to love just a little bit

Risky, tought Paul D, very risky. For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit; everything, just a little but, so when they broke its back, or shoved it on croacker sack, we, maybe you'd have a little love left over for the next one. 

- Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)