Meaning of love with love is paid (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Love with love is paid:

"Love with love is paid" is a popular saying in current use that evokes the principle of reciprocity in love as the only worthy "currency" of exchange.

The popular saying establishes the idea of love as a supreme value, not interchangeable for any material good, and not subject to any type of blackmail. In this sense, not giving back what has been done for love is considered ingratitude.

This saying supposes that love deserves and needs to be reciprocated in the same way, whether it is the love of a couple or any other form of love, such as that which comes from family ties, friendship or, simply, from goodwill towards human beings.

It can be used in different ways or in different contexts. For example, to request a show of affection in return for an equally loving initiative.

-How can I reward you for what you have done?
-Love with love is paid.

It can also be a gesture of thanks for a spiritual good received. Another possible use occurs when one person does something good for another in the name of their affection, and wishes to express the sincerity of their motivations. In both cases, the following example works:

-Why did you do this for me?
-Because love is paid with love.

Sometimes it can be used ironically. For example, when a person, after giving himself totally in a loving relationship, is abandoned and takes this abandonment as a pending debt that life has to repay, be it through punishment of the "dishonest", or through reward (amorosa) of the wounded (see song Amor con amor se paga ).

In Mexico the variant is used: "Love is paid with love, and the rest with money."

See also:

• Works are love and not good reasons. Love defined in 20 sentences. Love is blind.

Song Love with love is paid

Amor con amor se paga is also the title of a song from the ranchera genre, immortalized by Mexicans Jorge Negrete and Pedro Vargas, with lyrics and music by E. Cortázar and M. Esperon.

The theme includes once the saying in its original form, and a second time with a variant that modifies its meaning. Here is the text:

Because of you, woman, because of you / this love that I offer you rambles / you broke it for being insoluble / and that's why the sorrow intoxicates me.

You promised that nothing and no one / this love of the two of you would break / you were a door without a plate or key / even though you gave me life.

Love is paid with love, / and one day I will charge you / if today your betrayal ties me / as a man I will endure.

But walk very carefully / and look where you are going, / that the wounds I feel / with another you will pay.

Slowly you entered my soul / as a dagger enters the flesh / you broke my life and my calm / but love with love is paid

You will walk on other people's paths / and you will have much more than me / but the world is full of sorrows / and those sorrows will be your punishment.