More from John Green

Love is not like mass or energy — it is not conserved.

JG

John Green

Kenyon College Commencement 2016, 2016

3:27

Video starts at 3:27 — the moment this quote was spoken

The Story Behind This Quote

John Green, the bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars, returned to his alma mater Kenyon College for the 2016 commencement. He began with a minute of silence — a trick he learned from Fred Rogers — asking everyone to think about the people who loved them into this moment. His thoughts turned to his professor Don Rogan, who had died that year. Rogan was a brilliant teacher, but what Green remembered most was not phenomenology or gospel redaction — it was that Rogan loved him and took him seriously. For years Green wondered why, since he was not a particularly good student. When Rogan died and grief-stricken posts poured in from former students, Green realized: 'He had loved us all.' Love, unlike mass or energy, is not conserved — it multiplies.

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