What is the most important element in a relationship.

Honesty.

If you don't have honesty, you can't have anything else.

 

Trust and what MisterSparkles said

 

I'd just like to express my abject horror that money could be a deciding factor in a relationship. That now done, I would answer in two ways: trust is the most important thing in a successful relationship. But love is the most important thing in the emotional value of a relationship.

 

trust,honesty for me but everyone is different .

 

affection, dialogue, honesty, love, loyalty, trust

 

Huh. I was under the assumption that the wild, kinky sex was most important.

 

Also sex is important .

 

Unfortunately I don't have anything to base this on, but in my mind dedication is the most important key to a successful relationship. Understanding that everything is not always going to be perfect and working through that, not fleeing the first time there's any tension. It's also important to make time for each other even if it's not always convenient.

I share Hexagon's dismay that money is even a consideration; I know that is a complete non-factor for me. The only thing even remotely related that I'd care about is that whoever I was with aspire to something rather than be content always taking the easiest route or trying to shift every bit of financial responsibility to me. The money itself doesn't matter though -- as long as he has a goal that he's trying to pursue that makes him happy, I'm happy. We'll do the best with what we have, whether that's at the high end or the low end of the spectrum.

 

Passion and desire outweighs everything AT FIRST. But when you want to have strong, long term relationship, desire is going to fade, so it's imporant that those two would get along like best friends. Finding a compromise and respecting each other.

 

Communication and honesty.

 

Silicon

 

To be best friends as well as true loves.

 

Common interests and ambitions in life would be important, I'd have thought.

Si!

Es verdad.

 

I was going to say exactly this

 

Both research and all of my subjective experiences confirm that the answer is kindness.

 

Respect, intellect. I'm even going to vouch for humour, because I couldn't possibly be in a relationship with someone who I couldn't have intelligent conversation with, but more importantly, someone I couldn't joke or laugh with, or someone I couldn't tease.

 

It is hard to pick just one thing. There are a number of things that are important.

Love, obviously. Honesty and trust. Kindness. Respect. Be willing to put in time for one another. Be able to communicate and listen to each other.

If I am in a relationship that does not does not have all these things. It just isn't going to work out.

 

Friendship. If you can't get along with the simple friendship, you're not going to be able to stay together after the honeymoon period of the relationship for very long.

I think support, trust, a sense of direction, intellectual and emotional stimulation, and just getting along and having some interests in common are some of the most important things in sustaining a relationship.

As for the attitude that money doesn't matter, I disagree. The ability to support each other within the means of what you're used to (or improving that if it's bad) is important for staying physically and mentally healthy. There's no glory in living in squalor for love when that love wears thin because of it.

 

Loving-kindness, above all. I started this thread on the subject a few days ago.

As for money, actually, I believe it is an important question, and much deeper than we give it credit for.

Yes, to talk of love and money in the same breath seems crass, until you realize that the two are irretrievably intertwined. We can't escape the money question and declare that we are above it all.

Money represents our dual nature, the mundane, every day existence, and the sublime realms of, ideas, love and art. Today, money seems to be the most real thing, but in fact it wasn't always so. The cathedrals in Europe were not built on opinion or considerations of cost, it took conviction and it put money in its proper place, which is secondary.

Money is an important consideration in relationships, one of the three things to consider when contemplating a relationship with someone (The other two are when the person is drunk and when angry.). You will learn a lot about a person if can you see how they spend money, how much of it they earn, what they keep and what they give.