Quote of the day by Socrates: 'Love is always poor, and anything but fair, as the many imagine; it is rough and has no shoes...' - Love lessons on desire and why humans want what they do not have by the ancient Greek philosopher

Love is often associated with beauty, tenderness and abundance. But one of Socrates’ most memorable descriptions of love offers almost the opposite picture. From Plato’s The Symposium come this quote of the day when Socrates says: “Love is always poor, and anything but tender and fair, as the many imagine him; and he is rough and squalid, and has no shoes, nor a house to dwell in.”

The statement appears during a series of speeches about Love, or Eros, at a gathering in which several Greek guests praise the nature and qualities of Love. When it is Socrates’ turn, he challenges the way the earlier speakers have presented the subject.

Rather than describing Love as possessing everything desirable, Socrates recounts a lesson he says he received from Diotima, a wise woman who taught him about the nature of Love.

Quote of the day: Why does Socrates call Love ‘poor’?

The explanation comes from the story of Love’s origins. According to what Socrates said in The Symposium, Love is a great spirit, or daimon, who stands between gods and mortals. His unusual nature comes from his parents: Poros, associated with Plenty, and Penia, associated with Poverty.

Love therefore carries qualities inherited from both.

The connection to Poverty accounts for the harsh description Socrates gives. Love is presented as poor, rough and without a home rather than comfortable, beautiful and secure.

But this does not simply mean that Love is worthless or undesirable. The description points toward something more complicated: Love is shaped by want. It exists in a state of seeking what it does not completely possess.

That makes Socrates’ description more than a rejection of the conventional idea of romance. It becomes a way of thinking about desire itself.

Love is not presented as something complete

The main part of the passage is the contrast between what people commonly imagine Love to be and what Socrates says it actually is.

The popular image of love is of something tender and fair. Instead, Socrates describes Love as uncomfortable and insecure. Love has neither shoes nor house, a condition of constant movement and need.

This is in line with the larger philosophical discussion in The Symposium, in which Love is not simply an emotion between two people. What Socrates described shows the reasons why human beings desire beauty and goodness, and how that desire can shape their lives.

In this story, love is strong because it reaches out toward something beyond itself.

Socrates: The philosopher behind this quote

Socrates was a Greek philosopher , born in Athens around 470 BCE . He did not leave written works of his own, so much of what is known about his ideas comes from writers such as Plato and Xenophon.

He became known for questioning people about their beliefs and examining ideas through discussion. His approach, later known as the Socratic method, relied heavily on probing questions rather than simply providing answers.

Socrates also placed greater importance on virtue and the examined life than on material wealth or social status. The sources provided describe him as someone who lived simply and encouraged people to focus on justice, goodness and the care of the soul rather than possessions and power.

His life eventually ended in Athens in 399 BCE, when he was convicted and sentenced to death by drinking poison after being charged with impiety and corrupting the youth.