--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If love does not know how to give and…" description: "\"If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png" --- # If love does not know how to give and take without… ![“If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.” quote by Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png) > “If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.” [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love must be unconditional, not a calculated exchange of benefits and costs. **In simple terms:** Love should be free, not transactional. Key Takeaway Practice giving without expecting return. Themes love relationships authenticity Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - romantic partnership - friendship - family dynamics - collaborative work Key Concepts reciprocity selflessness emotional economics Questions to Reflect On - Do you give love expecting something back? - How can you practice unconditional love? A Different Perspective Pure love is rare and requires vulnerability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Give and take](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-and-take/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Stress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stress/) ## Related quotes > [“Love is a transaction, at least of emotions in the rarest cases: you love to get something in return.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-chevallier/love-is-a-transaction-at-least-of-emotions-in-the-rarest-cases-you/) [Gabriel Chevallier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-chevallier/) > [“You do not require a license to love someone; you don’t need to pass any complicated tests. Love does not have age limitations, rules,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadia-scrieva/you-do-not-require-a-license-to-love-someone-you-don-t-need-to-pass/) [Nadia Scrieva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadia-scrieva/) > [“Relationships are often transactional, except of course we want to wallow in self-deception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-joclebs-bassey/relationships-are-often-transactional-except-of-course-we-want-to/) [John Joclebs Bassey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-joclebs-bassey/) > [“Abstraction automatically gives rise to optimized solutions within the universal set of all possible solutions, as has been shown in this book. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subhajit-ganguly/abstraction-automatically-gives-rise-to-optimized-solutions-within/) [Subhajit Ganguly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subhajit-ganguly/) > [“For every transaction, there is someone willing to buy and someone willing to sell at an agreed price, both believing that it's good value…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coreen-t-sol/for-every-transaction-there-is-someone-willing-to-buy-and-someone/) [Coreen T. Sol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coreen-t-sol/) > [“If an UTXO is larger than the desired value of a transaction, it must still be consumed in its entirety and change must be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andreas-m-antonopoulos/if-an-utxo-is-larger-than-the-desired-value-of-a-transaction-it-must/) [Andreas M. Antonopoulos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andreas-m-antonopoulos/) > [“You are still alive, not because you are special, but because you and the world have unfinished business.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/you-are-still-alive-not-because-you-are-special-but-because-you-and/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“Only love that continues to flow in the face of anger, blame, and indifference can be called love. All else is simply a transaction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vironika-tugaleva/only-love-that-continues-to-flow-in-the-face-of-anger-blame-and/) [Vironika Tugaleva](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vironika-tugaleva/) > [I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/i-will-engage-in-no-transaction-which-does-not-benefit-all-whom-it/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Like its agriculture, Africa's markets are highly under-capitalized and inefficient. We know from our work around the continent that transaction costs of reaching the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleni-zaude-gabre-madhin/like-its-agriculture-africa-s-markets-are-highly-under-capitalized/) [Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleni-zaude-gabre-madhin/) > [Approaching people looking for something in return isn't a relationship, it's a transaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/approaching-people-looking-for-something-in-return-isn-t-a/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) > [If a developer wants to sell something via an iPad app - it's called an 'in-app purchase' - the transaction must go through Apple,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-lyons/if-a-developer-wants-to-sell-something-via-an-ipad-app-it-s-called-an/) [Daniel Lyons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-lyons/) > [In Delhi, where I grew up, commerce is brusque. You don't ask each other how your day has been. You might not even smile.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/in-delhi-where-i-grew-up-commerce-is-brusque-you-don-t-ask-each-other/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [Empathy is the most mysterious transaction that the human soul can have, and it's accessible to all of us, but we have to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/empathy-is-the-most-mysterious-transaction-that-the-human-soul-can/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [The credit/debit card transaction system is antiquated, expensive, and inefficient. There are over nine steps to complete a transaction from the time a customer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/perianne-boring/the-credit-debit-card-transaction-system-is-antiquated-expensive-and/) [Perianne Boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/perianne-boring/) ## More by Emma Goldman > [Poor human nature, what horrible crimes have been committed in thy name! All wars are wars among thieves who are too cowardly to fight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/poor-human-nature-what-horrible-crimes-have-been-committed-in-thy/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Lack of fairness to an opponent is essentially a sign of weakness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/lack-of-fairness-to-an-opponent-is-essentially-a-sign-of-weakness/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice-2/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Only when human sorrows are turned into a toy with glaring colors will baby people become interested - for a while at least. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/only-when-human-sorrows-are-turned-into-a-toy-with-glaring-colors/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [More pernicious than the power of a dictator is that of a class; the most terrible - the tyranny of a majority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/more-pernicious-than-the-power-of-a-dictator-is-that-of-a-class-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Love, the strongest and deepest element in all life, the harbinger of hope, of joy, of ecstasy; love, the definer of all laws, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/love-the-strongest-and-deepest-element-in-all-life-the-harbinger-of/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Whether our reformers admit it or not, the economic and social inferiority of women is responsible for prostitution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/whether-our-reformers-admit-it-or-not-the-economic-and-social/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The free expression of the hopes and aspirations of a people is the greatest and only safety in a sane society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-free-expression-of-the-hopes-and-aspirations-of-a-people-is-the/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Someone has said that it requires less mental effort to condemn than to think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/someone-has-said-that-it-requires-less-mental-effort-to-condemn-than/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The persecution of the innovator and protestant has always been inspired by fear on the part of constituted authority of having its infallibility questioned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-persecution-of-the-innovator-and-protestant-has-always-been/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Order derived through submission and maintained by terror is not much of a safe guaranty; yet that is the only "order" that governments have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/order-derived-through-submission-and-maintained-by-terror-is-not-much/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Today is the parent of tomorrow. The present casts its shadow far into the future. That is the law of life, individual and social.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/today-is-the-parent-of-tomorrow-the-present-casts-its-shadow-far-into/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [Salvation lies in an energetic march onward towards a brighter and clearer future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/salvation-lies-in-an-energetic-march-onward-towards-a-brighter-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [The more hideous the mental contortions, the greater the delight and bravos of the mass.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/the-more-hideous-the-mental-contortions-the-greater-the-delight-and/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) [Explore all 368 Emma Goldman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) ## More Give and take quotes > [All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/all-compromise-is-based-on-give-and-take-but-there-can-be-no-give-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [It is not a process of bargaining or give-and-take. The peace process is not about giving concessions. We will not allow any step which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/recep-tayyip-erdogan/it-is-not-a-process-of-bargaining-or-give-and-take-the-peace-process/) [Recep Tayyip Erdogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/recep-tayyip-erdogan/) > [Dealing with Congress is a matter of give and take. The president doesn't get everything he wants, the Congress doesn't get everything they want.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/dealing-with-congress-is-a-matter-of-give-and-take-the-president/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/criss-jami/we-are-to-give-and-take-true-love-without-falling-into-the/) [Criss Jami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/criss-jami/) > [Love needs the stiffening of respect, the give and take of equality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/love-needs-the-stiffening-of-respect-the-give-and-take-of-equality/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [My own journey in becoming a poet began with memory - with the need to record and hold on to what was being lost.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-trethewey/my-own-journey-in-becoming-a-poet-began-with-memory-with-the-need-to/) [Natasha Trethewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-trethewey/) > [When it comes to raising children, I believe in give and take. I give orders and they take 'em.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-it-comes-to-raising-children-i-believe-in-give-and-take-i-give/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [Making better choices takes work. There is a daily give and take, but it is worth the effort.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rath/making-better-choices-takes-work-there-is-a-daily-give-and-take-but/) [Tom Rath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rath/) > [Give and Take... For to the bee a flower is a fountain if life And to the flower a bee is a messenger of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/give-and-take-for-to-the-bee-a-flower-is-a-fountain-if-life-and-to/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [The trade agreement which I had the privilege of signing with your Prime Minister last autumn is tangible evidence of the desire of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/the-trade-agreement-which-i-had-the-privilege-of-signing-with-your/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [ They \[Arabs\] wanted to catch up with the modern world. The West appreciated that, but was more interested in colonies, markets, and spheres of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jabra-ibrahim-jabra/they-arabs-wanted-to-catch-up-with-the-modern-world-the-west/) [Jabra Ibrahim Jabra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jabra-ibrahim-jabra/) > [That's the beauty about love. It's not about give-and-take - it's about feeling safe in one's needs - wanting to be looked after as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freya-north/that-s-the-beauty-about-love-it-s-not-about-give-and-take-it-s-about/) [Freya North](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freya-north/) > [A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it. Dealing with Congress is a matter of give and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/a-dictatorship-would-be-a-heck-of-a-lot-easier-there-s-no-question/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [I think there does need to be give and take on both sides, and this idea that sex is kind of a woman’s right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/i-think-there-does-need-to-be-give-and-take-on-both-sides-and-this/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. Otherwise there is pure harmony, an easy give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pollock/it-is-only-when-i-lose-contact-with-the-painting-that-the-result-is-a/) [Jackson Pollock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pollock/) [Browse all 113 Give and take quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/give-and-take/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that never fails to lay stress on a plus and a minus.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Emma Goldman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-take-without-restrictions-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Give and take" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-take-without-restrictions-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/841/emma-goldman-774_give-and-take_if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-ta_396867.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If love does not know how to give and take without restrictions, it is not love, but a transaction that…” — Emma Goldman", "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": "Emma Goldman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If love does not know how...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-take-without-restrictions-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/if-love-does-not-know-how-to-give-and-take-without-restrictions-it-is/#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 } } ] } ```