The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them

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This quote means that when we love someone, we should accept them as they are instead of trying to change them to be more like us. It means that if we only love that person because of their similarities to us, then we don’t really love them for who they really are. We only love their potential to be like us, when we should instead be loving them for who they are.