Love means...

Ryan O'Neal the actor was born in Los Angeles on April 20, 1941 (84 years ago today).  In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera Peyton Place.  It was an instant hit and boosted O'Neal's career. 

He later found success in films, most notably in the romantic drama Love Story (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama; Peter Bogdanovich's What's Up, Doc? (1972); and Paper Moon (1973), which earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.

O'Neal died in Santa Monica, California, on December 8, 2023, at the age of 82.  His cause of death was congestive heart failure.

I remember a scene from Love Story filmed in front of an entrance to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan where I had my first surgery five years later.  Ryan O'Neal is leaving the hospital followed by his father, played by Ray Milland.

Ray:  Oliver, why didn't you tell me?  I made a couple of calls and as soon as I found out I jumped right in the car.  Oliver, I want to help.

Ryan:  Jenny's dead.

Ray:  I'm sorry.

Ryan:  Love means never having to say you're sorry.

The line has been criticized and mocked for suggesting that apologies are unnecessary in a loving relationship. Another character played by O'Neal disparages the line in the 1972 screwball comedy What's Up, Doc?

In that film's final scene which is on an airplane, Barbra Streisand's character, responding to his apology, says "Love means never having to say you're sorry," and bats her eyelashes.

O'Neal's character then responds in a flat deadpan voice, "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

I agree.  I believe it's very important in a loving relationship to apologize when appropriate.  I have done that many times.