Short glass bowl of fresh flowers with one visibly wilted bloom and a detached petal

Original artwork, not a still

Maxim 71

François de la Rochefoucauld

There are few people who would not be ashamed of being loved when they love no longer.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker claims that hardly anyone would feel comfortable receiving love once their own feeling has faded. Being adored by someone while no longer returning it brings embarrassment or guilt. The maxim treats lingering affection from another as a burden that exposes one's own cooled heart.

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