Meaning & Analysis
Something is so unavailable or rare that it cannot be obtained either through emotional appeal (love) or financial means (money).
Insights
Absolute Unattainability
Emphasizes that certain things are entirely beyond reach, no matter how much effort, affection, or wealth one invests—conveying a sense of total inaccessibility.
Limits of Influence
Highlights the limitations of both emotional persuasion and material power, implying that not all outcomes can be controlled or secured by common human tools of negotiation.
Scarcity and Value
Often used hyperbolically to stress how rare or in-demand something is, thereby elevating its perceived value through its unavailability.
Duality of Power—Emotion and Wealth
The proverb plays on two principal means of human influence—affection and capital. That both fail reinforces a sobering truth: some things lie beyond even the strongest social currencies.
Commercial and Romantic Symbolism
Love and money represent opposing spheres of influence—emotional and economic—making the proverb rhetorically rich and widely adaptable, from personal relationships to political satire.
Cultural Emphasis on Desire and Denial
Its enduring popularity reveals cultural fascination with the tension between desire and denial, reinforcing how powerlessness—especially when felt across all fronts—is a potent emotional experience.
Irony and Exaggeration in Complaint
Commonly used in light-hearted or ironic contexts to dramatize minor frustrations, the proverb also functions as an expressive tool for voicing dissatisfaction or comedic hyperbole.
Rhetorical Devices
Merism
The use of 'love nor money' as a contrasting pair creates a rhetorical totality, signifying the entire range of possible motivations or transactions.
Antithesis
Juxtaposes 'love' (emotion) and 'money' (material means) to highlight the failure of both domains in achieving the desired outcome.
Hyperbole
Exaggerates the difficulty of obtaining something to underscore rarity or personal frustration, enhancing both humor and emphasis.
Transcription
Quotations
Neither for loue nor mony they will winke.
An Hostler to walke them was not to be had for loue or money.
I have a verie greate desire to obtaine it for him, if it may bee had for love or monie.
For a thing to be rare, not to be had for love nor money.
If it were to be had For Love or Money.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan

Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.