quotes from essays in love

Quotes from Essays in Love

Alain de Botton ·  211 pages

Rating: (14.7K votes)

“Every fall into love involves the triumph of hope over self-knowledge. We fall in love hoping we won't find in another what we know is in ourselves, all the cowardice, weakness, laziness, dishonesty, compromise, and stupidity. We throw a cordon of love around the chosen one and decide that everything within it will somehow be free of our faults. We locate inside another a perfection that eludes us within ourselves, and through our union with the beloved hope to maintain (against the evidence of all self-knowledge) a precarious faith in our species.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“We are all more intelligent than we are capable, and awareness of the insanity of love has never saved anyone from the disease.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“We fall in love because we long to escape from ourselves with someone as beautiful, intelligent, and witty as we are ugly, stupid, and dull. But what if such a perfect being should one day turn around and decide they will love us back? We can only be somewhat shocked-how can they be as wonderful as we had hoped when they have the bad taste to approve of someone like us?” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“It was no longer her absence that wounded me, but my growing indifference to it. Forgetting, however calming, was also a reminder of infidelity to what I had at one time held so dear.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“To be loved by someone is to realize how much they share the same needs that lie at the heart of our own attraction to them. Albert Camus suggested that we fall in love with people because, from the outside, they look so whole, physically whole and emotionally 'together' - when subjectively we feel dispersed and confused. We would not love if there were no lack within us, but we are offended by the discovery of a similar lack in the other. Expecting to find the answer, we find only the duplicate of our own problem.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“The more familiar two people become, the more the language they speak together departs from that of the ordinary, dictionary-defined discourse. Familiarity creates a new language, an in-house language of intimacy that carries reference to the story the two lovers are weaving together and that cannot be readily understood by others.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“.. if you asked most people whether they believed in love or not, they’d probably say they didn’t. Yet that’s not necessarily what they truly think. It’s just the way they defend themselves against what they want. They believe in it, but pretend they don’t until they’re allowed to. Most people would throw away all their cynicism if they could. The majority just never gets the chance.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Everyone returns us to a different sense of ourselves, for we become a little of who they think we are.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Must being in love always mean being in pain?” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Perhaps the easiest people to fall in love with are those about whom we know nothing. Romances are never as pure as those we imagine during long train journeys, as we secretly contemplate a beautiful person who is gazing out of the window – a perfect love story interrupted only when the beloved looks back into the carriage and starts up a dull conversation about the excessive price of the on-board sandwiches with a neighbour or blows her nose aggressively into a handkerchief.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“The most attractive are not those who allow us to kiss them at once [we soon feel ungrateful] or those who never allow us to kiss them [we soon forget them], but those who coyly lead us between the two extremes.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“If cynicism and love lie at opposite ends of a spectrum, do we not sometimes fall in love in order to escape the debilitating cynicism to which we are prone? Is there not in every coup de foudre a certain willful exaggeration of the qualities of the beloved, an exaggeration which distracts us from our habitual pessimism and focuses our energies on someone in whom we can believe in a way we have never believed in ourselves?” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“The telephone becomes an instrument of torture in the demonic hands of a beloved who doesn't call.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Unrequited love may be painful, but it is safely painful, because it does not involve inflicting damage on anyone but oneself, a private pain that is as bitter-sweet as it is self-induced. But as soon as love is reciprocated, one must be prepared to give up the passivity of simply being hurt to take on the responsibility of perpetrating hurt oneself.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“There is a longing for a return to a time without the need for choices, free of the regret at the inevitable loss that all choice (however wonderful) has entailed.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“In the oasis complex, the thirsty man images he sees water, palm trees, and shade not because he has evidence for the belief, but because he has a need for it. Desperate needs bring about a hallucination of their solution: thirst hallucinates water, the need for love hallucinates a prince or princess. The oasis complex is never a complete delusion: the man in the desert does see something on the horizon. It is just that the palms have withered, the well is dry, and the place is infected with locusts.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Her lie was symptomatic of a certain pride she took in mocking the romantic, in being unsentimental, matter-of-fact, stoic; yet at heart she was the opposite: idealistic, dreamy, giving, and deeply attached to everything she liked verbally to dismiss as "mushy.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“The inability to live in the present lies in the fear of leaving the sheltered position of anticipation or memory, and so of admitting that this is the only life that one is ever likely (heavenly intervention aside) to live.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“The longing for destiny is nowhere stronger than in our romantic life.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“We wanted to test each other's capacity for survival: only if we had tried in vain to destroy one another would we know we were safe.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“As Proust once said, classically beautiful women should be left to men without imagination.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Perhaps because the origins of a certain kind of love lie in an impulse to escape ourselves and out weaknesses by an alliance with the beautiful and noble. But if the loved ones love us back, we are forced to return to ourselves, and are hence reminded of the things that had driven us into love in the first place. Perhaps it was not love we wanted after all, perhaps it was simply someone in whom to believe, but how can we continue to believe the the beloved now that they believe in us?” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“In the end, I've found that it doesn't really matter who you marry. If you like them at the beginning, you probably won't like them at the end. And if you start off hating them, there's always the chance you'll end up thinking they're all right.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“What is so frightening is the extent to which we may idealize others when we have such trouble tolerating ourselves” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Everyone returns us to a different sense of ourselves, for we become a little of who they think we are. Our selves could be compared to an amoeba, whose outer walls are elastic, and therefore adapt to the environment. It is not that the amoeba has no dimensions, simply that it has no self-defined shape. It is my absurdist side that an absurdist person will draw out of me, and my seriousness that a serious person will evoke. If someone thinks I am shy, I will probably end up shy, if someone thinks me funny, I am likely to keep cracking jokes.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“We had often read the same books at night in the same bed, and later realized that they had touched us in different places: that they had been different books for each of us. Might the same divergence not occur over a single love-line? I felt like a dandelion releasing hundreds of spores into the air - and not knowing if any of them would get through.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“Yet we can perhaps only ever fall in love without knowing quite who we have fallen in love with. The initial convulsion is necessarily founded on ignorance.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“In Plato's Symposium, Aristophanes accounts for this feeling of familiarity by claiming that the loved one was our long-lost 'other half to whose body our own had originally been joined. In the beginning, all human beings were hermaphrodites with double backs and flanks, four hands and four legs and two faces turned in opposite directions on the same head. These hermaphrodites were so powerful and their pride so overweening that Zeus was forced to cut them in two, into a male and female half – and from that day, every man and woman has yearned nostalgically but confusedly to rejoin the part from which he or she was severed.” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

“By forty, everyone has the face they deserve,’ wrote George Orwell,” ― Alain de Botton, quote from Essays in Love

About the author

Alain de Botton Born place: in Zurich, Switzerland See more on GoodReads

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Essays in Love (On Love) by Alain de Botton

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B : weaknesses galore, but clever enough, with his trademark digressions, that we do recommend it

See our review for fuller assessment.

   From the Reviews : "Alain de Botton picks up the torch, so to speak, more or less where Stendhal left off. De Botton�s On Love reads as if Stendhal had lived into the �90s, survived modern critical theory (as he clearly has), thought it was funny (as he likely would have), but retained a novelist�s sympathy for the impulse -- which he shared -- to deconstruct and to dissect in search of some higher understanding." - Francine Prose, The New Republic "The result is something like La Rochefoucauld�s maxims crossed with Adolphe, with jokes and against a background of luggage reclaim areas and breakfast cereal packets. (...) Ingeniously pinpointed mundane details stop the novel from getting too abstract. It is witty, funny, sophisticated, neatly tied up, and full of wise and illuminating insights." - Gabriele Annan, The Spectator Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review 's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

The complete review 's Review :

       Baby-faced in appearance, Gallic in name and often in attitude, English Wunderkind De Botton has achieved notable (and somewhat galling) success at an early age, with five books to his name before he turned thirty. On Love was his first novel ( Essays in Love , as the British original had it) -- though there are also similarly themed later novels, Kiss & Tell and The Romantic Movement . Love preoccupies the young author, as well it might, and though a big subject to tackle, De Botton tackles well.        The story of this novel is simplicity itself: a love affair, from its very beginning to its very end. De Botton's narrator describes falling in love with Chloe, being in love with her, and then getting over her. An old story, the twist here is in how De Botton relates it, dwelling and (over)analyzing each and every aspect, and looking to see greater truths in them.        De Botton is intelligent, and he chooses to approach his book cleverly. Clever and intelligent do not always mix, but De Botton manages quite well. Each relatively short chapter is further divided into numbered paragraphs, each a brief point (or often a brief digression) illuminating various aspects of the love between Chloe and the narrator -- and love in general. Young, well-educated, fairly well to do, neither is completely sympathetic. Part of De Botton's success is that he shows us everyday love in characters who are not particularly appealing. He revels in considering all aspects of love, including -- or rather, especially -- the mundane and everyday and trivial. There are charts and pictures and diagrams, and some of it is too cute and forced, but overall it is indeed a clever little book.        It is a young author's book, and we occasionally grimace at some of what De Botton tries -- but it is a difficult subject to handle well. Other people's love affairs are often not the most interesting of subjects, especially when one deals with the everyday minutiae, but for most of the book De Botton keeps us hooked with his interesting thoughts on love's many aspects. The almost banal affair itself does stifle the narrative (De Botton's strength is certainly essayistic, which is why his Proust book is far superior to the novels), but there are enough well-conceived flights of fancy to keep the reader amused.        In her review Francine Prose makes particular note of the chapter entitled Marxism , where the Marxism in question is not Karl's, but rather the Groucho's who didn't want to belong to any club that would have him. It is that sort of cleverness that fills the book, and those who are put off by it should turn elsewhere. Prose is correct in expecting that those who can't appreciate this notion (which De Botton handles very cleverly) would not enjoy the book. We would argue that the book is, on some level, even more demanding than that. De Botton is intelligent, and the book is rich in allusion and reference. While most of this is enjoyable, it is perhaps the place where he truly goes wrong: the references are too clever for the quality of his narrative (he is not quite up to snuff in the story-telling department yet), and so readers are left either disappointed by the writing or confused by the references.        We still recommend this book rather highly, as an interesting failed effort, with enough quality, humor, and cleverness (and love-talk !) to satisfy. Like all of De Botton's book, it makes one think -- though without being overly taxing.

About the Author :

       English author Alain de Botton was born in Switzerland in 1969 and educated at Cambridge.

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Home » 90 Beautiful Love Quotes from Literature

90 Beautiful Love Quotes from Literature

By Author Rena Meyer

Posted on Published: April 10, 2021  - Last updated: January 21, 2024

Categories Quotes

Love is powerful, but it’s also complicated.

More often than not, it’s difficult to put that feeling of love into words because it will steal them right out of your mouth. We can, thankfully, always turn to literature to fill in the gaps and find some romantic inspiration.

Whether you’re looking to get into the Valentine’s Day spirit, or you’re struggling with words to express how you feel for someone special, these beautiful love quotes from literature are sure to help.

Chances are, some of the best and most famous writers have already put your thoughts into words.

On our list of love quotes from books , you’ll find romantic quotes for him, love quotes for her, and inspirational love quotes you can use as Instagram captions, to remind someone how special they are to you, or anything else you can think of.

After all, there are (at least) a million different ways to say “I love you,” and no one knew them better than these wordsmiths.

Best love quotes from literature

1. “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” ― Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights

2. “I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I’ve led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who’s ever lived: I’ve loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough.” ― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

3. “I’ve never had a moment’s doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.” ― Ian McEwan, Atonement

4. “Having begun to love you, I love you for ever – in all changes, in all disgraces, because you are yourself.” ― Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles

6. “…There is the heat of Love, the pulsing rush of Longing, the lover’s whisper, irresistible—magic to make the sanest man go mad.” ― Homer, The Iliad

7. “Each time you happen to me all over again.” ― Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence

8. “It’s enough for me to be sure that you and I exist at this moment.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

9. “Who, being loved, is poor?” — Oscar Wilde , A Woman of No Importance

10. “It is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.” ― Thomas Mann, The Magic Mountain

11. “She was more than human to me. She was a Fairy, a Sylph, I don’t know what she was – anything that no one ever saw, and everything that everybody ever wanted. I was swallowed up in an abyss of love in an instant. There was no pausing on the brink; no looking down, or looking back; I was gone, headlong, before I had sense to say a word to her.” ― Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

12. “It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.” ― William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair

13. “Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.” ― Alfred Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam

14. “Wounds heal. Love lasts. We remain.” ― Kristin Hannah , The Nightingale

15. “I am glad it cannot happen twice, the fever of first love. For it is a fever, and a burden, too, whatever the poets may say.” ― Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

16. “Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Bound

17. “If I know what love is, it is because of you.” — Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund

18. “All, everything that I understand, I understand only because I love.” — Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

19. “Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.” ― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

20. “Gamble everything for love, if you are a true human being.” ― Rumi , The Essential Rumi

21. “A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world.” ― Jack Kerouac , On the Road

22. “Kiss me, and you will see how important I am.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

23. “Don’t ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it.” ― Toni Morrison, Jazz

24 . “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

25. “Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.” — William Goldman, The Princess Bride

26. “To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

27. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.” ― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

28. “Love, whether newly born or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

29. “Just in case you ever foolishly forget; I’m never not thinking of you.” — Virginia Woolf , Selected Diaries

30. “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” — Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

30. “I have for the first time found what I can truly love – I have found you. You are my sympathy – my better self – my good angel – I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you – and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.” — Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

31. “I love you as certain dark things are to be loved, in secret, between the shadow and the soul.” ― Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets

32. “You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” — John Green, The Fault in Our Stars

33. “For where all love is, the speaking is unnecessary” ― Diana Gabaldon, Outlander

34. “To know and love one other human being is the root of all wisdom.” ― Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited

35. “Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.” ― Paulo Coelho, Aleph

36. “Love is a great beautifier.” ― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

37. “What greater thing is there for two human souls, than to feel that they are joined for life–to strengthen each other in all labour, to rest on each other in all sorrow, to minister to each other in all pain, to be one with each other in silent unspeakable memories at the moment of the last parting?” – George Eliot, Adam Bede

38. “Love is like a tree: it grows by itself, roots itself deeply in our being and continues to flourish over a heart in ruin. The inexplicable fact is that the blinder it is, the more tenacious it is. It is never stronger than when it is completely unreasonable.” ― Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

39. “The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

40. “We loved with a love that was more than love.” ― Edgar Allan Poe , Annabel Lee

41. “I’ve always loved you, and when you love someone, you love the whole person, just as he or she is, and not as you would like them to be.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

42. “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

43. “You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.” ― Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

44. “If you remember me, then I don’t care if everyone else forgets.” ― Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

45. “I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” ― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

46. “Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.” ― Elizabeth von Arnim, The Enchanted April

47. “It had flaws, but what does that matter when it comes to matters of the heart? We love what we love. Reason does not enter into it. In many ways, unwise love is the truest love. Anyone can love a thing because. That’s as easy as putting a penny in your pocket. But to love something despite. To know the flaws and love them too. That is rare and pure and perfect.” ― Patrick Rothfuss , The Wise Man’s Fear

48. “If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.” ― Jane Austen, Emma

49. “Woman is sacred; the woman one loves is holy.” ― Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo

50. “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” ― Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

51. “When you fall in love, it is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake, and then it subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots are to become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the desire to mate every second of the day. It is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every part of your body. No … don’t blush. I am telling you some truths. For that is just being in love; which any of us can convince ourselves we are. Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? But it is!” – Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

52. “Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.” ― Nicole Krauss, The History of Love

53. “We are all fools in love.” – Jane Austen , Pride and Prejudice

54. “The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

55. “Love, she thought, must come suddenly, with great outbursts and lightnings,–a hurricane of the skies, which falls upon life, revolutionises it, roots up the will like a leaf, and sweeps the whole heart into the abyss.” ― Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary

56. “There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.” ― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

57. “My love is selfish. I cannot breathe without you.” ― John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

58. “Oh, you can’t describe someone you’re in love with!” ― Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

59. “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” ― C.S. Lewis , The Four Loves

60. “The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.” ― Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

61. “When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.” ― Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

62. “Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

63. “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

64. “If it’s true that here are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” ― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

65. “I want to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald , The Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

66. “It isn’t possible to love and part. You will wish that it was. You can transmute love, ignore it, muddle it, but you can never pull it out of you. I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal.” ― E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

67. “We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love—true love.” ― Robert Fulghum, True Love

68. “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” — Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

69. “If you ever have need of my life, come and take it.” — Anton Chekhov, The Seagull

70. “They held each other and kissed and pushed each others’ darkness into the corner, believing in each others’ light, each others’ dream.” ― Hubert Selby Jr., Requiem for a Dream

71. “Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.” ― Neil Gaiman , Stardust

72. “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” ― Pablo Neruda, 100 Love Sonnets 

73. “Love is like the sea. It’s a moving thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from the shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” ― Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

74. “The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing.” ― Blaise Pascal, Pensées

75. “And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.” ― Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars

76. “I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

77. “Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness.” ― Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd

78. “The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person.” – Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters

79. “To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life.“ – Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

80. “My heart is, and always will be, yours.” — Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

81. “And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.” ― Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

82. “How frightening, that one person could mean so much, so many things.” ― Colleen McCullough, The Thorn Birds

83. “Happiness is holding someone in your arms and knowing you hold the whole world.” ― Orhan Pamuk, Snow

84. “Doubt thou that the sun is fire, Doubt that that the sun does move, doubt truth to be a liar, but never doubt that I love.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet

85. “It doesn’t matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.” – Roald Dahl, The Witches

86. “If I could have him like this in my dreams every night of my life, I’d stake my entire life on dreams and be done with the rest.” ― André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name

87. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” ― Erich Segal, Love Story

88. “Make sure you marry someone who laughs at the same things you do.” ― J.D. Salinger , The Catcher in the Rye

89. “The only regret I will have in dying is if it is not for love.” ― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

90. “I love you wildly, insanely, infinitely.” ― Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago

91. “I have so much of you in my heart.” ― John Keats, Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne

92. “It was good to be alive; it was better to be young; it was best of all to be in love.” ― Arthur C. Clarke, The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke

93. “I will follow you to the ends of the world.” ― Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns

• Sad Love Quotes To Help You Cope With Heartbreak
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25 Modern Love Essays to Read if You Want to Laugh, Cringe and Cry

The popular column, which began in 2004, has become a podcast, a book and an Amazon Prime streaming series. Here are some of its greatest hits.

By Daniel Jones

Whether you’re new to Modern Love or a longtime fan, we think you’ll enjoy this collection of some of our most memorable essays. You’ll find some of our most read and most shared of all time, and others that really got readers talking (and tweeting, and sharing). We present, in no particular order, the quirky, the profound, the head scratching and the heartbreaking. (A handful of these essays and dozens more of our most memorable columns can also be found in the Modern Love anthology .)

To keep up on all things Modern Love — our weekly essays, podcast episodes and batches of Tiny Love Stories, along with other relationship-based reads from The Times — sign up for Love Letter , a weekly email. And check out the “Modern Love” television series , based on this column, on Amazon Prime Video.

1. No Sound, No Fury, No Marriage

By Laura Pritchett

After her peaceful marriage quietly dissolves, a woman comes to appreciate the vitality of conflict and confrontation.

2. Sometimes, It’s Not You, or the Math

By Sara Eckel

He didn’t care that I was 39 and hadn’t had a serious boyfriend in eight years.

3. Am I Gay or Straight? Maybe This Fun Quiz Will Tell Me

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A young woman seeks answers to her sexual orientation online, where the endless quizzes she takes deliver whatever label she wants.

4. First I Met My Children. Then My Girlfriend. They’re Related.

By Aaron Long

A former sperm donor, searching online, finds both offspring and love. 

5. What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage

By Amy Sutherland

I wanted — needed — to nudge my husband a little closer to perfect.

6. The 12-Hour Goodbye That Started Everything

By Miriam Johnson

A spurned woman confronts the question: When you lose love, should you even try to get over it?

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By Andrew Rannells

On one of the most consequential evenings of his life, a young man still finding himself wishes he had picked up the phone.

8. Let’s Meet Again in Five Years

By Karen B. Kaplan

They thought college was too soon for lifelong love, so they scheduled their next date for a little later — 60 months.

9. My Body Doesn’t Belong to You

By Heather Burtman

A young woman who finds herself being catcalled, followed and grabbed at wonders why some men seem to think a female body is public property.

10. Making a Marriage Magically Tidy

By Helen Ellis

At her husband’s suggestion (and with the wisdom of Marie Kondo), a recovering slob discovers the sexiness of cleanliness.

11. Loved and Lost? It’s O.K., Especially if You Win

By Veronica Chambers

It’s O.K. to fall deeply for one loser after another. It’s O.K. to show up at a guy’s house with a dozen roses and declare your undying affection.

12. To Stay Married, Embrace Change

By Ada Calhoun

It’s unrealistic to expect your spouse to forever remain the same person you fell in love with.

13. After 264 Haircuts, a Marriage Ends

By William Dameron

He acknowledged he was gay and left his wife, but he kept returning home for their monthly ritual.

14. In the Waiting Room of Estranged Spouses

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An ex-soldier, rocked by infidelity, finds hope in a chance meeting with a mother and her young son.

15. What Sleeping With Married Men Taught Me About Infidelity

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A divorced woman seeking no-strings-attached liaisons learns a sobering lesson about men and marriage.

16. Sharing a Cab, and My Toes

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During a taxi ride home a co-worker makes a surprising request.

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By Ali Rachel Pearl

Living a life where secondary abstinence isn’t exactly a first choice.

18. No Labels, No Drama, Right?

By Jordana Narin

The winner of the 2015 Modern Love college essay contest, who was then a sophomore at Columbia University, writes about her generation’s reluctance to define relationships.

19. Those Aren’t Fighting Words, Dear

By Laura A. Munson

“I don’t love you anymore,” my husband said, but I survived the sucker punch.

20. You May Want to Marry My Husband

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After learning she doesn’t have long to live, a woman composes a dating profile for the man she will leave behind.

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A man learns to deal with Asperger’s syndrome, with the help of his wife.

22. My Husband Is Now My Wife

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He took the first step in becoming a woman: surgery to help his face look more feminine.

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How might a woman love the millstone I believed myself to be?

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25. To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This

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What happens if you decide that falling in love is not something that happens to you, but something that you do?

Daniel Jones is the editor of Modern Love.

Modern Love can be reached at [email protected] .

Want more? Watch the trailer for the Modern Love TV show ; read past Modern Love columns and Tiny Love Stories ; listen to the Modern Love Podcast on iTunes , Spotify or Google Play Music ; check out the updated anthology “ Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption ;” and follow Modern Love on Facebook .

Stories of Love to Nourish Your Soul

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This Is Not the Relationship I Ordered:   Divorce leaves a woman with a surprising realization  about who has been the love of her life.

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Alain de Botton

Essays in love.

'De Botton is a national treasure.' - Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black A unique love story and a classic work of philosophy, rooted in the mysterious workings of the human heart and mind. Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved. A man and woman on a flight from Paris to London, and so begins their love story. From first kiss to first argument, infatuation to heartbreak, de Botton illuminates each stage of their relationship with a clarity both startling and tender. With the verve of a novelist and the insight of a philosopher, Essays in Love unveils the mysteries of the human heart. It is essential reading for anyone seeking instruction in the art of love.

The book's success has much to do with its beautifully modelled sentences, its wry humour and its unwavering deadpan respect for its reader's intelligence . . . full of keen observation and flashes of genuine lyricism, acuity and depth. Francine Prose, author of The Vixen and Lovers at the Chameleon Club

Witty, funny, sophisticated, neatly tied up, and full of wise and illuminating insights The Spectator

De Botton is a national treasure. Susan Hill, author of The Woman in Black

Books by Alain de Botton

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• The Course of Love

In Edinburgh, a couple, Rabih and Kirsten, fall in love. They get married. They have children. Society tells us this is the end of the story. In fact, it is only the beginning.

The long-awaited and beguiling sequel to Essays in Love , The Course of Love charts the complex and intricate course of a long-term relationship.

We all know the headiness and excitement of love’s early days, but what can be expected over a shared lifetime? We follow our couple – Rabih and Kristen – from the first flush of infatuation through to inevitable disenchantments and then onto the freedom and insights of maturity. The Course of Love is a novel that explores not so much the start of love, as its maintenance over time; the way our ideals bend and reform under the pressures of an average existence, and the magnificent, sometimes frightening, developments we can make as we slowly realise that love is in essence a skill we need to learn rather than an enthusiasm we simply experience.

Playful, wise, and profoundly moving , The Course of Love is an unparalleled meditation on modern relationships —and a delightful return to the novel for Alain, more than 20 years after Essays in Love .

Published in 2016.

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Love Quotes for Every Occasion

One of my biggest fears — aside from getting stuck mid-air on a ferris wheel, or, say, dropping an AirPod on the subway tracks — has always been writing Valentine’s Day cards. Though every year presents me with the opportunity to write a myriad of letters for friends, family, and, in my angsty early teenage years, countless crushes who were never meant to read my overly looped love declarations à la To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before , I remain significantly more comfortable expressing my love through pastries, not prose.

But with Valentine’s Day around the corner, I figure: why not conquer my fear with the help of the internet? From salient ruminations on love to gut-wrenchingly cheesy expressions, here are some of the best love quotes to inspire you beyond February 14.

“First best is falling in love. Second best is being in love. Least best is falling out of love. But any of it is better than never having been in love.” — Maya Angelou

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” — Zelda Fitzgerald, Save Me the Waltz

“That’s why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they’d call them something else.” —Paul Dooley as Jim Baker, Sixteen Handles

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” — Martin Luther King Jr., I Have a Dream

“But love doesn’t make sense. I mean, you can’t logic your way in or out of it. Love is totally nonsensical. But we have to keep doing it, or else we’re lost, and love is dead, and humanity should just pack it in. Because love is the best thing we do.” —Josh Radnor as Ted Mosby, How I Met Your Mother

“You have to be at the right time in your life that you’re ready for an everlasting relationship, that it becomes first and a priority in your life. If your career is important to you, don’t get married and have children, because something will give. I know we as women, we want to be able to have it all, but we can’t have it all at the same time. So make your priority of what you want at that time.” — Iman, Oprah: Where Are They Now?

“Perhaps we are in this world to search for love, find it and lose it, again and again. With each love, we are born anew, and with each love that ends we collect a new wound. I am covered with proud scars.” — Isabel Allende, Paula: A Memoir

“I don’t want the heavens or the shooting stars. I don’t want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want… a steady hand. A kind soul.” — Shana Abé, The Dream Thief

“You can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and those around you. That kind of beauty inflames the heart and enchants the soul.” — Lupita Nyong’o, Essence Magazine’s Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon

“I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” — Charles Dickens, Great Expectations

“You are the calm and voice of reason, always keeping things in perspective and seeing the beauty and light in every circumstance. I love you more than words could explain and I’m so proud to be your partner in life.” — Jessica Alba on Cash Warren, Instagram

“I don’t hate hardly ever, and when I love, I love for miles and miles. A love so big, it should either be outlawed or it should have a capital and its own currency.” — Carrie Fisher, Shockaholic

“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“I think that one of the things that you do learn is that falling in love and being in love with someone is a rarity. That you don’t fall in love as many times as you think you’re going to. And then when you do, it’s really special, it’s really important. Maybe it does happen to some people a couple of times, or maybe it is once, but I think you do know and you have to value it, and not just say, yeah, it’ll happen again!” — Julianne Moore on Bart Freundlich,  Collider

“Don’t ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it.” — Toni Morrison, Jazz

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?” — RuPaul

“If you are not feminist in love, you fail to recognize someone who does not love you. Feminism makes love easier. Otherwise, there is the danger of feeling romantically drawn to someone who does not see you as an equal.” — Gloria Steinem, Jaipur Literature Festival

“I stopped believing in love at first sight…I think you go through that wonderful love stage, but when it gets hard, you need a little bit more.” — Michelle Obama, The Oprah Winfrey Show

“The love expressed between women is particular and powerful because we have had to love in order to live; love has been our survival.” — Audre Lorde, I Am Your Sister: Collected and Unpublished Writings of Audre Lorde

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, or tarnishings.” — Anaïs Nin, The Four-Chambered Heart

“It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.” — William Makepeace Thackeray, The History of Pendennis: His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy

“You’ve got to learn to leave the table when love’s no longer being served.” — Nina Simone, You’ve Got to Learn

“There is no charm equal to tenderness of the heart.” — Jane Austen, Emma  

“It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.” — Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

“I would not be the woman I am if I did not go home to that man. It just gives me such a foundation. [He’s helped me] on so many levels. We were friends first for a year and a half before we went on any date. On the phone for a year and a half. And that foundation is so important in a relationship. And just to have someone that you just like , you know, is so important. And someone who is honest.” — Beyoncé on Jay-Z, Oprah’s Next Chapter

“But the most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you can find someone to love the you you love, well, that’s just fabulous.” —Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw, Sex and the City

“If you wish to heal your sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of others. They are looking to you for guidance, help, courage, strength, understanding, and for assurance. Most of all, they are looking to you for love.” — Ana Castillo, Give It to Me

“I’m grateful for everything. I’m grateful for my health, and I’m so grateful for the love in my life. Because not everybody finds that. Not everybody finds that best friend.” — Ellen DeGeneres on Portia de Rossi, People  

“If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.” —Hugh Grant as Prime Minister David, Love Actually

“My mom always used to say, ‘You can’t say I love you before you can say I.’ And I think that sort of makes sense.” — Mindy Kaling, Your Tango

“Dax [Shepard] helped me learn that I don’t have it all figured out. Sometimes that’s the greatest gift someone can give you.” — Kristen Bell on Dax Shepard, Good Housekeeping

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.” — Oprah Winfrey, People

“We loved with a love that was more than love.” — Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee

“I am a feminist, and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black; it means that I must undertake to love myself and to respect myself as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.” — June Jordan, Civil Wars

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

“Everybody wants to define everything. Is it necessary to define love?” — Patti Smith on Robert Mapplethorpe, Interview

“He was the only person who put up with me. It’s difficult for a guy to understand what women are thinking. Most guys don’t even listen. He was very forward-thinking in that sense. He really jumped into feminism, no argument. He would ask me, ‘Could you find feminist groups for me?’ Even now, I don’t think men get together and say, ‘Let’s be feminists.’” — Yoko Ono on John Lennon, Rolling Stone

  “It was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together, and I knew it.” —Tom Hanks as Sam Baldwin, Sleepless in Seattle

“We started talking about [how] we came into this fake romantic concept that somehow when we got married that we would become one. And, what we realized is that we were two completely separate people on two completely separate individual journeys and that we were choosing to walk our separate journeys together. But her happiness was her responsibility and my happiness was my responsibility.” — Will Smith on Jada Pinkett-Smith, Instagram

“I like you very much. Just as you are.” —Colin Firth as Mark Darcy, Bridget Jones’s Diary

“The most important relationship in your life is the relationship you have with yourself.” — Diane Von Furstenberg, The Woman I Wanted to Be

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.” — Nat King Cole, Nature Boy

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul and makes us reach for more, that plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. And that’s what you’ve given me” —Ryan Gosling as Noah Calhoun, The Notebook

“You’ve gotta do things that make you happy. As women, we tend to give away a lot. We take care of a lot of people, and we can’t forget to take care of ourselves.” — Jennifer Lopez, Redbook Magazine

“People are always wondering if the grass is greener and then they’ll​ start hearing things or meeting other people [and the relationship unravels]. But for me personally I don’t know what could be greener than John, he is perfect for me.” — Chrissy Teigen on John Legend, A Drink With

“Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get — only with what you are expecting to give — which is everything.” — Katherine Hepburn, Me: Stories of my Life

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” — Pablo Neruda, Sonnet XVII

“I think I am very, very, lucky because I found love. You know, I think this is number one, the greatest achievement is that I found a fantastic partner to share my life with that I am still in love with, and that supports me and inspires me to grow.” — Salma Hayek, Holmes Place

“That’s the cliché about love. You don’t choose it. It chooses you.” — Durjoy Datta, The World’s Best Boyfriend

“You should be kissed and by someone who knows how.” — Margaret Mitchell, Gone With The Wind

“Love itself is what is left over, when being in love has burned away. Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? But it is!” — Louis de Bernières Captain Corelli’s Mandolin

“He’s been by my side through some of the most difficult parts of my life. And so that’s something you can never take away. A lot of other things, you never know, other things might change…but one thing is for sure: I love him deeply and he is my best friend.” — Jada Pinkett-Smith on Will Smith, HuffPost Live

“You — my life — my All — farewell. Oh, go on loving me — never doubt the faithfullest heart Of your beloved L Ever thine Ever mine Ever ours.” — Ludwig van Beethoven, Immortal Beloved

“There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.” — Wangari Maathai, Unbowed: A Memoir

“We are asleep until we love.” — Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

“We’re all wounded, but it’s about leaving the least amount of damage behind that really matters.” —Man I overheard on the 6 train

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The 100 All-Time Greatest Quotes About Falling In Love

• https://thoughtcatalog.com/?p=474654

—Albert Einstein

—Waylon Jennings

—Nicholas Sparks

—Juan Pablo Galavis

—Maya Angelou

—Mignon McLaughlin

—Catherynne M. Valente

—Jackie Collins

—Rachael Taylor

—Hussein Nishah

—Jodi Picoult

—June Carter Cash

—Jess Rothenberg

—Josh Dallas

—Connie Brockway

—Michael Bassey Johnson

—Helen Rowland

—Crystal Woods

—Meghan O’Rourke

—Anna White

—Taylor Swift

—Amit Abraham

—Shemar Moore

—Beth Kephart

—Helen Mirren

—Kate Bolick

—Lailah Gifty Akita

—Elisabeth Rohm

—Jane Fonda

—Katherine McIntyre, By the Sea

—Stephanie Binding

—Vinay Sharma

—Emily Tilley

—M. Scott Peck

—Terry Mark

—John Green

—Francois Lelord

—Abhishek Tiwari

—Steve Maraboli

—Ashok Kallarakkal

—Mario Tomasello

—Daria Snadowsky

—Cassandra Giovanni

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—Liane Moriarty

—E.L. Montes

—Sade Andria Zabala

—Rashida Rowe

—C. JoyBell

—Nishan Panwar

—S. L. Jennings

—Nyrae Dawn

—Ivy R. Cabading

—Kou Yoneda

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50 Inspirational Quotes on Writing

By barnes & noble press /, january 4, 2021 at 3:00 pm.

It’s a new year and, therefore, we want to help kick it off right with a collection of our favorite inspirational quotes on writing! We always start a new year with resolutions, but often it’s hard to stick with our goals. Certainly, that’s where we can come in 🙂

Above all, we hope these 50 Inspirational Quotes on Writing will keep you motivated and energized throughout 2021.

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Imagination

2. “Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart.” –  William Wordsworth

3. “The writer is an explorer. Every step is an advance into a new land.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. “I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see, and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” –  Joan Didion

5. “They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe

6. “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” –  Gustav Flaubert

7. “I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word. Sometimes I write one, and look at it, until it shines.” –  Emily Dickinson

8. “That’s what you’re looking for as a writer when you’re working. You’re looking for your own freedom.” –  Philip Roth

9. “Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will.” –  George Bernard Shaw

10. “Creativity is a combination of discipline and childlike spirit.” –  Robert Greene

11. “Writing is the painting of the voice.” –  Voltaire

12. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” –  Paulo Coelho

13. “I have fallen in love with the imagination. And if you fall in love with the imagination, you understand that it is a free spirit. It will go anywhere and it can do anything.” –  Alice Walker

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Motivation

14. “Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself… it’s a self-exploratory operation that is endless.” – Harper Lee

15. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them.” –  Henry David Thoreau

16. “There are significant moments in everyone’s day that can make literature. That’s what you ought to write about.” –  Raymond Carver

17. “Keep asking questions because people will always want to know the answer. Open with a question and don’t answer it until the end.” –  Lee Child

18. “But when people say, did you always want to be a writer? I have to say no! I always was a write.” –  Ursula K. Le Guin

19. “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” –  Maya Angelou

20. “If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” –  Margaret Atwood

21. “You should write stories because you love the shape of stories and sentences and the creation of different words on a page.” –  Annie Proulx

23. “If you do not hear music in your words, you have put too much thought into your writing and not enough heart.” –  Terry Brooks

24. “If you are in difficulties with a book, try the element of surprise: attack it at an hour when it isn’t expecting it.” –  H.G. Wells

25. “Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” –  Tom Stoppard

26. “The secret of it all is to write… without waiting for a fit time or place.” –  Walt Whitman

27. “No one else sees the world the way you do, so no one else can tell the stories that you have to tell.” –  Charles de Lint

28. “Successful writing is one part inspiration and two parts sheer stubbornness.” –  Gillian Flynn

30. “As a writer, you should not judge. You should understand.” –  Ernest Hemingway

31. “If you don’t see the book you want on the shelf, write it.” – Beverly Cleary

32. “When all else fails, write what your heart tells you. You can’t depend on your eyes, when your imagination is out of focus.”  Mark Twain

33. “Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Begin at the beginning. Make some light.” –  Kate DiCamillo

Inspirational Quotes on Writing: Process

34. “A writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, because everything she does is golden. In my view a writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.” –  Junot Diaz

35. “The first draft is you just telling yourself the story.” –  Terry Pratchett

36. “Write a page a day. Only 300 words and in a year you have written a novel.” –  Stephen King

37. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” –  Agatha Christie

38. “The job of the novelist is to invent: to embroider, to color, to embellish, to make things up.” –  Donna Tart

39. “Writing is an act of faith, not a grammar trick.” –  E.B. White

40. “Good stories are not written. They are rewritten.” –  Phyllis Whitney

41. “The first draft is a skeleton. Just bare bones. The rest of the story comes later with revising.” –  Judy Bloom

42. “When you are describing a shape, or sound, or tint, don’t state the matter plainly, but put it in a hint. And learn to look at all things with a sort of mental squint.” –  Lewis Carroll

43. “You may not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” – Jodi Picoult

44. “Perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.” –  Antoine de Saint-Exupery

45. “The secret to editing your work is simple: You need to become its reader instead of its writer.” –  Zadie Smith

46. “I’m writing a first draft and reminding myself that I’m simply shoveling sand into a box so that later I can build castles.” –  Shannon Hale

47. “Don’t labor over a little cameo work in which every word is to be perfect. Technique holds a reader from sentence to sentence, but only content will stay in his mind.” –  Joyce Carol Oates

48. “If you fall in love with the vision and not your words, the rewriting will become easier.” –  Nora DeLoach

49. “Be willing and unafraid to write badly, because often the bad stuff clears the way for good, or forms a base on which to build something better.” –  Jennifer Egan

50. “Plot is no more than footprints left in the snow after your characters have run by on their way to incredible destinations.” –  Ray Bradbury

To sum up, write it all down this year. After that, visit BNPress.com to become a published author! Importantly, we have plenty of tools to help new authors. From trusted partners to assist with editing, formatting, or design, to marketing and promotions. Each step of the way, we will be there to help.

And check out more from the B&N Press Blog:

• Author Guest Posts & Interviews
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Essays About Love: 20 Intriguing Ideas for Students

Love can make a fascinating essay topic, but sometimes finding the perfect topic idea is challenging. Here are 20 of the best essays about love.

Writers have often explored the subject of love and what it means throughout history. In his book Essays in Love , Alain de Botton creates an in-depth essay on what love looks like, exploring a fictional couple’s relationship while highlighting many facts about love. This book shows how much there is to say about love as it beautifully merges non-fiction with fiction work.

The New York Times  published an entire column dedicated to essays on modern love, and many prize-winning reporters often contribute to the collection. With so many published works available, the subject of love has much to be explored.

If you are going to write an essay about love and its effects, you will need a winning topic idea. Here are the top 20 topic ideas for essays about love. These topics will give you plenty to think about and explore as you take a stab at the subject that has stumped philosophers, writers, and poets since the dawn of time.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

1. Outline the Definition of Love

2. describe your favorite love story, 3. what true love looks like, 4. discuss how human beings are hard-wired for love, 5. explore the different types of love, 6. determine the true meaning of love, 7. discuss the power of love, 8. do soul mates exist, 9. determine if all relationships should experience a break-up, 10. does love at first sight exist, 11. explore love between parents and children, 12. discuss the disadvantages of love, 13. ask if love is blind, 14. discuss the chemical changes that love causes, 15. outline the ethics of love, 16. the inevitability of heartbreak, 17. the role of love in a particular genre of literature, 18. is love freeing or oppressing, 19. does love make people do foolish things, 20. explore the theme of love from your favorite book or movie.

Defining love may not be as easy as you think. While it seems simple, love is an abstract concept with multiple potential meanings. Exploring these meanings and then creating your own definition of love can make an engaging essay topic.

To do this, first, consider the various conventional definitions of love. Then, compare and contrast them until you come up with your own definition of love.

One essay about love you could tackle is describing and analyzing a favorite love story. This story could be from a fiction tale or real life. It could even be your love story.

As you analyze and explain the love story, talk about the highs and lows of love. Showcase the hard and great parts of this love story, then end the essay by talking about what real love looks like (outside the flowers and chocolates).

This essay will explore what true love looks like. With this essay idea, you could contrast true love with the romantic love often shown in movies. This contrast would help the reader see how true love looks in real life.

An essay about what true love looks like could allow you to explore this kind of love in many different facets. It would allow you to discuss whether or not someone is, in fact, in true love. You could demonstrate why saying “I love you” is not enough through the essay.

There seems to be something ingrained in human nature to seek love. This fact could make an interesting essay on love and its meaning, allowing you to explore why this might be and how it plays out in human relationships.

Because humans seem to gravitate toward committed relationships, you could argue that we are hard-wired for love. But, again, this is an essay option that has room for growth as you develop your thoughts.

There are many different types of love. For example, while you can have romantic love between a couple, you may also have family love among family members and love between friends. Each of these types of love has a different expression, which could lend itself well to an interesting essay topic.

Writing an essay that compares and contrasts the different types of love would allow you to delve more deeply into the concept of love and what makes up a loving relationship.

What does love mean? This question is not as easy to answer as you might think. However, this essay topic could give you quite a bit of room to develop your ideas about love.

While exploring this essay topic, you may discover that love means different things to different people. For some, love is about how someone makes another person feel. To others, it is about actions performed. By exploring this in an essay, you can attempt to define love for your readers.

What can love make people do? This question could lend itself well to an essay topic. The power of love is quite intense, and it can make people do things they never thought they could or would do.

With this love essay, you could look at historical examples of love, fiction stories about love relationships, or your own life story and what love had the power to do. Then, at the end of your essay, you can determine how powerful love is.

The idea of a soul mate is someone who you are destined to be with and love above all others. This essay topic would allow you to explore whether or not each individual has a soul mate.

If you determine that they do, you could further discuss how you would identify that soul mate. How can you tell when you have found “the one” right for you? Expanding on this idea could create a very interesting and unique essay.

Break-ups seem inevitable, and strong relationships often come back together afterward. Yet are break-ups truly inevitable? Or are they necessary to create a strong bond? This idea could turn into a fascinating essay topic if you look at both sides of the argument.

On the one hand, you could argue that the break-up experience shows you whether or not your relationship can weather difficult times. On the other hand, you could argue that breaking up damages the trust you’re working to build. Regardless of your conclusion, you can build a solid essay off of this topic idea.

Love, at first sight is a common theme in romance stories, but is it possible? Explore this idea in your essay. You will likely find that love, at first sight, is nothing more than infatuation, not genuine love.

Yet you may discover that sometimes, love, at first sight, does happen. So, determine in your essay how you can differentiate between love and infatuation if it happens to you. Then, conclude with your take on love at first sight and if you think it is possible.

The love between a parent and child is much different than the love between a pair of lovers. This type of love is one-sided, with care and self-sacrifice on the parent’s side. However, the child’s love is often unconditional.

Exploring this dynamic, especially when contrasting parental love with romantic love, provides a compelling essay topic. You would have the opportunity to define this type of love and explore what it looks like in day-to-day life.

Most people want to fall in love and enjoy a loving relationship, but does love have a downside? In an essay, you can explore the disadvantages of love and show how even one of life’s greatest gifts is not without its challenges.

This essay would require you to dig deep and find the potential downsides of love. However, if you give it a little thought, you should be able to discuss several. Finally, end the essay by telling the reader whether or not love is worth it despite the many challenges.

Love is blind is a popular phrase that indicates love allows someone not to see another person’s faults. But is love blind, or is it simply a metaphor that indicates the ability to overlook issues when love is at the helm.

If you think more deeply about this quote, you will probably determine that love is not blind. Rather, love for someone can overshadow their character flaws and shortcomings. When love is strong, these things fall by the wayside. Discuss this in your essay, and draw your own conclusion to decide if love is blind.

When someone falls in love, their body feels specific hormonal and chemical changes. These changes make it easier to want to spend time with the person. Yet they can be fascinating to study, and you could ask whether or not love is just chemical reactions or something more.

Grab a science book or two and see if you can explore these physiological changes from love. From the additional sweating to the flushing of the face, you will find quite a few chemical changes that happen when someone is in love.

Love feels like a positive emotion that does not have many ethical concerns, but this is not true. Several ethical questions come from the world of love. Exploring these would make for an interesting and thoughtful essay.

For example, you could discuss if it is ethically acceptable to love an object or even oneself or love other people. You could discuss if it is appropriate to enter into a physical relationship if there is no love present or if love needs to come first. There are many questions to explore with this love essay.

If you choose to love someone, is heartbreak inevitable? This question could create a lengthy essay. However, some would argue that it is because either your object of affection will eventually leave you through a break-up or death.

Yet do these actions have to cause heartbreak, or are they simply part of the process? Again, this question lends itself well to an essay because it has many aspects and opinions to explore.

Literature is full of stories of love. You could choose a genre, like mythology or science fiction, and explore the role of love in that particular genre. With this essay topic, you may find many instances where love is a vital central theme of the work.

Keep in mind that in some genres, like myths, love becomes a driving force in the plot, while in others, like historical fiction, it may simply be a background part of the story. Therefore, the type of literature you choose for this essay would significantly impact the way your essay develops.

Most people want to fall in love, but is love freeing or oppressing? The answer may depend on who your loved ones are. Love should free individuals to authentically be who they are, not tie them into something they are not.

Yet there is a side of love that can be viewed as oppressive, deepening on your viewpoint. For example, you should stay committed to just that individual when you are in a committed relationship with someone else. Is this freeing or oppressive? Gather opinions through research and compare the answers for a compelling essay.

You can easily find stories of people that did foolish things for love. These stories could translate into interesting and engaging essays. You could conclude the answer to whether or not love makes people do foolish things.

Your answer will depend on your research, but chances are you will find that, yes, love makes people foolish at times. Then you could use your essay to discuss whether or not it is still reasonable to think that falling in love is a good thing, although it makes people act foolishly at times.

Most fiction works have love in them in some way. This may not be romantic love, but you will likely find characters who love something or someone.

Use that fact to create an essay. Pick your favorite story, either through film or written works, and explore what love looks like in that work. Discuss the character development, storyline, and themes and show how love is used to create compelling storylines.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips !

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Bible Verses About Love

The Bible has a lot to say about love. The word "love" is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, with many verses that speak to love's power, importance, and beauty.

Here, we have gathered a compilation of Bible verses about love for marriage , among friends , and even loving your neighbors and enemies. 

The Bible says that God is love , which makes the Word of God the perfect source to know what true love means and how we can love others as God loves us. Bible verses about love reveal that our world has skewed the meaning of real love, but God's Word remains the steadfast source of divine knowledge and wisdom. 

Download your  copy of these beautiful Scripture quotes HERE . Print these beautiful Bible verses to keep by your bed, at work, or anywhere you need to be reminded of the power of God's love in your life.

Popular Bible Verses about Love

Read and meditate on this list of scriptures about love from the Holy Bible and begin seeing the change in your heart and mind that comes from pursuing selfless love! Here are some of the most inspiring and beautiful Bible verses about love:

1 Corinthians 16:14

Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Colossians 3:14

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

1 Corinthians 13:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Ephesians 4:2

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Find more Bible verses about love by categories below:

Table of Contents

• Bible Verses About God's Love

Bible Verses About Marriage

Bible verses about relationships, bible verses about loving your enemies, a prayer to love, christian resources on love.

First, we have gathered some of the most famous and popular Bible verses about love. These scriptures on love are well known for their simple yet powerful message of God's love and the love we should share with others.  Read and pray with these Bible verses about love:

Let all that you do be done in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:8

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. - 1 John 4:18

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins . - 1 Peter 4:8

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. - Colossians 3:14

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another : just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

We love because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:19

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. - Proverbs 10:12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. - 1 John 4:7

Bible Verses About God's Love

If we want the perfect example of love, it is in our creator God. Often, God's love is referred to as agape love which is the highest form of love that is selfless and sacrificial. It is steadfast, unchanging, and unconditional. Below are a few Scripture examples of God's great love for you! May these Bible verses about the love of God inspire courage and compassion.

Dear friends, let us love one another , for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:7-8

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. - John 4:9-12

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. - 1 John 4:16-18

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. - John 15:9-10

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  - John 15:12-13

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Now therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. - Deuteronomy 7:9

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. - Psalms 86:15

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. - Ephesians 2:4-5

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. - 1 John 3:1

God created and instituted marriage . Bible verses about love show us the importance of marriage and how to be a loving spouse through commitment and appreciation. The Bible is the true source for the definition of marriage and the roles of husband and wife. Whether you are looking for Scripture to include in your wedding vows during the ceremony or looking to renew the love in your marriage, this collection of Bible verses about love will provide excellent encouragement and inspiration.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church - for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. - Ephesians 5:22-33

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. - Colossians 3:18-19

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. - Proverbs 18:22

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. - Song of Solomon 8:3

I found the one my heart loves. - Song of Solomon 3:4

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. - Genesis 2:22-24

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. - Proverbs 5:18-19

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. - Proverbs 31:10-12

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned. - Song of Solomon 8:6

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one s-eparate.   Mark 10:9-6

As Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that the world will know us by our love. The greatest testimony that we can be is to love those around us - whether family, friends, or strangers. The below Scriptures about love will guide you in choosing to "put on love"! May we know the love of God and share that love with others throughout our life.

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. -  1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Love is patient , love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. -   Romans 12:9-10

"The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these." - Mark 12:29-31

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. -   Romans 13:8

A friend loves at all times. -   Proverbs 17:17

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. -   Romans 13:10

Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find? The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them. - Proverbs 20:6-7

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. -   Ephesians 4:2-3

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:7

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:11

And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. - 1 John 4:21

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:14

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. - 1 John 3:16-18

Do everything in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14

The idea of loving and forgiving our enemies sounds completely ridiculous at times. It is our human nature to want to defend ourselves and fight back. However, if we are called to be like Jesus, we are called to forgive those who hurt us. Loving your enemy is less about reconciling a relationship and more about the condition of your heart! Here is a collection of Scriptures about love that will bring you peace and encourage forgiveness for those who trespass against us.

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." - Luke 6:27-31

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. - Luke 6:35

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect". - Matthew 5:43-48

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:20-21

Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. - Proverbs 10:12

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. - Proverbs 3:3-4

Dear God, Thank you that you are a loving, gracious God. Thank you that you’ve offered us forgiveness and the gift of new life in you. Thank you that your love is perfect, it never fails, and that nothing can separate us from your love.

We pray that our lives would be filled and overflowing with the power of your love so we can make a difference in this world and bring honor to you. We ask for your help in reminding us that the most important things are not what we do outwardly, it’s not based on any talent or gift, but the most significant thing we can do in this life is simply to love you and to choose to love others.

Lord thank you that your love is patient . Help us show patience with those around us. Lord thank you that your love is kind. Help us to extend kindness to others. Lord thank you that your love does not take into account a wrong suffered. Lord help us not to hold grudges, but to choose to forgive, even when it’s difficult.

Help us to love as you love. Fill us with your Spirit so that we can choose what is best. We are weak Lord, but we know also, that even when we are weak, you are strong within us. Thank you that it’s not all up to us. Thank you that you equip us to face each day with the power of your love, your forgiveness, and your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

- Debbie McDaniel

• Love Quotes - Read quotes and verses about loving others, your enemy, God, and even yourself.
• 8 Simple Ways to Love and Encourage Your Husband   - There’s hope for us all, and all we have to do is commit to making an effort. So, if you’re wondering how you can start loving and encouraging your husband better, here are eight ways to get started (eight ways that are husband approved, I should add!)
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Book Review: Memoirist Lilly Dancyger’s penetrating essays explore the power of female friendships

This cover image released by Dial Press shows “First Love” by Lilly Dancyger. (Dial Press via AP)

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Who means more to you — your friends or your lovers? In a vivid, thoughtful and nuanced collection of essays, Lilly Dancyger explores the powerful role that female friendships played in her chaotic upbringing marked by her parents’ heroin use and her father’s untimely death when she was only 12.

“First Love: Essays on Friendship” begins with a beautiful paean to her cousin Sabina, who was raped and murdered at age 20 on her way home from a club. As little kids, their older relatives used to call them Snow White and Rose Red after the Grimm’s fairy tale, “two sisters who are not rivals or foils, but simply love each other.”

That simple, uncomplicated love would become the template for a series of subsequent relationships with girls and women that helped her survive her self-destructive adolescence and provided unconditional support as she scrambled to create a new identity as a “hypercompetent” writer, teacher and editor. “It’s true that I’ve never been satisfied with friendships that stay on the surface. That my friends are my family, my truest beloveds, each relationship a world of its own,” she writes in the title essay “First Love.”

The collection stands out not just for its elegant, unadorned writing but also for the way she effortlessly pivots between personal history and spot-on cultural criticism that both comments on and critiques the way that girls and women have been portrayed — and have portrayed themselves — in the media, including on online platforms like Tumblr and Instagram.

For instance, she examines the 1994 Peter Jackson film, “Heavenly Creatures,” based on the true story of two teenage girls who bludgeoned to death one of their mothers. And in the essay “Sad Girls,” about the suicide of a close friend, she analyzes the allure of self-destructive figures like Sylvia Plath and Janis Joplin to a certain type of teen, including herself, who wallows in sadness and wants to make sure “the world knew we were in pain.”

In the last essay, “On Murder Memoirs,” Dancyger considers the runaway popularity of true crime stories as she tries to explain her decision not to attend the trial of the man charged with killing her cousin — even though she was trained as a journalist and wrote a well-regarded book about her late father that relied on investigative reporting. “When I finally sat down to write about Sabina, the story that came out was not about murder at all,” she says. “It was a love story.”

Readers can be thankful that it did.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

This Mother's Day, share a heartfelt message with these 30 quotes about mothers

Celebrating mothers and motherhood has been a tradition for centuries, even before Mother's Day was officially created. It dates back to  the ancient Greeks and Romans who held festivals for Rhea and Cybele, the mother goddesses, the History Channel reports. Today, the holiday continues to honor mothers and mother figures.

While you might think that you show your mother love for everything she does throughout the year, the second Sunday in May serves as another chance to do so. And how you display your gratitude could vary depending on your love language .

If you're a fan of words of affirmation, here are some quotes to share – or write on a card – this Mother's Day.

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Mother's Day, motherhood quotes

• "I realized when you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know." – Mitch Albom , "For One More Day"
• "Mama was my greatest teacher, a teacher of compassion, love and fearlessness. If love is sweet as a flower, then my mother is that sweet flower of love." – Stevie Wonder
• "A mother is your first friend, your best friend, your forever friend." – Amit Kalantri , "Wealth of Words"
• "Mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved." – Erich Fromm
• "Mother is a verb. It's something you do. Not just who you are." – Cheryl Lacey Donovan , "The Ministry of Motherhood"
• "Acceptance, tolerance, bravery, compassion. These are the things my mom taught me." – Lady Gaga
• "A mother's love is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking, it never fails or falters, even though the heart is breaking." – Helen Rice
• "A mother's love is more beautiful than any fresh flower." – Debasish Mridha
• "When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway." – Erma Bombeck
• "All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother." – President Abraham Lincoln
• "I wondered if my smile was as big as hers. Maybe as big. But not as beautiful." – Benjamin Alire Sáenz , "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe"
• "Sometimes the strength of motherhood is greater than natural laws." – Barbara Kingsolver , "Homeland and Other Stories"
• "A mother is she who can take the place of all others but whose place no one else can take." – Gaspard Mermillod
• "I can imagine no heroism greater than motherhood." –   Lance Conrad , "The Price of Creation"
• "To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power. Or the climbing, falling colors of a rainbow." – Maya Angelou
• "A mother's arms are more comforting than anyone else's." – Princess Diana
• "My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind." – Michael Jordan
• "There's no way to be a perfect mother and a million ways to be a good one." – Jill Churchill
• "Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation." – Robert A. Heinlein , "Have Space Suit—Will Travel"
• "Mothers and their children are in a category all their own. There's no bond so strong in the entire world. No love so instantaneous and forgiving." – Gail Tsukiyama , "Dreaming Water"
• "When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. You are connected to your child and to all those who touch your lives. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child." – Sophia Loren
• "Once you’re a mom, you’re always a mom. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget." – Taraji P. Henson
• "The world, we'd discovered, doesn't love you like your family loves you." – Louis Zamperini
• "The woman who is my best friend, my teacher, my everything: Mom." – Sandra Vischer , "Unliving the Dream"
• "Mothers possess a power beyond that of a king on his throne." – Mabel Hale
• "The influence of a mother in the lives of her children is beyond calculation." – James E. Faust
• "But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begins." – Mitch Albom , "For One More Day"
• "My mother sacrificed her dreams so I could dream." – Rupi Kaur
• "Mother's arms are made of tenderness, and sweet sleep blesses the child who lies within." – Victor Hugo
• "No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother’s love." – Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Looking for inspiration? 50 positive quotes for peak motivation

Just Curious for more? We've got you covered

USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From " Who was the oldest Golden Girl? " to " What is the smallest country? " to " What's May's birthstone? " − we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our  Just Curious section  to see what else we can answer.

65 Best Mother’s Day Quotes That Will Make Her Feel Valued

“There is no influence so powerful as that of the mother.”

Of course, these sweet Mother's Day messages aren't just for cards. Use them as this year's Mother's Day Instagram caption and inspire your friends just as much as your mom—or simply read one aloud over dinner. We have mother-daughter quotes and mother-son quotes that capture your bond perfectly. Balance things out with a hilarious mom joke , and you've got yourself a winning toast! Your mom does deserve the extra attention on this special day. As Gilda Radner said, "Motherhood is the biggest gamble in the world. It is the glorious life force. It’s huge and scary—it’s an act of infinite optimism." ❤️

Make Mom's day even more special:

• Beautiful Mother's Day Cake Ideas That Are Oh So Sweet
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• Cute Mother's Day Movies That You Should Watch With Her on Sunday

Taraji P. Henson

“Once you’re a mom, you’re always a mom. It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.”

Maria Shriver

“Having kids — the responsibility of rearing good, kind, ethical, responsible human beings — is the biggest job anyone can embark on.”

Cheryl Lacey Donovan

“Mother is a verb. It’s something you do. Not just who you are.”

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.”

Linda Wooten

“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.”

Washington Irving

“A mother is the truest friend we have.”

“Motherhood is the greatest thing and the hardest thing.”

Oprah Winfrey

“I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is.”

Erma Bombeck

“When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ It’s a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway.”

“The more I go through parenting, the more I say I owe my mother an apology.”

Milton Berle

“If evolution really works, how come mother’s only have two hands?”

Jodi Picoult

“Once you sign on to be a mother, 24/7 is the only shift they offer.”

Pramoedya Ananta Toer

“A mother knows what her child’s gone through, even if she didn’t see it herself.”

“Motherhood is a choice you make everyday, to put someone else’s happiness and well-being ahead of your own...”

Mitch Albom

“Behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins.”

Elaine Heffner

“The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

“A mom is like a teabag. You can’t tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”

Bern Williams

“Sooner or later we all quote our mothers.”

Maya Angelou

“To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.”

Saleem Sharma

“There is nothing as sincere as a mother’s kiss.”

Josiah Soto is the assistant editor of news and social for The Pioneer Woman. He helps manage the website’s social channels, in addition to writing high-performing news and entertainment content daily. 

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• 75+ Happy Mother's Day Messages, Greetings, Wishes and Quotes for 2024

75+ Happy Mother's Day Messages, Greetings, Wishes and Quotes for 2024

• "Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible mom! Your love and support mean the world to me."
• "Mom, thank you for being my constant source of strength and inspiration. Wishing you a beautiful Mother's Day!"
• "To the woman who taught me how to love, laugh, and live fully - Happy Mother's Day!"growth
• "You are not just my mom, you are my best friend. Happy Mother's Day, with all my love."
• "Mom, your strength and resilience inspire me every day. Thank you for being my hero. Happy Mother's Day!"
• "Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to the woman whose love is the thread that holds our family together. You are our rock."
• "Mom, your love has been my source of strength and courage. Thank you for being my guiding star. Happy Mother's Day!"
• "To the woman who has been my biggest cheerleader and my fiercest protector, Happy Mother's Day! You are my everything."
• "Mom, your love is the greatest treasure I have ever known. Thank you for being my everything. Happy Mother's Day!"
• "To the woman who has made countless sacrifices for our family, Happy Mother's Day! Your love knows no bounds."
• "Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has loved me unconditionally from the moment I was born. You are my angel."
• "To the woman who has kissed away my tears and cheered for my victories, Happy Mother's Day! You are my forever hero."
• "Mom, your love is unconditional, your wisdom is infinite, and your heart is pure gold. Happy Mother's Day!"
• "Motherhood is the exquisite inconvenience of being another person's everything." "Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever."
• "To the world, you are a mother. To your family, you are the world."
• "A mother is like a flower, each one beautiful and unique."
• "Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind."
• "A mother's love is the greatest teacher, showing us strength, kindness, and compassion." "Motherhood: the exquisite inconvenience of being needed by someone else."
• "A mother's love is the anchor that holds a family together through life's storms."
• "Motherhood is the greatest gift, the greatest privilege, and the greatest responsibility."
• "A mother's love knows no boundaries, no limits, and no conditions."
• "The art of mothering is to teach the art of living to children."
• "A mother's love is like a candle that lights up the darkest corners of our lives."
• "A mother's love is the thread that weaves the fabric of our lives with warmth and comfort."
• "Motherhood: the most challenging and rewarding journey a woman can embark on."
• "Motherhood is the heartbeat of life, the essence of humanity, and the soul of the world."
• "A mother's love is like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day, warming our hearts and brightening our lives."
• Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible woman in my life! Your love, strength, and wisdom have shaped me into the person I am today. I am endlessly grateful for all that you do.
• On this special day, I want to thank you, Mom, for your unconditional love, endless support, and unwavering guidance. You are my rock, and I am blessed to have you in my life.
• To the woman who has given me everything, Happy Mother's Day! Your selflessness, generosity, and boundless love inspire me every day. I hope today brings you as much joy and happiness as you bring to others.
• Wishing the happiest Mother's Day to the most extraordinary mom! Your love knows no bounds, and your strength knows no limits. Thank you for being my guiding light and source of endless inspiration.
• Mom, on this Mother's Day, I want to express my deepest gratitude for all the sacrifices you've made and the love you've given. You are the heart and soul of our family, and I cherish you more than words can say.
• Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has taught me the true meaning of love, resilience, and compassion. Your unwavering devotion to our family is nothing short of extraordinary, and I am forever grateful for you.
• To the world's greatest mom, Happy Mother's Day! Your kindness, grace, and unwavering strength inspire me every day. May your day be filled with love, laughter, and all the happiness you deserve.
• On this Mother's Day, I want to thank you for all the sacrifices you've made and the love you've shown. Your unconditional support and endless devotion have shaped me into the person I am today. I love you more than words can express.
• Mom, you are my biggest inspiration and my greatest role model. Thank you for your unconditional love, endless patience, and unwavering support. Wishing you a Mother's Day filled with love, laughter, and cherished moments.
• Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has always been there for me, through thick and thin. Your strength, resilience, and unwavering love have been my guiding light, and I am forever grateful for you.
• Mom, you are the heart and soul of our family, and I am endlessly grateful for everything you do. Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing woman in the world! May your day be filled with love, laughter, and all the happiness you deserve.
• On this special day, I want to thank you, Mom, for your unconditional love, endless sacrifices, and unwavering support. You are my rock, and I am blessed to have you in my life. Happy Mother's Day!
• Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has always been my biggest cheerleader, my confidante, and my best friend. Your love and support mean the world to me, and I am so grateful for you.
• Mom, you are the epitome of strength, grace, and unconditional love. Thank you for being my guiding light and source of inspiration. Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible woman I know!
• Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has given me everything and more. Your love, wisdom, and unwavering support have shaped me into the person I am today, and I am forever grateful for you.
• Mom, you are the heart and soul of our family, and I am endlessly grateful for your love, guidance, and unwavering support. Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing woman in the world!
• On this Mother's Day, I want to express my deepest gratitude for all that you do. Your love, strength, and unwavering support have been my rock through every challenge and triumph. I love you more than words can say.
• Mom, you are my superhero, my role model, and my best friend. Thank you for your unconditional love, endless sacrifices, and unwavering support. Happy Mother's Day!
• Wishing a Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has always been my biggest supporter and fiercest advocate. Your love, wisdom, and unwavering strength inspire me every day, and I am so grateful for you.
• Mom, your love is the guiding force that has shaped my life in countless ways. Thank you for your unconditional support, endless sacrifices, and unwavering devotion. Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing woman I know!
• On this Mother's Day, I want to thank you for your unconditional love, unwavering support, and endless sacrifices. Your strength, resilience, and unwavering love have been my guiding light, and I am forever grateful for you.
• Mom, you are the heart and soul of our family, and I am endlessly grateful for your love, guidance, and unwavering support. Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible woman I know!
• You are the best Mom I could ever ask for. Thank you for always inspiring me to live, love, and laugh. Enjoy today, you deserve it!
• Dearest Mom, no words in the world can define our bond of love. I can't tell how much I love you. You are the best mother and I am so happy that I am your daughter. Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day 2024: Wishes, quotes and WhatsApp messages for the extraordinary women in our lives

Happy mother's day 2024: mother's day is celebrated annually on 2nd sunday of may to express gratitude and appreciation to the extraordinary women in our lives for their unconditional love and sacrifices made for us. it also marks a show of love for the most beautiful person in the life of a child.

Happy Mother's Day 2024: Mother's Day is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of May to express gratitude and appreciation to the extraordinary women in our lives for their unconditional love and sacrifices made for us. The day is also marked to show love, admiration, and thankfulness for the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.

for the unwavering love of mothers for their children and also for their selfless contributions to their children's success.

Happy Mother's Day 2024: History

The origin of the Mother's Day celebration can be traced back to the early 20th century. According to the BBC, the day is an eternal tribute to Anna Jarvis' mother—Ann Reeves Jarvis, a peace activist—after her death in 1905. Jarvis bought 500 white carnations for a memorial service she organised on the second death anniversary of her mother in her hometown. Later, Jarvis campaigned to make Mother's Day an official holiday in the US.

Here are some special messages, wishes and quotes that one can share with his/her dearest mother for her unconditional love and sacrifices: 

Happy Mother's Day 2024: Quotes

• A mother’s arms are more comforting than anyone else’s – Princess Diana
• A mother's love is peace. It need not be acquired. It need not be deserved - Erich Fromm
• Mother: the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind – Kahil Gibran
• When your mother asks, ‘Do you want a piece of advice?’ it is a mere formality. It doesn’t matter if you answer yes or no. You’re going to get it anyway – Erma Bombeck
• Motherhood is the greatest gift, the greatest privilege, and the greatest responsibility- Anonymous
• To the world, you are a mother. To me, you are the world-Anonymous 

Happy Mother's Day 2024: Wishes and WhatsApp status

• Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom ever! I love you.
• Your sacrifices and unwavering love never go unnoticed. Happy Mother’s Day!
• A mother's love knows no boundaries, no limits, and no conditions
• Happy Mother's Day to the most incredible mom! Your love and support mean the world to me
• Mom, your love has been my source of strength and courage. Thank you for being my guiding star. Happy Mother's Day!
• Sending all my love and gratitude to the woman who has been my guiding light. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
• Although we’re far apart you are always in my heart. I love you and miss you more than words can say. Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
• A mother's love is like a candle that lights up the darkest corners of our lives
• A mother is like a flower, each one beautiful and unique
• Your love is God's greatest gift to me. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
• Your wisdom and guidance have shaped my life. Happy Mother’s Day!
• Behind every great person is a truly amazing mother. Happy Mother’s Day!

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