--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For there is one thing I can safely say…" description: "\"For there is one thing I can safely say: that those bound by love must obey each other if they are to keep company long. Love will not be constrained b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_beats_for-there-is-one-thing-i-can-safely-say_1842538.jpg" --- # For there is one thing I can safely say: that those bound… ![“For there is one thing I can safely say: that those bound by love must obey each other if they are to keep company long. Love will not be constrained by mastery; when mastery comes, the God of love at once beats his wings, and farewell he is gone. Love is a thing as free as any spirit; women…” quote by Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_beats_for-there-is-one-thing-i-can-safely-say_1842538.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_beats_for-there-is-one-thing-i-can-safely-say_1842538.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b16/geoffrey-chaucer-1677_beats_for-there-is-one-thing-i-can-safely-say_1842538.jpg) > “For there is one thing I can safely say: that those bound by love must obey each other if they are to keep company long. Love will not be constrained by mastery; when mastery comes, the God of love at once beats his wings, and farewell he is gone. Love is a thing as free as any spirit; women naturally desire liberty, and not to be constrained like slaves; and so do men, if I shall tell the truth.” [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love requires mutual obedience and freedom; domination undermines love, which thrives on liberty for both genders. **In simple terms:** Love works when partners respect each other's freedom. Key Takeaway Respect freedom in relationships. Themes love freedom equality mutual respect Mood reflective philosophical Type poetic didactic When to use this quote - marriage - long‑term partnership - friendship - conflict resolution Key Concepts autonomy power dynamics gender equality Questions to Reflect On - How does freedom strengthen love? - What happens when one partner dominates? A Different Perspective Power imbalances can erode love. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bounds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bounds/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Farewell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farewell/) [Gone love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gone-love/) [Inspirational love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational-love/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Mastery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mastery/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [One love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-love/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Telling the truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/telling-the-truth/) ## Related quotes > [A company is stronger if it is bound by love rather than by fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herb-kelleher/a-company-is-stronger-if-it-is-bound-by-love-rather-than-by-fear/) [Herb Kelleher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herb-kelleher/) > [“Because once you love, it is gone. You love and you cannot call it back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ally-condie/because-once-you-love-it-is-gone-you-love-and-you-cannot-call-it-back/) [Ally Condie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ally-condie/) > [Lover gone but not love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lover-gone-but-not-love/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hard to walk away itz so hard to walk away I did never wanted to give up never after the love we have is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fad-ibra/hard-to-walk-away-itz-so-hard-to-walk-away-i-did-never-wanted-to-give/) [Fad Ibra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fad-ibra/) > [Image of rugged cliffs And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone, Love itself shall slumber on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/image-of-rugged-cliffs-and-so-thy-thoughts-when-thou-art-gone-love/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [When I am gone, my love, do not look for me in the places we used to go to together. Look for me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/when-i-am-gone-my-love-do-not-look-for-me-in-the-places-we-used-to-go/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [“Well, ain't that just the way of the world. Everything come to an end, whether you wants it to or not. All that nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-simon/well-ain-t-that-just-the-way-of-the-world-everything-come-to-an-end/) [Rachel Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-simon/) > [And here you are hurried, And here you are gone; And here is the love, That it's all built upon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-cohen/and-here-you-are-hurried-and-here-you-are-gone-and-here-is-the-love/) [Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-cohen/) > [If you feel the Adrenaline long after he's gone...you're in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christel-tait/if-you-feel-the-adrenaline-long-after-he-s-gone-you-re-in-love/) [Christel Tait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christel-tait/) > [Change is a constant. Anything you get attached to will one day be gone. Love the things you love as best as you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-lange/change-is-a-constant-anything-you-get-attached-to-will-one-day-be/) [Eric Lange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-lange/) > [“...our whole country, which you never think of until it’s gone, which you never love until you’re no longer there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/our-whole-country-which-you-never-think-of-until-it-s-gone-which-you/) [Junot Díaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [Music, when soft voices die, Vibrates in the memory; Odours, when sweet violets sicken, Live within the sense they quicken. Rose leaves, when the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/music-when-soft-voices-die-vibrates-in-the-memory-odours-when-sweet/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“We're bound by more than love, it would seem. Destiny seems to have plans for us as well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-hamilton/we-re-bound-by-more-than-love-it-would-seem-destiny-seems-to-have/) [Kiki Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-hamilton/) > [Don't ask me out because your friends say am pretty, ask me out because you want too. Don't say you love me to me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine/don-t-ask-me-out-because-your-friends-say-am-pretty-ask-me-out/) [Josephine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine/) > [“Where have you gone, my love? After ten years together I think knowing this is more than my due. Write me one line to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cath-crowley/where-have-you-gone-my-love-after-ten-years-together-i-think-knowing/) [Cath Crowley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cath-crowley/) ## More by Geoffrey Chaucer > [Drunkenness is the very sepulcher Of man's wit and his discretion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/drunkenness-is-the-very-sepulcher-of-man-s-wit-and-his-discretion/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whoso will pray, he must fast and be clean, And fat his soul, and make his body lean.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whoso-will-pray-he-must-fast-and-be-clean-and-fat-his-soul-and-make/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“The man who has no wife is no cuckold.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-man-who-has-no-wife-is-no-cuckold/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [One eare it heard, at the other out it went.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/one-eare-it-heard-at-the-other-out-it-went/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [The handsome gifts that fate and nature lend us Most often are the very ones that end us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/the-handsome-gifts-that-fate-and-nature-lend-us-most-often-are-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Patience is a conquering virtue. The learned say that, if it not desert you, It vanquishes what force can never reach; Why answer back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/patience-is-a-conquering-virtue-the-learned-say-that-if-it-not-desert/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“This Nicholas anon leet fle a fart As greet as it had been a thonder-dent, That with the strook he was almoost yblent; And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/this-nicholas-anon-leet-fle-a-fart-as-greet-as-it-had-been-a-thonder/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [A whetstone is no carving instrument, And yet it maketh sharp the carving tool; And if you see my efforts wrongly spent, Eschew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/a-whetstone-is-no-carving-instrument-and-yet-it-maketh-sharp-the/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“In general, my liege lady,’ he began, ‘Women desire to have dominion Over their husbands, and their lovers too; They want to have mastery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/in-general-my-liege-lady-he-began-women-desire-to-have-dominion-over/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“Till we be roten, kan we not be rypen?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/till-we-be-roten-kan-we-not-be-rypen/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Venus me yaf my lust, my like rousnesse, And Mars yaf me my sturdy hardinesse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/venus-me-yaf-my-lust-my-like-rousnesse-and-mars-yaf-me-my-sturdy/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [“For sondry scoles maken sotile clerkis; Womman of manye scoles half a clerk is.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-sondry-scoles-maken-sotile-clerkis-womman-of-manye-scoles-half-a/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [For God's love, take things patiently, have sense, Think! We are prisoners and shall always be. Fortune has given us this adversity, Some wicked…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/for-god-s-love-take-things-patiently-have-sense-think-we-are/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/whan-that-aprill-with-his-shoures-soote-the-droghte-of-march-hath/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) > [Forbid us something, and that thing we desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-chaucer/forbid-us-something-and-that-thing-we-desire/) [Geoffrey Chaucer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) [Explore all 217 Geoffrey Chaucer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-chaucer/) ## More Beats quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us… But the test a loving God has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-b-eyring/so-many-things-beat-upon-us-in-a-lifetime-that-simply-enduring-may/) [Henry B. Eyring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-b-eyring/) > [The Beat Generation, that was a vision that we had, John Clellon Holmes and I, and Allen Ginsberg in an even wilder way, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/the-beat-generation-that-was-a-vision-that-we-had-john-clellon-holmes/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Certainly these are not easy times. But history does not contain very many easy times. Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I usually write from the rhythm section...If a drummer got a funky beat on some things - like a half-shuffle or a shuffle or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miles-davis/i-usually-write-from-the-rhythm-section-if-a-drummer-got-a-funky-beat/) [Miles Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miles-davis/) > [If you don't like club beats take a HIT OF E and you will love the music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/if-you-don-t-like-club-beats-take-a-hit-of-e-and-you-will-love-the/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [Every pitcher can beat you, it doesn't matter how good you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-bonds/every-pitcher-can-beat-you-it-doesn-t-matter-how-good-you-are/) [Barry Bonds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-bonds/) > [Only two to three per cent of an audience is interested in words and pays attention to lyrics; most of the rest of it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-stewart/only-two-to-three-per-cent-of-an-audience-is-interested-in-words-and/) [Al Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-stewart/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) Chaz Brenchley > [Practice to beat the best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-bennett/practice-to-beat-the-best/) [Dick Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-bennett/) > [I don't know about the rest of the world, but I know in our region everyone is gunning to beat us. We have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/landon-donovan/i-don-t-know-about-the-rest-of-the-world-but-i-know-in-our-region/) [Landon Donovan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/landon-donovan/) > [Grand business plans are all very well, but nothing beats dipping your toe in the water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-bilimoria-karan-bilimoria/grand-business-plans-are-all-very-well-but-nothing-beats-dipping-your/) Baron Bilimoria Karan Bilimoria > [Let a man who has to make his fortune in life remember this maxim: Attacking is the only secret. Dare and the world yields,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/let-a-man-who-has-to-make-his-fortune-in-life-remember-this-maxim/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Imagine if you were a drummer, and you accidentally picked up two magic wands instead of sticks. 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