It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all


What's the meaning of the phrase 'It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'?

The proverbial saying ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ has a straightforward literal meaning. Even the pain of a lost love is worth bearing if one can first experience the joy of love.

What's the origin of the phrase 'It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all'?

The line ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ comes from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem In Memoriam:27, 1850:

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

Alfred Lord Tennyson is now remembered as a rather dour old sage of the Victorian era. Nevertheless, he gave us two commonly used lines about love. As well as ‘It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all’ he also wrote of ‘a young man’s fancy‘ in his 1842 poem Locksly Hall:

In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove;
In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.
It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

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