Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Love is strongest in pursuit; friendship in possession.
Do you think this is true? Is this why marriages are much tougher than friendships?
I haven’t wrapped my head around it yet…Is love really not as strong when possessed than when pursued? Hmmm…
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I think this is true, especially of us youngsters. I’ve heard and read that people mellow as they grow older, but it could just be a myth.
Maybe the quote isn’t as polar as it seems; maybe it’s just good advice, telling us that a good relationship will have plenty of both- the pursuit of love and the possession of friendship.
Of course, I say that only to offer another point of view. Youngster that I am, I know too well that what ol’ RWE is saying is true. The pursuit is much more exciting.
Fair enough. I suppose you are right. I guess what trips me up is…where does that leave the possession of love? Meaning, the love that is ironclad/established/like a rock? Say the love of a father for a son. Is that ‘weaker’ than when it wasn’t yet established? Hmmm…maybe.
Now that I write it down, it’s becoming clearer. He isn’t comparing friendship and love to one another, just to themselves. Hmm…