Playing hard to get is not the way to win me over. I'm definitely

Hear the words of Taylor Lautner: “Playing hard to get is not the way to win me over. I’m definitely more for the girl who can smile and laugh all the time and just have a good time!” Though spoken in the language of youthful love, these words contain a wisdom that is as old as human longing. For they remind us that love, at its truest, is not born of games, nor of veiled pursuit, but of openness, joy, and shared delight. The smile, the laughter, the simple act of being genuine—these are the keys that open the heart more powerfully than any strategy of distance or artifice.

The ancients, too, knew this truth. In the dialogues of Plato, love is described not as a battlefield of manipulation, but as a meeting of souls, a recognition of beauty in its purest form. The one who masks affection in pretense, who plays games to gain advantage, builds a wall between hearts. But the one who offers laughter, who shares joy without fear, creates a bond that is natural and unbreakable. Lautner’s rejection of “playing hard to get” is not merely a preference—it is a call back to authenticity, to the very foundation of human connection.

Consider the story of Saint Francis of Assisi, who drew followers not with power or guile, but with the radiance of joy. His smile, his simple laughter, and his delight in the beauty of life caused people to feel at peace in his presence. They did not follow him because he was distant or mysterious, but because he was open, warm, and alive. In the same way, Lautner’s words remind us that relationships thrive not in tension, but in the lightness of shared happiness.

The smile is no small gesture. It is the most universal sign of peace and welcome, a beacon of sincerity that crosses all languages and cultures. To laugh with another is to create a shared rhythm of the soul, to weave joy into the fabric of memory. When Lautner says he values the one who “can smile and laugh all the time,” he is echoing this ancient truth: joy is not an ornament to love, it is its very lifeblood. Without it, love becomes heavy; with it, love becomes enduring.

And what of “playing hard to get”? It is the art of withholding, of feigned disinterest, of calculated scarcity. Such tactics may create sparks of desire, but they do not create lasting fire. History shows us this. Think of the courts of Europe, where kings and queens often played elaborate games of intrigue and distance, yet behind the pomp their relationships withered, brittle under the weight of strategy. Contrast this with the love of Victoria and Albert, whose bond was marked not by games, but by open affection, shared laughter, and mutual respect. One endured beyond death; the other often crumbled under its own artifice.

The lesson, then, is clear: choose authenticity over pretense, joy over manipulation, sincerity over games. If you wish to build a bond that lasts, be the one who smiles freely, who laughs openly, who brings lightness into the lives of others. Do not waste your strength in creating walls or in feigned indifference, for such things corrode the heart. Instead, offer the gift of joy, and you will find that the hearts of others are drawn to you naturally, without force or trickery.

So let this wisdom endure: love is not won by distance but by closeness, not by games but by laughter, not by withholding but by giving. Carry your smile as a banner, let your laughter ring like music, and bring joy to those around you. For in the end, as Lautner himself declares, it is not cunning that wins the heart—it is the shared delight of two souls who simply know how to have a good time together.