I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it.
—Audrey Hepburn (1929–93) Belgian-British Actress
Were’t not affection chains thy tender days
To the sweet glances of thy honored love,
I rather would entreat thy company
To see the wonders of the world abroad
Than, living dully sluggardized at home,
Wear out thy youth with shapeless idleness.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
I never met a man I didn’t like.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
There is so little to redeem the dry mass of follies and errors that make up so much of life, that anything to love or reverence becomes, as it were, a sabbath to the soul.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Be a good human being, a warm-hearted affectionate person. That is my fundamental belief. Having a sense of caring, a feeling of compassion will bring happiness of peace of mind to oneself and automatically create a positive atmosphere.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Author
You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.
—Buddhist Teaching
No decking sets forth anything so much as affection.
—Philip Sidney (1554–86) English Soldier Poet, Courtier
The conqueror is regarded with awe; the wise man commands our respect; but it is only the benevolent man that wins our affection.
—William Dean Howells (1837–1920) American Novelist, Critic
Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to point us to that realm which is the real and endless home of the heart.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
A slight touch of friendly malice and amusement towards those we love keeps our affections for them from turning flat.
—Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946) American-British Essayist, Bibliophile
The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
The two qualities which chiefly inspire regard and affection [Are] that a thing is your own and that it is your only one.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
Mature affection, homage, devotion, does not easily express itself. Its voice is low. It is modest and retiring, it lays in ambush and waits. Such is the mature fruit. Sometimes a life glides away, and finds it still ripening in the shade. The light inclinations of very young people are as dust compared to rocks.
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
That trial is not fair where affection is judge
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
Affection is the broadest basis of good in life.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
Our affections are our life.—We live by them; they supply our warmth.
—William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) American Unitarian Theologian, Poet
Affection is a coal that must be cooled; Else, suffered, it will set the heart on fire.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Most people would rather give than get affection.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
A woman’s whole life is a history of the affections. The heart is her world: it is there her ambition strives for empire; it is there her avarice seeks for hidden treasures. She sends forth her sympathies on adventure; she embarks her whole soul on the traffic of affection; and if shipwrecked, her case is hopeless—for it is a bankruptcy of the heart.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
The hardest part of all is learning to be a well of affection, and not a fountain; to show them we love them not when we feel like it, but when they do.
—Nan Fairbrother (1913–71) English Writer, Educator
Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to.
—Alfred A. Montapert (1906–97) American Engineer, Philosopher
Yes, I do touch. I believe that everyone needs that
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
The affections are the children of ignorance; when the horizon of our experience expands, and models multiply, love and admiration imperceptibly vanish.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
I love to hold people’s hands when I visit hospitals, even though they are shocked because they haven’t experienced anything like it before, but to me it is a normal thing to do.
—Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–97) English Royal, Humanitarian, Peace Activist
We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.
—The 14th Dalai Lama (b.1935) Tibetan Buddhist Leader, Civil Rights Advocate, Author
The affection of young ladies is of as rapid growth as Jack’s beanstalk, and reaches up to the sky in a night.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
Of all earthly music that which reaches farthest into heaven is the beating of a truly loving heart.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
Affection, mistress of passion, sways it to the mood of what it likes or loathes.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Affection, like melancholy, magnifies trifles; but the magnifying of the one is like looking through a telescope at heavenly objects; that of the other, like enlarging monsters with a microscope.
—Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) British Poet, Essayist, Journalist
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