Is it better to have loved and lost?

In My Humble Opinion
21

[QUOTE=Dottygumdrop]
I was listening to the radio yesterday, when a song by Yes came on – Owner of a Lonely Heart. Normally no biggie, but for some reason it got me thinking, is the owner of a lonely heart much better than the owner of a broken heart? Or was Alfred Lord Tennyson on the money when he said:

Having loved and lost, and fortunately loved again, my money’s with Lord Tennyson.

What say you all?
[/QUOTE]

I believe you’ve drawn a false dichotomy. Tennyson says nothing about having a broken heart, only about having “loved and lost.” The distinction he draws is between having experienced love, with all its restrictions and risks, and not having experienced love and that whatever the outcome of that love, it is better to have experienced it.

from “In Memoriam A.H.H.”

XXVII

I envy not in any moods
The captive void of noble rage,
The linnet born within the cage,
That never knew the summer woods:

I envy not the beast that takes
His license in the field of time,
Unfetter’d by the sense of crime,
To whom a conscience never wakes;

Nor, what may count itself as blest,
The heart that never plighted troth
But stagnates in the weeds of sloth;
Nor any want-begotten rest.

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

22

Ooooooh yes, I almost died of sorrow when I lost, but I’ll never regret to have loved. I will forever have fond memories, which nobody can take away for me. Nobody. It was long ago, but man, those were the good times.

23

Add me to the ‘Better to have loved and lost’ brigade.
Even if it ends badly, in heartache or loss - even imperfect love is love.

24

Nah, I’d rather not have done it at all. Seriously, I hate having wasted time and energy on someone who turns out having been a horrible asshole. It also makes me very angry at myself, because I usually know better but stay with it out of some misguided sense of loyalty or perseverence. I guess what I’m saying is, better to have loved and cut your losses.

25

I, for one, am glad to have loved and lost. Sure, it hurt like no other pain I’ve ever experienced before, but that’s what life’s all about, right? Get hurt, then move on and try to make something good of it. I’m only twenty-one years old; plenty of time to find other loves.