Does anyone agree with this old saying please explain.

It means that if something/someone you love comes to you without you having to hold onto it or try to make it stay, then it’s the real thing. There is true love there.

My interpretation anyhow…

“He who binds himself to joy doth the winged life destroy but he who kisses the joy as it flies lives in eternity’s sunrise” – William Blake

no, not at all. If you have to hold it, then it’s not really “yours”. It’s not real. If it’s really love, it will be there with you of its own accord, not because you’re holding on to it.

If my parents had held on to me, I would never have gone to college, gotten wonderful internships, gotten into grad school, nor would I be sitting in Antarctica right now.

My first assignment in college Freshman Comp was to analyze that seemingly simple little poem. When my analysis was returned, I received my one and only D.

Sorry; I misquoted;

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy
But he who kisses the joy as it flies,
Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.

Marcel Proust
Love is space and time measured by the heart.

I take it as someone is fed up with you and wants to get away from you, so if you love them you’ll let them go, no matter what your mind and heart are saying, because you put their feelings and wants, before yours…It’s stating, maybe after they’ve been away from you for a while, they’ll realize how much they miss you or love you and come back. 9 times out of 10, it doesn’t happen. They are just glad you let them go.

You know that other quote….distance makes the heart grow fonder….not true….distance makes the heart wander!

if you love something, set it free.

If it doesn’t come back, hunt it down and kill it!

I don’t even know the real situation. He says he can’t have a relationship now due to stress of not having money, working, school etc. He says he loves me and hopes that things will work out but I don’t buy any of it really. He has time to let women take him out to dinner but no time to see me period.

I always saw this quote as pertaining to a situation where you do not make the one you love happy and therefore letting them go would be in their best interest which is what should be most important to you if you love them.

No matter what explanation one gives you to end a relationship, the important part of the message is that he wants it to end. Let it go, and move on.

If you care about someone else’s happiness more than your own, you truly care about that person.

my understanding is freedom is best – if you love it, you’ll give it freedom

Yes, you should try as hard as you can to not let it go. But the heart wants what the heart wants regardless of what you think you want. Love is not supposed to be hard. If it’s not shared, it’s a waste of time not to let it go. To hang on when the loved one wants to go would be cruel.

@Fossey Welcome to Fluther!