--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I did not think I should be ever loved…" description: "\"I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed Love me so much as now you say you do? Ask of the sea-bird if it loves the sea, Ask of the roses ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/675/oscar-wilde-16_bird_i-did-not-think-i-should-be-ever-loved-d_3161073.jpg" --- # I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed Love… ![“I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed Love me so much as now you say you do? Ask of the sea-bird if it loves the sea, Ask of the roses if they love the rain, Ask of the little lark, that will not sing Till day break, if it loves to see the day: And yet, these are but empty images…” quote by Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/675/oscar-wilde-16_bird_i-did-not-think-i-should-be-ever-loved-d_3161073.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/675/oscar-wilde-16_bird_i-did-not-think-i-should-be-ever-loved-d_3161073.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/675/oscar-wilde-16_bird_i-did-not-think-i-should-be-ever-loved-d_3161073.jpg) > “I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed Love me so much as now you say you do? Ask of the sea-bird if it loves the sea, Ask of the roses if they love the rain, Ask of the little lark, that will not sing Till day break, if it loves to see the day: And yet, these are but empty images, Mere shadows of my love, which is a fire So great that all the waters of the main Can not avail to quench it.” [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## 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 a profound, unquenchable fire, beyond fleeting images or metaphors; true love endures beyond superficial symbols. **In simple terms:** Love is a deep fire that cannot be extinguished. Key Takeaway Seek love that transcends superficial signs. Themes love passion spirituality eternity Mood poetic contemplative Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - relationships - personal growth - creative expression - spiritual practice Key Concepts romanticism metaphor inner fire Questions to Reflect On - Can love exist without symbolic gestures? - How do you nurture the inner fire of love? A Different Perspective Romantic idealism may overlook practical relationship work. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Sea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sea/) [Shadow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shadow/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) ## Related quotes > [“I have never heard a fisherman say that he loves the sea.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georges-perros/i-have-never-heard-a-fisherman-say-that-he-loves-the-sea/) Georges Perros > [“Sleep well, my little prince . Sleep true, my sweet prince . Roses love sunshine, violets love dew . All the angels in heaven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-l-demeter/sleep-well-my-little-prince-sleep-true-my-sweet-prince-roses-love/) [Rachel L. Demeter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-l-demeter/) > [Roses! I love them so much! :)beautiful creations that light up the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca/roses-i-love-them-so-much-beautiful-creations-that-light-up-the-world/) [Rebecca](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca/) > [I got a box full of chocolates for you girl, girl. For you girl, girl, for you. I got some roses and a love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mindless-behavior/i-got-a-box-full-of-chocolates-for-you-girl-girl-for-you-girl-girl/) [Mindless Behavior](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mindless-behavior/) > [“Your scented tears on white roses - Love is crying in a good way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sir-kristian-goldmund-aumann/your-scented-tears-on-white-roses-love-is-crying-in-a-good-way/) sir kristian goldmund aumann > [I love roses and I love the smell of them in my room.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trina/i-love-roses-and-i-love-the-smell-of-them-in-my-room/) [Trina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trina/) > [Some of the kids who discovered me from my 'F.E.A.R.' record or one of the U.N.K.L.E. tunes have said, 'I don't even like the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-brown/some-of-the-kids-who-discovered-me-from-my-f-e-a-r-record-or-one-of/) [Ian Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-brown/) > [The rose is a flower of love. The world has acclaimed it for centuries. Pink roses are for love hopeful and expectant. White roses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinichi-suzuki/the-rose-is-a-flower-of-love-the-world-has-acclaimed-it-for-centuries/) [Shinichi Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinichi-suzuki/) > [Roses are for love. Not silly sweet-hearts' love but the love that makes you and keeps you whole, love that gets you through the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/roses-are-for-love-not-silly-sweet-hearts-love-but-the-love-that/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) > [All the spring may be hidden in the single bud, and the low ground nest of the lark may hold the joy that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/all-the-spring-may-be-hidden-in-the-single-bud-and-the-low-ground/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [And sometimes it happened, for a time. That kind of love comes and goes and is hard to remember afterwards, like pain. You would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/and-sometimes-it-happened-for-a-time-that-kind-of-love-comes-and-goes/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [I used to think being loved was the greatest thing to think about, but now I know love is never satisfied just thinking about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-goff/i-used-to-think-being-loved-was-the-greatest-thing-to-think-about-but/) [Bob Goff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-goff/) > [“You are the only woman I've ever loved. I think I loved you even before we were a couple. I know I loved you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-b-heinzer/you-are-the-only-woman-i-ve-ever-loved-i-think-i-loved-you-even/) [H.B. Heinzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-b-heinzer/) > [To think that someone we loved, trusted, opened our home to could do this to our daughter and granddaughter is beyond belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-flaherty/to-think-that-someone-we-loved-trusted-opened-our-home-to-could-do/) [Joe Flaherty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-flaherty/) > [“The more difficult it was to love the particular man beside us, the more we believed in Love, abstract and total. We were waiting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/the-more-difficult-it-was-to-love-the-particular-man-beside-us-the/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) ## More by Oscar Wilde > [How else but through a broken heart may Lord Christ enter in?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/how-else-but-through-a-broken-heart-may-lord-christ-enter-in/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-books-that-the-world-calls-immoral-are-the-books-that-show-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It is not fair that some men should be happier than others](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/bachelors-should-be-heavily-taxed-it-is-not-fair-that-some-men-should/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Who, being loved, is poor?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/who-being-loved-is-poor/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Basil my dear boy puts everything that is charming in him into his work. The consequence is that he has nothing left for life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/basil-my-dear-boy-puts-everything-that-is-charming-in-him-into-his/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Anybody can be good in the country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/anybody-can-be-good-in-the-country/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [I don't at all like knowing what people say of me behind my back. It makes me far too conceited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-don-t-at-all-like-knowing-what-people-say-of-me-behind-my-back-it/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Alles Populäre ist falsch.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/alles-popul-re-ist-falsch/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/if-these-elements-of-beauty-are-real-the-whole-thing-simply-appeals/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [To love one's self is the beginning of a life-long romance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/to-love-one-s-self-is-the-beginning-of-a-life-long-romance/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/those-who-find-beautiful-meanings-in-beautiful-things-are-the/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Men always want to be a womans first love. Women have a more subtle instinct: What they like is to be a mans last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/men-always-want-to-be-a-womans-first-love-women-have-a-more-subtle/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Why is it that at a bachelor's establishment the servants invariably drink the champagne.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/why-is-it-that-at-a-bachelor-s-establishment-the-servants-invariably/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Moderation is a fatal thing. Enough is as bad as a meal. More than enough is as good as a feast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/moderation-is-a-fatal-thing-enough-is-as-bad-as-a-meal-more-than/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Beauty is the only thing that time cannot harm. Philosophies fall away like sand, creeds follow one another, but what is beautiful is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/beauty-is-the-only-thing-that-time-cannot-harm-philosophies-fall-away/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) [Explore all 3,343 Oscar Wilde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) ## More Bird quotes > [And I have been very blessed, having coached some of the greatest that have ever played the game. But if I had to start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/red-auerbach/and-i-have-been-very-blessed-having-coached-some-of-the-greatest-that/) [Red Auerbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/red-auerbach/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Set the bird's wings with gold and it will never again soar in thesky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/set-the-bird-s-wings-with-gold-and-it-will-never-again-soar-in-thesky/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [“He unfixes the metal notch and slips his hand around the body of the bird. Feels its heat, its small heart beating. He stares…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-schuyler/he-unfixes-the-metal-notch-and-slips-his-hand-around-the-body-of-the/) Nina Schuyler > [I would rather learn from one bird how to sing than to teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/i-would-rather-learn-from-one-bird-how-to-sing-than-to-teach-10-000/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Can you imagine any better example of divine creative accomplishment that the consummate flying machine that is a bird? The skeleton, very flexible and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-murchie/can-you-imagine-any-better-example-of-divine-creative-accomplishment/) [Guy Murchie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-murchie/) > [Surely, God could have caused birds to fly with their bones made of solid gold, with their veins full of quicksilver, with their flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/galileo-galilei/surely-god-could-have-caused-birds-to-fly-with-their-bones-made-of/) [Galileo Galilei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/galileo-galilei/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [A clock struck out the hour of twelve, and the bird in the hedgerow was still singing as we marched out to the roadway,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-macgill/a-clock-struck-out-the-hour-of-twelve-and-the-bird-in-the-hedgerow/) [Patrick MacGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-macgill/) > [Every wife ought to answer for her man. If the husband be engaged in a seditious club, or drinks mysterious healths, or be frugal…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/every-wife-ought-to-answer-for-her-man-if-the-husband-be-engaged-in-a/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Meanwhile, the trees were just as green as before; the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever. The familiar surroundings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/meanwhile-the-trees-were-just-as-green-as-before-the-birds-sang-and/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [When they started to drain a swamp where birds and fish had lived, for a new housing development down the road from his apartment,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maile-meloy/when-they-started-to-drain-a-swamp-where-birds-and-fish-had-lived-for/) [Maile Meloy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maile-meloy/) > [The bird with the thorn in its breast, it follows an immutable law; it is driven by it knows not what to impale itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/the-bird-with-the-thorn-in-its-breast-it-follows-an-immutable-law-it/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [Real like sucks the life out of losers. if you want to fuck with the eagles, you must learn how to fly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/real-like-sucks-the-life-out-of-losers-if-you-want-to-fuck-with-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“If we studied birds ,maybe we could learn to be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-alire-s-enz/if-we-studied-birds-maybe-we-could-learn-to-be-free/) [Benjamin Alire Sáenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-alire-s-enz/) [Browse all 4,802 Bird quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bird/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I did not think I should be ever loved: do you indeed Love me so much as now you say you do? 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