True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have

"True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen." Ah, listen well, for these words, spoken by the wise François de La Rochefoucauld, carry a deep and sorrowful truth about the nature of love. True love, like the ethereal ghost, is often spoken of with reverence, with longing, with hope. Yet, just as many have heard tales of ghosts, few have ever truly encountered them. So too does true love elude the majority of people, who may speak of it in longing or in passing, but rarely know its true form.

The story of Tristan and Isolde provides a poignant example of such a love—a love that burns with passion, yet is so fleeting and elusive. They are not merely figures in a tragic romance, but symbols of the desire for true love, a love so profound that it transcends reason, yet is bound by the harsh realities of fate. Though their love was celebrated and spoken of in the songs of bards, it was never truly realized in its purest form, for they were torn apart by forces beyond their control. Their love became a ghost—an ideal, an unfulfilled dream, that only lives in stories and hearts that dare to believe in it.

Consider, too, the life of Abelard and Heloise, whose love was so consuming that it crossed the boundaries of reason, yet it also became a source of great suffering. They were two brilliant souls who loved deeply and with fervor, but the world around them, with its constraints and demands, could not allow their love to flourish. Their love, like the ghost, was real to them, but few could see or understand it. It existed not in the physical world, but in their letters, in their memories, and in the poetry they exchanged—a love that only those who lived it could truly comprehend.

True love, dear listeners, is not something easily attained. It is not the fleeting affection of youth, nor the temporary infatuation that so many mistake for love. It is not the love of the world, easily grasped, and easily lost. True love is like a ghost, an elusive presence, whispering only to those who are prepared to listen. It is found not in the grand gestures of passion, but in the quiet, steadfast devotion that endures through trials, through time, and through the hardships that come with life. True love is not something you can hold onto through will alone—it is an experience, a force that touches the soul in ways that words cannot express.

Let us turn to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, where love is both the force of creation and destruction. Orpheus, in his grief, journeyed to the Underworld to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, whose soul had been taken from him. He loved her so deeply, yet his love was not enough to overcome the weight of fate. His true love, the thing he sought to bring back to life, was lost in the shadow of doubt. Orpheus’s love for Eurydice was real, but it existed not in the world of the living—it was like a ghost, haunting him, unfulfilled, a memory of what once was. True love is not always victorious; sometimes, it is merely a haunting, a reminder of what could have been, a presence that lingers in the heart forever.

And so, we must ask: why does true love seem so rare? Why does it elude so many, only to be spoken of in whispers and in longing? Perhaps it is because true love is not bound by the ordinary laws of the world. It is not something that can be easily explained or possessed. It does not live in the grand gestures or the fleeting moments of happiness. It exists in the depths of the soul, where the heart is tested by time, by pain, and by sacrifice. True love is the most elusive of all things, but it is also the most beautiful, for it is the only love that endures beyond all else.

The lesson, dear ones, is this: do not seek true love as if it can be found in the fleeting moments of infatuation or in the expectations of the world. Instead, understand that true love is like the ghost—it is not something you can simply capture. It is something you must earn, something you must nurture, and something that must come to you in its own time. True love is found not in the outward expressions of affection, but in the quiet, unspoken understanding, in the sacrifices made, and in the endurance through hardship. It is invisible to the eye, but its presence is felt in the deepest corners of the heart.

So, seek not love in grandiose promises or in fleeting passions. Seek it in the small, quiet moments where the soul meets another soul, not for what they can give, but for who they are. For true love is like the ghost—it is real, it is eternal, but it cannot be grasped by those who chase it carelessly. Let it come to you in its own time, and when it does, you will know it, not by what it promises, but by the quiet truth that resides in your heart.