Original artwork, not a still
Love means never having to say you're sorry.
— Love Story · 1970
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Love as the end of apologies: forgiveness so complete that sorry is unnecessary. It was the sound of 1970 romance and the line critics loved to mock, even as it ranked #13 on the AFI's list. The film gets the last word: Oliver says it again at Jenny's death, and it hurts.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Love StoryShow the scene
In Love Story (1970), the wealthy Harvard student Oliver Barrett IV marries working-class Jenny Cavilleri, and his father refuses to speak to him. After a quarrel, Jenny comes back, having forgotten her key, and Oliver says he is sorry. Jenny stops him with the line. At the end, Jenny has died of illness, and when Oliver's father arrives to say he is sorry, Oliver repeats her words to him. Erich Segal wrote the screenplay and a novel of it in the same year, and director Arthur Hiller later defended the line against mockery.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: Love Story (1970 film)Plot, Production and Reception sectionsReference checked
- Wikiquote: Love Story (film)Dialogue sectionReference checked
Context reviewed