---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Love is the most important thing in our…"
description: "\"Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion for which we would fight or die, and yet we're reluctant to linger over its names. Without a s..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png"
---

#  Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion…

![“Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion for which we would fight or die, and yet we're reluctant to linger over its names. Without a supple vocabulary, we can't even talk or think about it directly.” quote by Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png)

> “Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion for which we would fight or die, and yet we're reluctant to linger over its names. Without a supple vocabulary, we can't even talk or think about it directly.”

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

## 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 essential yet hard to name, limiting our ability to discuss and understand it fully.

**In simple terms:** Love is vital but hard to name.

Key Takeaway

Expand your emotional vocabulary.

Themes

love language communication

Mood

reflective thoughtful

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- relationships
- creative writing
- therapy
- education

Key Concepts

semantics emotional intelligence

Questions to Reflect On

- How does naming affect feeling?
- Can love be fully expressed in words?

A Different Perspective

Names alone cannot capture love's depth.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Important things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important-things/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Reluctant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reluctant/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vocabulary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vocabulary/)

## Related quotes

> [“love is the most important thing we can give to someone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-shorter/love-is-the-most-important-thing-we-can-give-to-someone/)

Allison Shorter

> [Love is the most important thing in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-life/)

[Naomi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi/)

> [Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world-but-baseball-is-pretty/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The world should be full of love. Love. Love is the most important thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-jackson/the-world-should-be-full-of-love-love-love-is-the-most-important/)

[Michael Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-jackson/)

> [(About Love)The most important thing in life, and you can't tell whether people have it or not. Surely this is wrong? Surely people who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-hornby/about-love-the-most-important-thing-in-life-and-you-can-t-tell/)

[Nick Hornby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-hornby/)

> [There is something in the quality of the French mind to which I have always felt a reluctant kinship. They are the only people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corra-may-harris/there-is-something-in-the-quality-of-the-french-mind-to-which-i-have/)

[Corra May Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corra-may-harris/)

> [Because poets feel what we're afraid to feel, venture where we're reluctant to go, we learn from their journeys without taking the same dramatic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/because-poets-feel-what-we-re-afraid-to-feel-venture-where-we-re/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Man at his birth is supple and tender, but in death, he is rigid and hard. Thus, suppleness and tenderness accompany life, but rigidity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/man-at-his-birth-is-supple-and-tender-but-in-death-he-is-rigid-and/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [Resistance to team play seemed to pour like wet cement through my bones, displacing supple marrow, until I was ballasted with my own contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/florence-king/resistance-to-team-play-seemed-to-pour-like-wet-cement-through-my/)

[Florence King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/florence-king/)

> [Knavery is supple, and can bend, but honesty is firm and upright and yields not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/knavery-is-supple-and-can-bend-but-honesty-is-firm-and-upright-and/)

[Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/)

> [The hard and stiff will be broken. The soft and supple will prevail.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-hard-and-stiff-will-be-broken-the-soft-and-supple-will-prevail/)

[Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/)

> [That's what being a front man is all about - the idea of having something supple underneath you, that machine that roars and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/that-s-what-being-a-front-man-is-all-about-the-idea-of-having/)

[Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/)

> [I believe I owe it to my body to keep it supple and fit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tisca-chopra/i-believe-i-owe-it-to-my-body-to-keep-it-supple-and-fit/)

[Tisca Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tisca-chopra/)

> [I never go to the gym - I can't be doing with it. But I run up and down the stairs, wash my feet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-lumley/i-never-go-to-the-gym-i-can-t-be-doing-with-it-but-i-run-up-and-down/)

[Joanna Lumley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-lumley/)

> [The camera is simply not the supple and powerful instrument of description that the pen is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-malcolm/the-camera-is-simply-not-the-supple-and-powerful-instrument-of/)

[Janet Malcolm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-malcolm/)

## More by Diane Ackerman

> [A self is a frightening thing to waste, it's the lens through which one's whole life is viewed, and few people are willing to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/a-self-is-a-frightening-thing-to-waste-it-s-the-lens-through-which/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [“Our lives together, our duet, also continues to evolve, and even if we can’t go back to how it was, we’re designing a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/our-lives-together-our-duet-also-continues-to-evolve-and-even-if-we/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Hit a tripwire of smell and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps out of the undergrowth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/hit-a-tripwire-of-smell-and-memories-explode-all-at-once-a-complex/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Horses have made civilization possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/horses-have-made-civilization-possible/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Look at your feet. You are standing in the sky. When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/look-at-your-feet-you-are-standing-in-the-sky-when-we-think-of-the/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Who would deduce the dragonfly from the larva, the iris from the bud, the lawyer from the infant? ...We are all shape-shifters and magical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/who-would-deduce-the-dragonfly-from-the-larva-the-iris-from-the-bud/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Though we marry as adults, we don't marry adults. We marry children who have grown up and still rejoice in being children, especially if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/though-we-marry-as-adults-we-don-t-marry-adults-we-marry-children-who/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Libraries change lives. They are the soul of a people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/libraries-change-lives-they-are-the-soul-of-a-people/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [“The etymology of the Hebrew word for prophet, navi, combines three processes: navach (to cry out), nava (to gush or flow), and navuv (to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/the-etymology-of-the-hebrew-word-for-prophet-navi-combines-three/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Knee-deep in the cosmic overwhelm, I’m stricken by the ricochet wonder of it all: the plain everythingness of everything, in cahoots with the everythingness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/knee-deep-in-the-cosmic-overwhelm-i-m-stricken-by-the-ricochet-wonder/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [ Symbolic of life, hair bolts from our head\[s\]. Like the earth, it can be harvested, but it will rise again. We can change its… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/symbolic-of-life-hair-bolts-from-our-head-s-like-the-earth-it-can-be/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [“Most people know that 30 to 40 percent of the world's Jews were killed during World War II, but not that 80 to 90…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/most-people-know-that-30-to-40-percent-of-the-world-s-jews-were/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Choice is a signature of our species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/choice-is-a-signature-of-our-species/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [The further we distance ourselves from the spell of the present, explored by our senses, the harder it will be to understand and protect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/the-further-we-distance-ourselves-from-the-spell-of-the-present/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

> [Culture is what people invent when they have lost nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/culture-is-what-people-invent-when-they-have-lost-nature/)

[Diane Ackerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

[Explore all 304 Diane Ackerman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/)

## More Dies quotes

> [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. The ego is part of our incarnation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-dass/most-of-us-are-convinced-that-we-are-our-egos-which-is-who-we-think/)

[Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-dass/)

> [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/)

[Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/)

> [Don't even think for a moment that you are not going to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse-rinpoche/don-t-even-think-for-a-moment-that-you-are-not-going-to-die/)

[Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzongsar-jamyang-khyentse-rinpoche/)

> [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Violence is not necessary to destroy a civilization. Each civilization dies from indifference toward the unique values which created it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-gomez-davila/violence-is-not-necessary-to-destroy-a-civilization-each-civilization/)

[Nicolas Gomez Davila](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-gomez-davila/)

> [I wonder: when a Jehovah's Witness dies and goes to Heaven, does God hide behind the door and pretend He's not home?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-celio/i-wonder-when-a-jehovah-s-witness-dies-and-goes-to-heaven-does-god/)

[Brian Celio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-celio/)

> [Certainly, it is. Love is love, and loss is loss. We all love, and we all die, and everyone suffers the pain of grieving.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynsay-sands/certainly-it-is-love-is-love-and-loss-is-loss-we-all-love-and-we-all/)

[Lynsay Sands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynsay-sands/)

> [“When he stops giving you butterflies, Love dies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-blanchard/when-he-stops-giving-you-butterflies-love-dies/)

Michelle Blanchard

> [That old man dies prematurely whose memory records no benefits conferred. They only have lived long who have lived virtuously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brinsley-sheridan/that-old-man-dies-prematurely-whose-memory-records-no-benefits/)

[Richard Brinsley Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brinsley-sheridan/)

> [I don't want to just die a normal death, I wanna be killed twice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/i-don-t-want-to-just-die-a-normal-death-i-wanna-be-killed-twice/)

[Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/)

> [My father thrives on fear. You know that prayer If I should die before I wake? I had sheets that said that!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-titus/my-father-thrives-on-fear-you-know-that-prayer-if-i-should-die-before/)

[Christopher Titus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-titus/)

> [For the glory born of Goodness Never dies, And its flag is not half-masted In the skies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-harte/for-the-glory-born-of-goodness-never-dies-and-its-flag-is-not-half/)

[Bret Harte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-harte/)

> [This mind is a prison. It cannot find any freedom anywhere. It must die before freedom comes to you. But we have taken the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/this-mind-is-a-prison-it-cannot-find-any-freedom-anywhere-it-must-die/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [An artist's creative energy is ephemeral as a flower. It blooms and soon dies. No artist is great forever. Personally, I think I reached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ki-duk/an-artist-s-creative-energy-is-ephemeral-as-a-flower-it-blooms-and/)

[Kim Ki-duk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ki-duk/)

> [If you’re going to die on screen, you’ve got to be strong and in good health.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greta-garbo/if-you-re-going-to-die-on-screen-you-ve-got-to-be-strong-and-in-good/)

[Greta Garbo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greta-garbo/)

Browse all 7,484 Dies quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion for which we would fight or die, and yet we're reluctant to linger over its names. Without a supple vocabulary, we can't even talk or think about it directly.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Diane Ackerman"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our-lives-a-passion-for-which-we/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Dies"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our-lives-a-passion-for-which-we/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a67/diane-ackerman-1035_dies_love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our_2092298.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Love is the most important thing in our lives, a passion for which we would fight or die, and yet we're…” — Diane Ackerman",
                "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": "Diane Ackerman",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-ackerman/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Love is the most important thing...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our-lives-a-passion-for-which-we/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-ackerman/love-is-the-most-important-thing-in-our-lives-a-passion-for-which-we/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
