--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Is it perhaps the one necessity of love…" description: "\"Is it perhaps the one necessity of love, that it be needed? And the one great human tragedy that it so rarely is?\" — May Sarton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/may-sarton-897_humans_is-it-perhaps-the-one-necessity-of-love_1408813.jpg" --- # Is it perhaps the one necessity of love, that it be… ![“Is it perhaps the one necessity of love, that it be needed? And the one great human tragedy that it so rarely is?” quote by May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/may-sarton-897_humans_is-it-perhaps-the-one-necessity-of-love_1408813.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/may-sarton-897_humans_is-it-perhaps-the-one-necessity-of-love_1408813.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4aa/may-sarton-897_humans_is-it-perhaps-the-one-necessity-of-love_1408813.jpg) > “Is it perhaps the one necessity of love, that it be needed? And the one great human tragedy that it so rarely is?” [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## 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 rare, making its absence a profound tragedy. **In simple terms:** Love is needed but seldom found. Key Takeaway Cherish and seek love. Themes love necessity humanity tragedy relationships Mood reflective emotive Type personal philosophical When to use this quote - personal relationships - therapy - community building Key Concepts existentialism psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What does love mean to you? - How can we foster love in society? A Different Perspective Love can be painful and complex. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Necessity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/necessity/) [Tragedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tragedy/) ## Related quotes > [Reporters ... most were carrion who fed on human tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joann-ross/reporters-most-were-carrion-who-fed-on-human-tragedy/) [JoAnn Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joann-ross/) > [Everyone gets wounded in this world and everyone has within them some golden qualities that can serve to heal the wounds of time and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-meade/everyone-gets-wounded-in-this-world-and-everyone-has-within-them-some/) [Michael Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-meade/) > [The murder of a dozen innocent people is unquestionably a human tragedy. But that is no excuse for reacting blindly by preventing hundreds of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-murder-of-a-dozen-innocent-people-is-unquestionably-a-human/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [If there is any human tragedy, there is only one, and it occurs when we forget who we are and remain silent while a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/if-there-is-any-human-tragedy-there-is-only-one-and-it-occurs-when-we/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [Nothing captures human interest more than human tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/nothing-captures-human-interest-more-than-human-tragedy/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [God, from a beautiful necessity, is Love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/god-from-a-beautiful-necessity-is-love/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [“My formula is Amor fati: ... not only to bear up under every necessity, but to love it. Semboyanku ialah Amor fati: ... tidak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/my-formula-is-amor-fati-not-only-to-bear-up-under-every-necessity-but/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [The sadness of the women's movement is that they don't allow the necessity of love. See, I don't personally trust any revolution where love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-sadness-of-the-women-s-movement-is-that-they-don-t-allow-the/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [Because I show you my pain, I do not of necessity love you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/because-i-show-you-my-pain-i-do-not-of-necessity-love-you/) [Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/) > [His overriding life necessity was not love, it was his profession…He had come to medicine not by coincidence or calculation but by a deep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/his-overriding-life-necessity-was-not-love-it-was-his-profession-he/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [The whole trouble lies in that people think that there are conditions excluding the necessity of love in their intercourse with man, but such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/the-whole-trouble-lies-in-that-people-think-that-there-are-conditions/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [It is much safer to be subject than it is to command. Many live in obedience more from necessity than from love. Such become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-a-kempis/it-is-much-safer-to-be-subject-than-it-is-to-command-many-live-in/) [Thomas a Kempis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-a-kempis/) > [God, from a beautiful necessity, is Love in all he doeth, Love, a brilliant fire, to gladden or consume: The wicked work their woe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-farquhar-tupper/god-from-a-beautiful-necessity-is-love-in-all-he-doeth-love-a/) [Martin Farquhar Tupper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-farquhar-tupper/) > [“The second most common misconception about love is the idea that dependency is love...Its effect is seen most dramatically in an individual who makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-scott-peck/the-second-most-common-misconception-about-love-is-the-idea-that/) [M. Scott Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-scott-peck/) > [“It suddenly seemed like something he needed to know. It was the kind of knowledge people who love needed to have.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lee-raw-honey/it-suddenly-seemed-like-something-he-needed-to-know-it-was-the-kind/) [Frank Lee Raw Honey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lee-raw-honey/) ## More by May Sarton > [“I felt pain like an assault, The old pain again When the world thrusts itself inside, When we have to take in the outside,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-felt-pain-like-an-assault-the-old-pain-again-when-the-world-thrusts/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Most people have to talk so they won't hear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/most-people-have-to-talk-so-they-won-t-hear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [People who cannot feel punish those who do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/people-who-cannot-feel-punish-those-who-do/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [This suspension of one's own reality, this being entirely alone in a strange city (at times I wondered if I had lost the power…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/this-suspension-of-one-s-own-reality-this-being-entirely-alone-in-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/one-must-think-like-a-hero-to-behave-like-a-merely-decent-human-being/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Real joy is becoming exceedingly rare among artists of any kind. And I have an idea that those who can and do communicate it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/real-joy-is-becoming-exceedingly-rare-among-artists-of-any-kind-and-i/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For to be desperate is to discover strength. / We die of comfort and by conflict live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-to-be-desperate-is-to-discover-strength-we-die-of-comfort-and-by/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [“I see you with that shell Held to your sensitive abstracted ear, Hunting the ocean’s rumor till you hear it well, Until you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-see-you-with-that-shell-held-to-your-sensitive-abstracted-ear/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [There is a wilder solitude in winter When every sense is pricked alive and keen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/there-is-a-wilder-solitude-in-winter-when-every-sense-is-pricked/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I long for the bulbs to arrive, for the early autumn chores are melancholy, but the planting of bulbs is the work of hope…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-long-for-the-bulbs-to-arrive-for-the-early-autumn-chores-are/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Why is it that people who cannot show feeling presume that that is a strength and not a weakness?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/why-is-it-that-people-who-cannot-show-feeling-presume-that-that-is-a/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [Innocence is not pure so much as pleased, Always expectant, bright-eyed, self-enclosed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/innocence-is-not-pure-so-much-as-pleased-always-expectant-bright-eyed/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [I have written every poem, every novel, for the same purpose-to find out what I think, to know where I stand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/i-have-written-every-poem-every-novel-for-the-same-purpose-to-find/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [For art is order, but it is born out of the chaos of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/for-art-is-order-but-it-is-born-out-of-the-chaos-of-life/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [all great people are humble because great people have great work and are humbled by the largeness of their dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/all-great-people-are-humble-because-great-people-have-great-work-and/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) [Explore all 336 May Sarton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) ## More Humans quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/) [Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [There is no human nature, since there is no god to conceive it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-paul-sartre/there-is-no-human-nature-since-there-is-no-god-to-conceive-it/) [Jean-Paul Sartre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-paul-sartre/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. If you know these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bernbach/nothing-is-so-powerful-as-an-insight-into-human-nature-what/) [William Bernbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bernbach/) > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [Humans are animals too, but some do not like to work from expectations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/humans-are-animals-too-but-some-do-not-like-to-work-from-expectations/) Mak\_786 > [Humans are, as Sartre put it, 'condemned to be free'. To insist that science, or God, objectively defines moral values is to abandon our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenan-malik/humans-are-as-sartre-put-it-condemned-to-be-free-to-insist-that/) Kenan Malik > [Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined, and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-h-pink/human-beings-have-an-innate-inner-drive-to-be-autonomous-self/) [Daniel H. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-h-pink/) > [Half the misery of human life might be extinguished if men would alleviate the general curse they lie under by mutual offices of compassion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/half-the-misery-of-human-life-might-be-extinguished-if-men-would/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [When grubbing for necessities man is still an animal. He becomes uniquely human when he reaches out for the superfluous and extravagant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/when-grubbing-for-necessities-man-is-still-an-animal-he-becomes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I think the next 50 years are going to present the human race with challenges that so far exceed the limitations of geopolitical boundaries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/i-think-the-next-50-years-are-going-to-present-the-human-race-with/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [A Light exists in Spring Not present on the Year At any other period - When March is scarcely here A Color stands abroad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/a-light-exists-in-spring-not-present-on-the-year-at-any-other-period/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) [Browse all 32,126 Humans quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Is it perhaps the one necessity of love, that it be needed? 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