--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The love that lasts longest is the love…" description: "\"The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.\" — W. Somerset Maugham" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/w-somerset-maugham-237_lasts_the-love-that-lasts-longest-is-the-love_784898.jpg" --- # The love that lasts longest is the love that is never… ![“The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.” quote by W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/w-somerset-maugham-237_lasts_the-love-that-lasts-longest-is-the-love_784898.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/w-somerset-maugham-237_lasts_the-love-that-lasts-longest-is-the-love_784898.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f74/w-somerset-maugham-237_lasts_the-love-that-lasts-longest-is-the-love_784898.jpg) > “The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.” [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Unrequited love endures longest because it never faces the reality of reciprocity, allowing it to persist indefinitely. **In simple terms:** Love that never returns lasts forever. Key Takeaway Accept that some love remains one‑sided. Themes love loneliness unrequited love Mood melancholic reflective Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - heartbreak - friendships - creative inspiration Key Concepts psychology attachment theory Questions to Reflect On - Do you cling to love that never returns? - How does unreciprocated affection shape your identity? A Different Perspective Unrequited love can cause emotional stagnation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Lasts Longest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts-longest-2054801/) [Longest Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longest-love-1881256/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Does](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-does/) [Love Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-lasts/) [Love Returned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-returned-247093/) [Love that lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-that-lasts/) ## Related quotes > [The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-love-that-lasts-the-longest-is-the-love-that-is-never-returned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The love that lasts the longest is the love that can never be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-maugh/the-love-that-lasts-the-longest-is-the-love-that-can-never-be/) [S Maugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-maugh/) > [“In love one should exercise economy of intercourse. None of us can love for ever. Love will be stronger and will last longer if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-love-one-should-exercise-economy-of-intercourse-none-of-us-can/) [W. 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My parents have been married for 40 years and my grandparents were married…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zooey-deschanel/true-love-that-lasts-forever-yes-i-do-believe-in-it-my-parents-have/) [Zooey Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zooey-deschanel/) ## More by W. Somerset Maugham > [“A man thinks it quite natural that he should fall out of love with a woman, but it never strikes him for a moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-thinks-it-quite-natural-that-he-should-fall-out-of-love-with-a/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A man's work reveals him. In social intercourse he gives you the surface that he wishes the world to accept, but in his book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-man-s-work-reveals-him-in-social-intercourse-he-gives-you-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Love is only a dirty trick played on us to achieve continuation of the species.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/love-is-only-a-dirty-trick-played-on-us-to-achieve-continuation-of/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [The world is hard and cruel. We are here none knows why, and we go none knows whither. We must be very humble. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/the-world-is-hard-and-cruel-we-are-here-none-knows-why-and-we-go-none/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“There is no more merit in having read a thousand books than in having ploughed a thousand fields.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/there-is-no-more-merit-in-having-read-a-thousand-books-than-in-having/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“I wanted to live again and again. I was willing to accept every sort of life, no matter what its pain and sorrow; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-wanted-to-live-again-and-again-i-was-willing-to-accept-every-sort/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [In Hollywood, the women are all peaches. It makes one long for an apple occasionally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/in-hollywood-the-women-are-all-peaches-it-makes-one-long-for-an-apple/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/follow-your-inclinations-with-due-regard-to-the-policeman-round-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“His love became a prison from which he longed to escape, but he had not the strength merely to open the door-that was all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/his-love-became-a-prison-from-which-he-longed-to-escape-but-he-had/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [I did not believe him capable of love. That is an emotion in which tenderness is an essential part, but Strickland had no tenderness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/i-did-not-believe-him-capable-of-love-that-is-an-emotion-in-which/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [If only the good were a little less heavy-footed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/if-only-the-good-were-a-little-less-heavy-footed/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [Perfection has one grave defect: it is apt to be dull.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/perfection-has-one-grave-defect-it-is-apt-to-be-dull/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“A God that can be understood is no God. Who can explain the Infinite in words?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/a-god-that-can-be-understood-is-no-god-who-can-explain-the-infinite/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“My dear, you used to be quite a dish; now you're quite a tureen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/my-dear-you-used-to-be-quite-a-dish-now-you-re-quite-a-tureen/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) > [“When people say they do not care what others thing of them, for the most part they deceive themselves”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-somerset-maugham/when-people-say-they-do-not-care-what-others-thing-of-them-for-the/) [W. Somerset Maugham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) [Explore all 840 W. Somerset Maugham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-somerset-maugham/) ## More Lasts quotes > [Each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, loved, and finely played, to have at last her own true music made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/each-woman-is-like-an-instrument-waiting-to-be-learned-loved-and/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [Five days or five months, but it certainly isn't going to last longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-rumsfeld/five-days-or-five-months-but-it-certainly-isn-t-going-to-last-longer/) [Donald Rumsfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-rumsfeld/) > [I remember that the bass was turned up slightly more on the mix from last week, and I thought that was good - or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-ronson/i-remember-that-the-bass-was-turned-up-slightly-more-on-the-mix-from/) [Mark Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-ronson/) > [During the last 17 years... I have been working at the restoration of a once exhausted hillside. Its scars are now healed over, though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/during-the-last-17-years-i-have-been-working-at-the-restoration-of-a/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [There were times last year when people looked at the scoreboard and thought my batting average was the temperature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-martinez/there-were-times-last-year-when-people-looked-at-the-scoreboard-and/) [Buck Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-martinez/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [I was always anti-marriage. I didn't understand monogamy. I couldn't figure out how that could last. And then I met Bryn and I started…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-bello/i-was-always-anti-marriage-i-didn-t-understand-monogamy-i-couldn-t/) [Maria Bello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-bello/) > [We don't make glamorous movies today. Everything now is very realistic, artistic - and depressing. When is the last time you you saw a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-head/we-don-t-make-glamorous-movies-today-everything-now-is-very-realistic/) [Edith Head](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-head/) > [We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-will-make-sure-our-troops-have-all-that-is-necessary-to-complete/) [George W. 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I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) [Browse all 13,586 Lasts quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The love that lasts longest is the love that is never returned.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "W. 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