Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

“Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.” Thus wrote H. L. Mencken, the sharp-tongued philosopher of irony, who saw clearly the contradictions of the human heart. His words, though wrapped in wit, reveal a truth as ancient as passion itself — that love is not born of logic, nor sustained by reason, but by the sacred imagination that dares to see beauty where intellect might see imperfection. Mencken, ever the skeptic, meant these words as a jest upon human folly, yet within his jest lies profound wisdom. For if love were governed only by intelligence, it would perish under the weight of calculation; but imagination redeems it, transforming the ordinary into the miraculous.

In saying that love is a triumph, Mencken speaks to its defiance — its rebellion against the boundaries of reason. Intelligence measures, analyzes, and warns; imagination leaps, dreams, and believes. Intelligence whispers, “This is unwise”; imagination answers, “Yet I will.” And thus the human heart, ever defiant, chooses love despite the evidence of danger. This, Mencken reminds us, is both our folly and our glory — that we are creatures capable of loving beyond what reason allows. Love is the imagination’s great victory — for it sees not merely what is, but what could be; it beholds the beloved not as they are, but as they are transfigured by the soul’s light.

The origin of this truth runs deep in history, older than philosophy itself. The poets of every age — from Sappho to Shakespeare — have sung of love as a madness that conquers logic. When Paris risked Troy for Helen, when Antony fell for Cleopatra, when Romeo defied the stars for Juliet — it was not reason that guided them, but imagination, which clothed their desires in visions of eternal beauty. To the wise, these were follies; yet to the lovers, they were revelations. They saw, if only for a moment, the world remade in the image of love — a fleeting heaven born from mortal hearts. Thus, though love often ends in tears, it remains the most divine folly of all, for it teaches humanity to feel beyond the reach of thought.

Consider the story of Beethoven, whose deafness might have silenced his art and his love. Reason told him he was broken, unfit for the world of sound. Yet his imagination, fed by the fire of love — for humanity, for beauty, for the unseen harmony of life — triumphed over despair. Out of silence, he composed symphonies that still move the soul. This, too, is the victory of imagination over intelligence: where reason said “No further,” imagination whispered “Go on.” Love, in its purest form, is not only for another person, but for life itself — a refusal to yield to the cold logic that says all things must end.

And yet, Mencken’s words also carry a bittersweet warning. For love, untempered by intelligence, can lead to ruin. Imagination paints the beloved as flawless, ignoring the truth that all are mortal and imperfect. Thus, many have suffered because they mistook the dream for the reality. But this, too, is part of love’s lesson — that to love is to risk, and that without imagination, life becomes safe but empty. The wise do not seek to destroy imagination with reason, but to balance them: to love deeply while remaining awake, to dream boldly while still walking upon the earth.

It is imagination, not intellect, that gives love its poetry — that turns affection into art, union into creation. When two souls love, they do not merely share life; they imagine it anew. They invent languages of touch and glance, they build worlds invisible to all but themselves. In this sense, love is humanity’s most creative act — the shaping of a universe around the soul of another. The intellect can only measure such a thing; it cannot comprehend it.

So, my listener, learn from Mencken’s paradox. Do not scorn imagination for its wildness, nor exalt reason for its caution. The two must serve one another. Let your intelligence guard your path, but let your imagination choose its direction. For in love — and in life — it is not the mind that leads us to truth, but the heart