Quote of the Day by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami: ‘There are certainties in existence, but love is something much harder to define than light and dark, life and death…’

Ever tried to explain why you love someone, only to realize that words never seem enough? You can describe a person's habits, appearance, or kindness, but the feeling itself often slips away the moment you try to define it. Some of life's biggest truths are easy to recognize but surprisingly difficult to put into words.

Few ideas capture that mystery better than a reflection from acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, whose work often explored the spaces between certainty and emotion.

Quote of the Day by Abbas Kiarostami: “There are certainties in existence, but love is something much harder to define than light and dark, life and death. I think saying you are “like” someone in love sounds right.”


The quote is widely associated with Abbas Kiarostami, one of Iran's most celebrated filmmakers.

What the quote is actually suggesting

Kiarostami's words suggest that not everything meaningful in life fits into neat definitions. We know what day and night are. We understand the difference between life and death. But love is different. It changes over time, feels different for every person, and often refuses to follow logic.

Instead of treating love as something that can be precisely described, Kiarostami points to its emotional complexity. Saying you are "like" someone in love acknowledges that love is a deeply personal experience rather than a fixed idea. In everyday life, this reminds us that relationships cannot always be measured by grand gestures or perfect words. Sometimes the strongest feelings are the hardest to explain.

Abbas Kiarostami: The thinker behind the idea

Born in Tehran in 1940, Abbas Kiarostami showed artistic talent from an early age, winning a painting competition at 18 before studying at the University of Tehran School of Fine Arts. He began his creative career designing posters and directing advertisements before helping establish the film division at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in 1970, where he made his first short film, The Bread and Alley.

Kiarostami went on to become one of the world's most respected filmmakers. His films, including The Traveler, the acclaimed Koker Trilogy, Close-Up, Taste of Cherry, The Wind Will Carry Us, Certified Copy, and the posthumously released 24 Frames explored childhood, memory, mortality, truth, and human relationships with remarkable simplicity and depth. His work earned international recognition, including the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Taste of Cherry, and admiration from legendary directors such as Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, Jean-Luc Godard, and Werner Herzog. He died in 2016 after complications following medical treatment, leaving behind a body of work that continues to inspire filmmakers worldwide.

Abbas Kiarostami's thinking style and philosophy behind the quote

Kiarostami believed that art should invite people to reflect rather than provide easy answers. Throughout his films, he blurred the line between reality and fiction, encouraging audiences to discover meaning for themselves instead of being told what to think.

That same philosophy is reflected in this quote. Rather than trying to define love with certainty, he accepts its ambiguity. His cinema often celebrated life's unanswered questions, suggesting that some of the most important human experiences, including love, grief, friendship, and hope, gain their power precisely because they cannot be completely explained. As he once reflected on his own work, "I feel the cinema that will last longer is the poetic cinema, not the cinema that is just storytelling."