. Themes love sacrifice memory Mood poignant reflective Type philosophical emotional When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - grief - hope Key Concepts intense devotion impermanence Questions to Reflect On - What does love demand of you? - How do you cope with love’s loss? A Different Perspective Love may not always be sustainable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith hope and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-hope-and-love/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Hope and love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope-and-love/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [Love is without demands. Sometimes love means standing firm. 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Prayer is a road to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/but-that-is-all-prayer-requires-faith-hope-and-love-great-holiness-or/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [The great moral powers of the soul are faith, hope, and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/the-great-moral-powers-of-the-soul-are-faith-hope-and-love/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [“~And now these three remain faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bry-ann/and-now-these-three-remain-faith-hope-and-love-but-the-greatest-of/) [Bry Ann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bry-ann/) > [If we are to survive the Atomic Age, we must have something to live by, to live on, and to live for. We must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-p-kretzmann/if-we-are-to-survive-the-atomic-age-we-must-have-something-to-live-by/) O. P. 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Traditionally called theological virtues, they come as free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-morneau/in-the-garden-of-the-soul-the-virtues-of-faith-hope-and-love-form-the/) Robert Morneau > [ “Paul in like manner declares, “Love is the fulfilling of the law:” and \[he declares\] that when all other things have been destroyed, there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-church-fathers/paul-in-like-manner-declares-love-is-the-fulfilling-of-the-law-and-he/) The Church Fathers > [“All believers must learn the habit of inwardly redirecting thoughts toward faith, hope and love, and away from the lies that create hopelessness, fear,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-backlund/all-believers-must-learn-the-habit-of-inwardly-redirecting-thoughts/) Steve Backlund ## More by Catherynne M. Valente > [When I saw him I thought I could curl up inside him and go to sleep and never wake up." "Men are no good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/when-i-saw-him-i-thought-i-could-curl-up-inside-him-and-go-to-sleep/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all just keep moving, September. We keep moving until we stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-just-keep-moving-september-we-keep-moving-until-we-stop/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You couldn't ever really fix a sad story. You could only make another. And another. And another, until you found the right one at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-couldn-t-ever-really-fix-a-sad-story-you-could-only-make-another/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“He considers it for a moment and spits out the seeds, which sprout, quickly, into tiny junkblossoms sizzling with recursive algorithms. 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Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [We all live inside the terrible engine of authority, and it grinds and shrieks and burns so that no one will say: lines on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/we-all-live-inside-the-terrible-engine-of-authority-and-it-grinds-and/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Her heart was bruised by the kiss, smashed and surprised and unsettled by it. September thought kisses were all nice, sweet things asked for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/her-heart-was-bruised-by-the-kiss-smashed-and-surprised-and-unsettled/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“September put her hand on the grip of the Rivet Gun. She’d only just gotten it, and she’d promised to take copious notes for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/september-put-her-hand-on-the-grip-of-the-rivet-gun-she-d-only-just/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Just tell yourself a story that'll satisfy you and pretend he told it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/just-tell-yourself-a-story-that-ll-satisfy-you-and-pretend-he-told-it/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“You see, the future is a kind of stew, a soup, a vichyssoise of the present and the past. That's how you get the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/you-see-the-future-is-a-kind-of-stew-a-soup-a-vichyssoise-of-the/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Fairy tales have always been about getting through the worst of everything, the darkest and the deepest and the bloodiest of events. They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/fairy-tales-have-always-been-about-getting-through-the-worst-of/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“There is a place, September, oh, very far from Pandemonium. A place where it is always autumn, where there is always cider and pumpkin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/there-is-a-place-september-oh-very-far-from-pandemonium-a-place-where/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [“I was happy, the sun was high. I had enough.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/i-was-happy-the-sun-was-high-i-had-enough/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [Who are you?" "I am Death," said the creature. "I thought that was obvious." "But you're so small!" "Only because you are small. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/who-are-you-i-am-death-said-the-creature-i-thought-that-was-obvious/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) [Explore all 621 Catherynne M. Valente quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) ## More Faith quotes > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. 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