love is either unconditional or it is something else entirely — leverage, transaction, approval, performance, fear dressed in soft language. those are real things. they exist. name them correctly. but do not call them love.

the moment a condition enters — i will love you if, i will love you when, i will love you as long as — the word collapses on itself. it does not compute. you cannot divide by zero and get a number. you cannot attach a condition to love and still be speaking about love.

this is not sentiment. this is logic. if the word is to mean anything at all, love must thereby be unconditional. period. everything else has another name.