Love me little, love me long.
Meaning: Modest, steady affection endures better than intense passion that burns out quickly.
Origin: The speaker asks for steady, moderate love rather than a passion that burns out. It was already proverbial in John Heywood's time, in the first half of the 16th century, and Christopher Marlowe gives it to the servant Ithamore in The Jew of Malta (c. 1589).
Equivalents in French and Japanese
- French: Aime-moi un peu, mais continue (literally: Love me a little, but love me long)
- Japanese: 太く短くより細く長く (Futoku mijikaku yori hosoku nagaku) (literally: Better thin and long than thick and short)
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