It's either love or hate with me. People really can hate me.

Hear now the raw and haunting words of Lil Peep, the poet of pain and youth, who once said: “It’s either love or hate with me. People really can hate me.” Though simple in form, these words echo with the ancient struggle of the human heart — the battle between acceptance and rejection, between the yearning to be seen and the fear of being misunderstood. In this confession, Lil Peep reveals not only the story of his own life, but the timeless truth of all souls who dare to live authentically: that those who shine with unfiltered honesty will always divide the world between love and hate.

Lil Peep — born Gustav Elijah Åhr — was a child of contrasts. He walked between worlds: light and shadow, fame and despair, tenderness and rebellion. His music blended pain with beauty, punk with rap, sadness with sweetness. He spoke openly of vulnerability, of depression, of longing — things that society often hides behind masks. And because he lived without pretense, he drew love and hate alike. The origin of his quote lies in this paradox: the truth-teller and the dreamer are often both adored and despised. For when one shows their soul completely, some are inspired — and others, frightened.

To say “It’s either love or hate with me” is to acknowledge the cost of authenticity. The ancients would have called this the price of truth. Every great figure who refused to conform faced this same fate. Socrates, who challenged the complacency of Athens, was both revered and condemned. Jesus, who preached compassion beyond boundaries, was worshiped by some and crucified by others. Even Van Gogh, whose art now moves millions, died in obscurity, despised by many of his contemporaries. The world, it seems, has always struggled to accept those who live without disguise. For truth, when spoken through art or life, is both light and fire — it illuminates and burns at once.

Lil Peep’s words, though born of sorrow, hold a kind of courage. To recognize that others may hate you and yet continue to live and create — this is a form of strength that few attain. Many hide behind masks to be loved by all; few stand bare before the world and say, “Here I am — take me or leave me.” His defiance was not arrogance, but freedom. In a time when people craft false selves to win approval, Lil Peep stood for radical honesty — the kind that embraces imperfection, that bleeds openly, that refuses to apologize for feeling too deeply. And that honesty, though divisive, became the source of his power.

Consider the tale of Joan of Arc, the young girl who heard divine voices and dared to lead armies. She, too, was met with both devotion and hatred. To her followers, she was a saint; to her enemies, a heretic. Yet she did not waver, for she understood that living one’s truth is worth any consequence. So it was with Lil Peep: he knew that to express himself fully — to embody the strange, the broken, the tender — would provoke scorn as surely as it would inspire love. But he chose it anyway. For those who walk the path of self-expression must accept the loneliness of being misunderstood before they can taste the joy of being truly known.

The deeper meaning of his quote, then, is not lamentation but acceptance. It is the wisdom of one who has realized that polarization is the price of individuality. If you live by imitation, you will offend no one, but neither will you touch anyone’s heart. If you live by truth, you will awaken both devotion and disdain. The same fire that warms also burns. To live as yourself, fully and fearlessly, is to make peace with this duality. The love you receive will be deep and real — the hate, inevitable but powerless against your authenticity.

So let this be your lesson, O seeker of courage: Do not fear being loved by few or hated by many. Fear only being known by none. The world will always divide itself around those who refuse to conform. Some will call you strange, others will call you brave — but in the end, it is better to be truly seen by a few than adored falsely by all. Walk in your truth, as Lil Peep did, even when it sets you apart. For the heart that dares to reveal itself, though it may suffer, leaves behind a legacy that echoes beyond its years.

For truly, as Lil Peep said, “It’s either love or hate with me.” Let his words remind you that life’s purpose is not to be universally liked, but to be genuinely alive. Stand in your light — even if it blinds some. Create what is real, speak what is true, and let the world’s love and hate fall where they may. For only those who live without fear of judgment ever come to know the one thing deeper than both love and hate: freedom.