I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.

The line expresses a relational view of love: affection is directed not only toward the beloved’s inherent qualities (“what you are”) but also toward the self that emerges in the beloved’s presence (“what I am when I am with you”). It suggests love as transformative and co-creative—an experience that enlarges character, awakens better capacities, or makes life feel more fully realized. The sentiment also implies that compatibility is measured by mutual becoming: the relationship is valued because it brings out a truer or nobler version of the speaker. This idea has made the quote popular in modern romantic contexts, even when detached from its original literary setting.