proverb · Words worth keeping
Lovers live on love, as larks on leeks.
Lovers live on love, as larks on leeks.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying imagines lovers living on love as larks live on leeks. The playful comparison questions whether affection alone can supply the practical needs of life.
What the words are saying
Live on gives emotion the place of sustenance. A careful reading can honour affection while recognising that relationships also involve everyday provision and responsibility. The bird comparison should not be turned into a dietary assertion. Its usefulness lies in bringing an extravagant romantic claim back toward the needs people actually share.
Everyday example
A couple values their affection while making clear arrangements for housing, expenses and everyday responsibilities.
When to use it
Use it to discuss love alongside practical provision.
What it does not mean
The image is not a biological claim or a dismissal of affection.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1010 · Lovers
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English