Quote of the Day: Marion C. Garretty on Love

The scroll never ends. Notifications stack up, headlines sprint, and someone else’s highlight reel quietly convinces us we’re behind. In that noise, we start believing we must handle everything alone, and fast. But there’s an older, steadier antidote that restores perspective: “Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.”

Fuel is a practical word. It implies motion, endurance, and direction, not just sentiment. A mother’s love, at its best, is the kind of devotion that turns overwhelm into the next right step. It doesn’t erase difficulty; it supplies the stamina to meet it. When you’re stretched thin, the question isn’t “How do I become superhuman?” It’s “What kind of love would help me act like my best self for one more hour?”

That’s where the application becomes personal. Motherly love often shows up as patience, sacrifice, and an almost stubborn faith, staying up late, showing up again, choosing care over comfort. You can borrow that pattern even if you’re not a parent. Pick one “impossible” task you’ve been avoiding, then reduce it to a promise you can keep: one call, one page, one apology, one meal, one boundary. Let love be the reason you persist, and let resilience be the skill you practice.

As a 20th-century American poet, Marion C. Garretty earned her reputation by writing with clarity about love, family, and friendship, subjects that only sound simple until life tests them.

Today, choose one person to “mother” in the broadest sense: offer steady support without needing credit, send the encouraging text, do the unnoticed errand, speak the protective truth. Small acts, repeated, create courage, and may that quiet fuel carry you further than you thought possible.