How do you translate "しか" correctly?


This is the sentence I'm trying to translate... I can't figure out which part
is being negated

> 好きになるというのは自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所を差し出すことでしか成立しない

I translated it as:

> whoever the person you come to love is your biggest weakness

and then I have no idea what the end would be. I know what the parts mean
individually but I can't make them connect.




If you're not familiar with the しか～ない construction, please read
[this](http://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-expressions-dake-
shika.html) first.

> ［好きになるというの］は［（自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所）を差し出すこと］でしか成立しない

The basic structure of the whole sentence is:

> AはBでしか成立しない （≒AはBでだけ成立する）  
>  A is established only by B.  
>  Nothing but B can make/form A.

Where

  * A is a noun phrase, 好きになるというの ("falling in love with someone")
  * B is another long noun phrase, 自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所を差し出すこと (lit. "giving the part where your skin is thinnest and softest")

So the whole sentence roughly means "To love someone, one must give/devote the
thinnest and softest skin part of you body" or something like this.

To translate this naturally, I need some more contexts. In particular, I'm not
sure what B is actually referring to. B may figuratively mean "showing the
fragile part of your mind" or "being honest", but it may have a more sensual
and explicit meaning.




If you're not familiar with the しか～ない construction, please read
[this](http://www.learn-japanese-adventure.com/japanese-expressions-dake-
shika.html) first.

> ［好きになるというの］は［（自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所）を差し出すこと］でしか成立しない

The basic structure of the whole sentence is:

> AはBでしか成立しない （≒AはBでだけ成立する）  
>  A is established only by B.  
>  Nothing but B can make/form A.

Where

  * A is a noun phrase, 好きになるというの ("falling in love with someone")
  * B is another long noun phrase, 自分の一番皮膚の薄い柔らかい場所を差し出すこと (lit. "giving the part where your skin is thinnest and softest")

So the whole sentence roughly means "To love someone, one must give/devote the
thinnest and softest skin part of you body" or something like this.

To translate this naturally, I need some more contexts. In particular, I'm not
sure what B is actually referring to. B may figuratively mean "showing the
fragile part of your mind" or "being honest", but it may have a more sensual
and explicit meaning.

