Regardless of whether you're in love or not, it's not difficult to notice a strange imbalance in it. One person always seems to have a little more to lose, a little more to worry about, a little more tenderness exposed to the possibility of being hurt. And still, knowing that love can end, that people can leave and that even the happiest moments are temporary, we keep choosing to love as though the heart has never learned the mathematics of loss.
It is this uncomfortable imbalance, between loving and being loved, between vulnerability and self-protection, that German author Thomas Mann captured in one of his fearless love quotes of all time. A writer deeply interested in the inner conflicts of his characters, Mann understood that love is rarely as simple as happiness or sorrow. Sometimes, the person who feels more is also the person who has more at stake.
