If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many

“If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that are missing. If you don’t have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.” Thus spoke Ann Landers, the wise matron of counsel whose words guided generations through the labyrinth of human relationships. Her quote, though born of modern pen and paper, carries the resonance of timeless truth. For in these words lies the essence of every sacred teaching, every myth of the heart—that love is the true measure of abundance, and without it, even the richest life stands barren.

In the world of men, where success is counted in gold and power, it is easy to forget that love is the true wealth of the soul. Ann Landers, who spent her life answering the letters of the troubled and the lonely, knew this truth not from theory but from thousands of voices. She heard the pain of those who had everything except affection, and the peace of those who had nothing but love. From this vast tapestry of human longing, she distilled this eternal wisdom: that love alone fills the hollows of existence, and that its absence renders all else hollow in return.

The ancients, too, proclaimed this truth in their own tongue. The poets of Greece sang that even the gods envied those who loved purely; the scriptures of the East declared that love is the breath of the divine moving through man. Consider the life of Mother Teresa, who walked among the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. She had no fortune, no home, no worldly comfort—yet she possessed an ocean of love. With it, she transformed despair into hope, darkness into light. Her life was proof that where love abides, even suffering becomes sacred. And conversely, where love is absent, even luxury turns to dust in the mouth.

Love, in its truest form, is not the fleeting passion of youth, nor the convenience of companionship, but the grace that binds the human spirit to meaning. It is the force that makes sacrifice sweet, that lends courage to the weary, and purpose to the lost. When Ann Landers spoke of love making up for what is missing, she spoke of this divine balance—how a single thread of love can mend the fabric of a life torn by hardship. A child growing up in poverty may still flourish if surrounded by love; a lonely heart in a palace may still wither if love is denied.

To live without love is to drift through the world as a shadow—present, yet unilluminated. History offers us many examples: kings who conquered nations yet died unmourned, thinkers who mastered knowledge yet never knew kindness. One such man was Howard Hughes, whose wealth could buy every desire but could not heal his isolation. Surrounded by fortune, he perished in fear and solitude—a caution to all who would trade the warmth of the heart for the cold glitter of success. His life was a monument to Ann Landers’ warning: that “no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.”

The wisdom of this quote, then, calls us to reorder our values. It reminds us that the heart is not a luxury but a foundation. When life feels incomplete, it is not more possessions or triumphs we require, but more connection—more compassion, more giving, more love. The ancients would say that to love well is to live well; to serve others with an open heart is to taste eternity in the present moment.

Let this teaching settle within you like seed in good soil. Cultivate love where you stand—among your family, your friends, your neighbors, even your enemies. Speak gently, forgive freely, and give without measure. For when you do, you will find that even the smallest dwelling becomes a kingdom, and the humblest day a celebration.

And when the end of your years draws near, may it be said not that you amassed much, but that you loved deeply. For in the final measure of the soul, love alone endures—it fills what was lacking, heals what was broken, and lights the path beyond all earthly darkness. In this truth, Ann Landers spoke for all time: with love, life is full; without it, life is nothing.