--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Anyone who tries to imprison love will…" description: "\"Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant and rank.\" — Paulo Coelho" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/paulo-coelho-10_cutting_anyone-who-tries-to-imprison-love-will-c_1401302.jpg" --- # Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring… ![“Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant and rank.” quote by Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/paulo-coelho-10_cutting_anyone-who-tries-to-imprison-love-will-c_1401302.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/paulo-coelho-10_cutting_anyone-who-tries-to-imprison-love-will-c_1401302.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d8f/paulo-coelho-10_cutting_anyone-who-tries-to-imprison-love-will-c_1401302.jpg) > “Anyone who tries to imprison love will cut off the spring that feeds it, and the trapped water will grow stagnant and rank.” [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Trying to control love stifles its natural flow, causing stagnation and decay. **In simple terms:** Love cannot be forced. Key Takeaway Allow love to develop freely. Themes love freedom growth relationships Mood reflective poetic cautionary Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - romantic partnerships - family bonds - friendships - creative collaborations Key Concepts control stagnation natural cycles emotional health Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance care with freedom? - What signs show love is becoming stagnant? A Different Perspective Overprotectiveness can also limit love. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Stagnant water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stagnant-water/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [Witch of portobello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/witch-of-portobello/) ## Related quotes > [Love fills everything. It cannot be desired because it is an end in itself. It cannot betray because it has nothing to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-fills-everything-it-cannot-be-desired-because-it-is-an-end-in/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The Martyr finds her way to self-knowledge through pain, suffering, and surrender.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-martyr-finds-her-way-to-self-knowledge-through-pain-suffering-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Laugh at your worries and insecurities. View your anxieties with humor. It will be difficult at first, but you'll gradually get used to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/laugh-at-your-worries-and-insecurities-view-your-anxieties-with-humor/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Now go back and meet all those people who you think know everything. Convince yourself that they're right, because we all know everything, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/now-go-back-and-meet-all-those-people-who-you-think-know-everything/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Don't be like those people who believe in 'positive thinking' and tell themselves that they're loved and strong and capable. 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Love rescue me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/u2/no-man-is-my-enemy-my-own-hands-imprison-me-love-rescue-me/) U2 > [“But she told me I was like water..Water can carve its way through stone. And when trapped, water makes a new path.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/but-she-told-me-i-was-like-water-water-can-carve-its-way-through/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [“My brother once showed me a piece of quartz that contained, he said, some trapped water older than all the seas in our world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-carson/my-brother-once-showed-me-a-piece-of-quartz-that-contained-he-said/) [Anne Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-carson/) > [My mother once told me I was like water. Water can carve its way even through stone. And when trapped, water makes a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/my-mother-once-told-me-i-was-like-water-water-can-carve-its-way-even/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) ## More by Paulo Coelho > [I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/i-have-inside-me-the-winds-the-deserts-the-oceans-the-stars-and/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Love will never separate a man from his personal legend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/love-will-never-separate-a-man-from-his-personal-legend/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The world has a soul and whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of many things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-world-has-a-soul-and-whoever-understands-that-soul-can-also/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [To love is to be in communion with the other and to discover in that other the spark of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/to-love-is-to-be-in-communion-with-the-other-and-to-discover-in-that/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [It is not enough to dream of the Impossible Love - it is necessary to conquer it too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/it-is-not-enough-to-dream-of-the-impossible-love-it-is-necessary-to/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Eat when it is time to eat. 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