--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You couldn't be a little bit human in the…" description: "\"“You couldn't be a little bit human in the same way you couldn't be a little bit in love. It was all or nothing. A drop was an ocean. And maybe being h..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/matt-haig-1036_ability-to-love_you-couldn-t-be-a-little-bit-human-in-th_1523113.jpg" --- # You couldn't be a little bit human in the same way you… ![“You couldn't be a little bit human in the same way you couldn't be a little bit in love. It was all or nothing. A drop was an ocean. And maybe being human wasn't even down to DNA in the end. Maybe it was about the ability to love, when you knew love was irrational. Yeah, maybe being human was to…” quote by Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/matt-haig-1036_ability-to-love_you-couldn-t-be-a-little-bit-human-in-th_1523113.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/matt-haig-1036_ability-to-love_you-couldn-t-be-a-little-bit-human-in-th_1523113.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eff/matt-haig-1036_ability-to-love_you-couldn-t-be-a-little-bit-human-in-th_1523113.jpg) > ““You couldn't be a little bit human in the same way you couldn't be a little bit in love. It was all or nothing. A drop was an ocean. And maybe being human wasn't even down to DNA in the end. Maybe it was about the ability to love, when you knew love was irrational. Yeah, maybe being human was to make no sense.”” [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Humanity is defined by irrational love and emotional depth, not biology alone. **In simple terms:** Love makes us human. Key Takeaway Embrace irrational love as human core. Themes love irrationality humanity meaning Mood reflective poetic Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - relationships - artistic creation - philosophical reflection - mental health counseling Key Concepts existentialism emotional intelligence Questions to Reflect On - What does love teach about being human? - How do irrational emotions shape identity? A Different Perspective Love can also cause pain and confusion. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability to love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability-to-love/) [Human](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) ## Related quotes > [“Don't worry about your abilities. You have the ability to love. 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Which are, at the same time,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/in-this-universe-we-are-given-two-gifts-the-ability-to-love-and-the-2/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“the ability to love; the courage and strength it takes to love a person, no matter how different they are. Forgiving that they have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-sevilla/the-ability-to-love-the-courage-and-strength-it-takes-to-love-a/) [J.M. Sevilla](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-sevilla/) > [“We find our humanity—our will to live and our ability to love—in our connections to one another.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/we-find-our-humanity-our-will-to-live-and-our-ability-to-love-in-our/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [“they had an instictive ability to love, so that when they encountered each other, they fitted together in a way that made the two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-nix/they-had-an-instictive-ability-to-love-so-that-when-they-encountered/) [Garth Nix](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-nix/) > [“What is emotional freedom? It means increasing your ability to love by cultivating positive emotions and being able to compassionately witness and transform negative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-orloff/what-is-emotional-freedom-it-means-increasing-your-ability-to-love-by/) [Judith Orloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-orloff/) > [“It is our ability to love that makes us most like the Creator…but to love in the face of loss and pain makes us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-patten/it-is-our-ability-to-love-that-makes-us-most-like-the-creator-but-to/) Douglas Patten > [“With practice, you will find that not resisting holds the secret to many spiritual experiences, including the ability to love.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/with-practice-you-will-find-that-not-resisting-holds-the-secret-to/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Paradoxically, the ability to be alone is the condition for the ability to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/paradoxically-the-ability-to-be-alone-is-the-condition-for-the/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“ No more. The yin fen has taken so much from me: my family, the years of my life, the strength in my body,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/no-more-the-yin-fen-has-taken-so-much-from-me-my-family-the-years-of/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [What makes us human is not our mind but our heart, not our ability to think but our ability to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-makes-us-human-is-not-our-mind-but-our-heart-not-our-ability-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. 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It felt refined and tantalising, all at once, like a polite collective pre-orgasm.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/it-felt-civilised-and-modern-it-felt-refined-and-tantalising-all-at/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [If you can't give children optimism, then what are you doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/if-you-can-t-give-children-optimism-then-what-are-you-doing/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [“He just wanted to live inside a moment of that life with her forever, to pluck it like a flower and press it in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/he-just-wanted-to-live-inside-a-moment-of-that-life-with-her-forever/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [British culture is very cynical sometimes of overt displays of sentimentality, and I think that becomes almost a suspicion of emotion, or a suspicion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/british-culture-is-very-cynical-sometimes-of-overt-displays-of/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [“That is one of the patterns: when nothing is happening, nothing continues to happen, but after a while the lull becomes too much and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/that-is-one-of-the-patterns-when-nothing-is-happening-nothing/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [The single biggest act of bravery or madness anyone can do is the act of change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/the-single-biggest-act-of-bravery-or-madness-anyone-can-do-is-the-act/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) > [For me, as a writer, I desperately want to be read. 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The way back to yourself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-haig/a-book-is-a-map-there-will-be-times-in-your-life-when-you-will-feel/) [Matt Haig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) [Explore all 294 Matt Haig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-haig/) ## More Ability to love quotes > [“It is hardly necessary to stress the fact that the ability to love as an act of giving depends on the character development of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/it-is-hardly-necessary-to-stress-the-fact-that-the-ability-to-love-as/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. 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