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The expense of the gift can never equate to the amount of the love expressed, either on Valentine's Day or on any other special occasion, at any time of the year. Love is not something which can ever be measured or stated in monetary terms and therefore it is likely to be other factors which will determine the cost of any and all gifts given.

The easy way to look at this question when determining the value of any gift given or received on Valentine's Day is to look at the financial circumstances of the person giving the gift. It stands to reason that the more affluent a person is, the more they are likely to spend on the gift. It is not of course a written rule, merely a rule of thumb. If we expand on this to consider, however, whether a King giving his Queen a treasure chest full of jewels on Valentine's Day loves her more than the poor man presenting his wife with a bunch of wild flowers he hand-picked from a field, we can quite patently see that this is not the case. The two men may adore their wives equally, or quite possibly, the King is making an empty gesture while the poor man is truly expressing his feelings.

We should also consider at this point the thought which a person puts in in to a gift given on Valentine's Day. If someone chooses to give the person whom they love a fairly inexpensive gift which they know or at least wholly believe that person will love and cherish, as opposed to a more expensive yet less desired alternative, we may say that the lesser expense expresses a greater amount of love. This is simply because the person giving the gift has considered what is likely to please the recipient as opposed to how much money they can afford to spend upon it.

Valentine's Day is about one person expressing their love and appreciation of another. Love is an intangible thing yet far more powerful than any amount of wealth a man may possess. If we try to equate, therefore, to any great extent, the expense spared or otherwise on a gift given at this time, we merely detract from the importance and symbolism of the gift. Instead, anyone giving or receiving a gift on Valentine's Day should focus on their feelings for the other person only, the motivation and consideration behind the gift, and consider the price of same wholly incidental. In this way, both parties can focus on what the gift truly means and not detract from the principal issue at hand.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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