We frequently write about where to get good dating advice. To a degree, what passes for good advice will depend on what, specifically, you are looking for. Do you want a hot first date? If this is your goal, you will need flirting tips and French kissing tips as well as advice about sexy ways to dress and the correct use of condoms. This is much different advice than if you want a cheap first date to protect your pocketbook or want to learn how to become more than just good friends with someone who you like a lot. There are lots of first date tips for men and women. But the best dating advice ever is much more general and has to do with virtually all aspects of online and face-to-face dating. The best dating advice has more to do with you than with whom you are dating. So, what is the best dating advice ever?

Best Dating Advice Ever from the Bard

William Shakespeare, commonly referred to as “the Bard” was a prolific English playwright and poet who lived in early days of the 16th century. A famous line bit of advice comes from the play, Hamlet. A young man is leaving home to go to school and receives advice from his father, Polonius. The advice concludes with the admonition that his son should “stay true to himself.” This more than 400-year-old bit of advice still rings true today and is the best dating advice ever.

Best Answers to Questions about Dating

Is sleeping with more than one person at a time OK? Is dating more than one woman at a time a good idea? Should you keep dating someone when you are starting to realize that you are getting into an abusive relationship? Many times such issues have more to do with our insecurity than with smart dating choices. We so want our dating to succeed and move on to a permanent relationship that we end up hedging our bets by dating more than one person. That way, we think, that we will not get hurt when we break up with someone. Or we “sleep around” to convince ourselves that we are loved and thus to be able to love ourselves. The best dating advice ever is to deal with our own issues first of all and then find someone to date, enjoy romance, and spend a lifetime with.

Quora offers much the same dating advice.

I think this is perhaps the most relevant dating advice I’ve received in regards to my own dating experience and life.

You have to love yourself first, before you can truly love another in a healthy, mature way; I know this may sound corny, but seriously, it is entirely, endlessly relevant.

It’s not just about finding a partner whose life fits and aligns with the life you’ve built for yourself; it’s about finding the balance between what you’ve created on your own, and that which you can build together. It’s about being honest in regards to what you want and need in your partner and what you are truly capable and willing to provide them with in return (compromises etc.).

This is, after 400 years, a reiteration of the advice Polonius gave to his son. Take care of yourself, come to know yourself, and then proceed to relationships.

Best Dating Advice: Kissing Twenty Boys

Years ago we wrote an article, Kiss Twenty Boys. The point was that we start out in the dating world with very little life experience and very little experience with how to date successfully and develop relationships. All too often both men and women “fall for” the first person who pays attention to them. When this happens it is often a case of emotional insecurity and the belief that we are not a whole person without someone to love us. Rather, we are often not capable of being loved and loving unless we have become emotionally mature and has added a bit of experience to our lives.

Kissing twenty boys is not about playing around. It is about finding out what dating and relationships are all about. In that article we also suggest that you take twenty trips, do twenty things together, meet the relatives of more than one new friend, and more. In short, the best dating advice ever is to take your time, get to know and love yourself, and then find someone who is a good fit for the new and more mature you!