We use this phrase casually.
Often with a half-smile.
“Love is blind.”
It sounds modern.
But it appears in several of Shakespeare’s plays.
What it means
When we say love is blind, we mean:
Strong affection can cloud judgement.
We overlook weaknesses.
We defend decisions we might question in someone else.
We interpret behaviour generously.
It’s not always romantic.
It can describe loyalty.
Team allegiance.
Political attachment.
Anywhere emotion influences perception.
Where it comes from
Shakespeare uses the phrase in The Merchant of Venice (1596), where the character Jessica says:
“Love is blind, and lovers cannot see…”
He also echoes the idea in Henry V.
The image was already part of popular speech in his time —
but Shakespeare helped fix it in the language.
Across Europe
The phrase travelled easily.
In Italian, people say:
L’amore è cieco.
In Spanish:
El amor es ciego.
In Polish:
Miłość jest ślepa.
The structure barely changes.
Which tells us something interesting:
This way of describing attachment —
as a kind of blindness —
is widely shared.
A small reflection
Think beyond romance.
In professional life, we sometimes defend:
• a colleague
• a party
• a policy
• an institution
Not because it is flawless,
but because we feel connected to it.
“Love is blind” is often said lightly.
But it carries a quiet warning:
Strong attachment can soften scrutiny.
This post is part of the Do You Speak Shakespeare? series — exploring expressions that travelled from Shakespeare into modern European languages.