--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The inner reality of love can be…" description: "\"The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.\" — Hans Urs von Balthasar" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg" --- # The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love. ![“The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.” quote by Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg) > “The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.” [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Love can only be truly understood through the experience of loving itself. **In simple terms:** Love knows love only by loving. Key Takeaway Cultivate love to understand it. Themes love spirituality knowledge Mood reflective gentle Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal relationships - spiritual practice - empathy - self‑reflection Key Concepts theology subjective experience Questions to Reflect On - How does loving others change your perception of love? - Can love be known without feeling it? A Different Perspective Love alone may not reveal deeper truths without action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [“Love, experienced thus, is a constant challenge; it is not a resting place, but moving, growing, working together; even when there is harmony or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/love-experienced-thus-is-a-constant-challenge-it-is-not-a-resting-2/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [As an ability, love is always there as a potential, ready to flourish and help our lives flourish. As we go up and down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-salzberg/as-an-ability-love-is-always-there-as-a-potential-ready-to-flourish/) [Sharon Salzberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-salzberg/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [Jesus recognized that love is greater than like,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/jesus-recognized-that-love-is-greater-than-like/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [ “\[God\] seems so much 'for us' these days. I have not lost one nameable thing by putting her and our whole affair in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elisabeth-elliot/god-seems-so-much-for-us-these-days-i-have-not-lost-one-nameable/) [Elisabeth Elliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elisabeth-elliot/) > [I love being recognized. I love talking with - can I say 'fans'?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-dick/i-love-being-recognized-i-love-talking-with-can-i-say-fans/) [Andy Dick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-dick/) > [I love being recognized, I love people liking me, I love the fact that people scream when I go out. I think I'll miss…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shahrukh-khan/i-love-being-recognized-i-love-people-liking-me-i-love-the-fact-that/) [Shahrukh Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shahrukh-khan/) > [“One soul. Two bodies. My soul recognized its own. That is why I love you as I do. All the mysteries. All the secrets.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hunter/one-soul-two-bodies-my-soul-recognized-its-own-that-is-why-i-love-you/) [Elizabeth Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hunter/) > [Each image suggests an inner reality, a kind of scar of the past, a reflection of an act or an event once lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-c-bunnell/each-image-suggests-an-inner-reality-a-kind-of-scar-of-the-past-a/) [Peter C Bunnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-c-bunnell/) > [As my personal explorations continued, I experienced this quality of inner reality more and more and could no longer doubt that the meaning of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-needleman/as-my-personal-explorations-continued-i-experienced-this-quality-of/) [Jacob Needleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-needleman/) > [“Music is so easy to explain, yet so inexplicable, as it reproduces all the emotions of our inner being without reality, remote from pain.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/music-is-so-easy-to-explain-yet-so-inexplicable-as-it-reproduces-all/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [These patients have turned away from outer reality; it is for this reason that they are more aware than we of inner reality and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/these-patients-have-turned-away-from-outer-reality-it-is-for-this/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I'm a man for whom the outside world is an inner Reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/i-m-a-man-for-whom-the-outside-world-is-an-inner-reality/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [“Not one was willing to break out of that velvet cage of comfort and convenience to begin a radical lifestyle lived from an inner…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-p-yohannan/not-one-was-willing-to-break-out-of-that-velvet-cage-of-comfort-and/) [K.P. Yohannan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-p-yohannan/) > [“Asking someone to deny their own inner reality causes further rupture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-margolin/asking-someone-to-deny-their-own-inner-reality-causes-further-rupture/) Elaine Margolin ## More by Hans Urs von Balthasar > [Only the Christian religion, which in its essence is communicated by the eternal child of God, keeps alive in its believers the lifelong awareness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/only-the-christian-religion-which-in-its-essence-is-communicated-by/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The work with which we embark on this first volume of a series of theological studies is a work with which the philosophical person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-work-with-which-we-embark-on-this-first-volume-of-a-series-of/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The Holy Spirit knows what a particular age's most pressing need is far better than men with their programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-holy-spirit-knows-what-a-particular-age-s-most-pressing-need-is/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-first-attempt-at-a-response-there-must-have-been-a-fall-a-decline/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [There is a moment when the interior light of the "eyes of faith" becomes one with the exterior light that shines from Christ, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/there-is-a-moment-when-the-interior-light-of-the-eyes-of-faith/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/a-truth-that-is-merely-handed-on-without-being-thought-anew-from-its/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [But the issue is not only life and death but our existence before God and our being judged by him. All of us were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/but-the-issue-is-not-only-life-and-death-but-our-existence-before-god/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Faith means the fundamental response to the love that has offered itself up for me. It thus becomes clear that faith is ordered primarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/faith-means-the-fundamental-response-to-the-love-that-has-offered/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Hell is to be contemplated strictly as a matter which concerns me alone. As part of the spiritual life it belongs behind the 'closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/hell-is-to-be-contemplated-strictly-as-a-matter-which-concerns-me/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/what-you-are-is-god-s-gift-to-you-what-you-become-is-your-gift-to-god/) [Hans Urs Von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Above all we must not wish to cling to our suffering. Suffering surely deepens us and enhances our person, but we must not desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/above-all-we-must-not-wish-to-cling-to-our-suffering-suffering-surely/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [To be a child means to owe one's existence to another, and even in our adult life we never quite reach the point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/to-be-a-child-means-to-owe-one-s-existence-to-another-and-even-in-our/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [There is much in Christianity which can be subjected to exact analysis. But the ultimate things are shrouded in the silent mysteries of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/there-is-much-in-christianity-which-can-be-subjected-to-exact/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [“For all his gentleness and humility unto death on the Cross, God does not relinquish his attribute of being judge and consuming fire. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/for-all-his-gentleness-and-humility-unto-death-on-the-cross-god-does/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Lovers are the ones who know most about God; the theologian must listen to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/lovers-are-the-ones-who-know-most-about-god-the-theologian-must/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) [Explore all 73 Hans Urs von Balthasar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) ## More Love quotes > [Whatever meaning 'Annie's Song' had for me on a personal level, there was also a larger context. It could just as easily have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-denver/whatever-meaning-annie-s-song-had-for-me-on-a-personal-level-there/) [John Denver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-denver/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I need a bath." He chuckled. "You smell of smoke, as do I." The duke turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "Jameson, open the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-hawkins/i-need-a-bath-he-chuckled-you-smell-of-smoke-as-do-i-the-duke-turned/) [Karen Hawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-hawkins/) > [I love going to Columbia, Missouri. That is a really underrated campus. It shocked me when I went there because I really didn't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirk-herbstreit/i-love-going-to-columbia-missouri-that-is-a-really-underrated-campus/) [Kirk Herbstreit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kirk-herbstreit/) > [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [We talk to God--that is prayer; God talks to us--that is inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-emilie-cady/we-talk-to-god-that-is-prayer-god-talks-to-us-that-is-inspiration/) [H. Emilie Cady](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-emilie-cady/) > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [You cant be controlling in improv.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-walsh/you-cant-be-controlling-in-improv/) [Matt Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-walsh/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I think, here's what I've realized from interviewing people, and I've been very open about my Catholicism and my love of Christ and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-mohr/i-think-here-s-what-i-ve-realized-from-interviewing-people-and-i-ve/) [Jay Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-mohr/) > [“To be loved by a man, truly loved, made a woman feel as if she could burst. Of course, Lia was strong and could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melody-anne/to-be-loved-by-a-man-truly-loved-made-a-woman-feel-as-if-she-could/) [Melody Anne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melody-anne/) > [So when you take those tears, don't look to see I'm alright. …\*Seal - Violet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-nickel/so-when-you-take-those-tears-don-t-look-to-see-i-m-alright-seal-violet/) [Eric Nickel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-nickel/) > [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/) [Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/) > [“That horrible stinging sensation returned, the muscles behind my eyes straining as the first tear began to fall. “I’m scared, too. For eighteen months…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/devon-ashley/that-horrible-stinging-sensation-returned-the-muscles-behind-my-eyes/) [Devon Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/devon-ashley/) > [I could program a 'fabulous, I love it' kind of hit season right now. I'm more interested in breaking boundaries, telling a story, defying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-c-wolfe/i-could-program-a-fabulous-i-love-it-kind-of-hit-season-right-now-i-m/) [George C. Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-c-wolfe/) [Browse all 233,035 Love quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hans Urs von Balthasar" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recognized-only-by-love/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Love" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recognized-only-by-love/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2be/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_love_the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recogni_329482.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.” — Hans Urs von Balthasar", "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": "Hans Urs von Balthasar", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The inner reality of love can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recognized-only-by-love/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recognized-only-by-love/#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 } } ] } ```