Absence and a friendly neighbor washes away love.
—Common Proverb
Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell.
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) American Poet, Playwright, Feminist
Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
—Carl Sagan (1934–96) American Astronomer
You’ll find boredom where there is an absence of a good idea.
—Earl Nightingale (1921–89) American Motivational Speaker, Author
Absence is one of the most useful ingredients of family life, and to dose it rightly is an art like any other.
—Freya Stark (1893–1993) British Explorer, Writer
Woman absent is woman dead.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism.
—Karl Marx (1818–1883) German Philosopher, Economist
Absence from whom we love is worse than death, and frustrates hope severer than despair.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Never find fault with the absent.
—Common Proverb
A short absence is the safest.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Greater things are believed of those who are absent.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Salt water and absence wash away love.
—Common Proverb
I love luxury. And luxury lies not in richness and ornateness but in the absence of vulgarity. Vulgarity is the ugliest word in our language. I stay in the game to fight it.
—Coco Chanel (1883–1971) French Fashion Designer
How like a winter hath my absence been. From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen, What old December’s bareness everywhere!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Absence doth sharpen love, presence strengthens it; the one brings fuel, the other blows it till it burns clear.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
As the presence of those we love is as a double life, so absence, in its anxious longing and sense of vacancy, is as a foretaste of death.
—Anna Brownell Jameson (1794–1860) Irish-born Literary, Art Critic
Sometimes I need what only you can provide—your absence.
—Ashleigh Brilliant (b.1933) British Cartoonist, Author
Never part without loving words to think of during your absence. It may be that you will not meet again in this life.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Achilles absent was Achilles still!
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
When a man is out of sight, it is not too long before he is out of mind.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
It takes time for the absent to assume their true shape in our thoughts. After death they take on a firmer outline and then cease to change.
—Colette (1873–1954) French Novelist, Performer
Peace is not the absence of war but the presence of justice.
—Harrison Ford (b.1942) American Actor
Absence—that common cure of love.
—Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) Spanish Novelist
Belief in the absence of illusions is itself an illusion.
—Barbara Grizzuti Harrison (1934–2002) American Journalist, Essayist, Memoirist, Travel Writer
When I came back to Dublin I was court marshaled in my absence and sentenced to death in my absence, so I said they could shoot me in my absence
—Brendan Behan (1923–64) Irish Poet, Novelist, Playwright
God is absence. God is the solitude of man.
—Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–80) French Philosopher, Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Political Activist
Discouragement is not the absence of adequacy but the absence of courage.
—Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) American Mormon Religious Leader
Absences are a good influence in love and keep it bright and delicate.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
Absence of occupation is not rest; a mind quite vacant is a mind distressed.
—William Cowper (1731–1800) English Anglican Poet, Hymn writer
Parting is such sweet sorrow.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Our hours in love have wings; in absence, crutches.
—Colley Cibber (1671–1757) English Playwright, Poet, Actor
Friendship, like love, is destroyed by long absence, though it may be increased by short intermissions.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Distance of time and place generally cure what they seem to aggravate; and taking leave of our friends resembles taking leave of the world, of which it has been said, that it is not death, but dying, which is terrible.
—Henry Fielding (1707–54) English Novelist, Dramatist
Absence is the enemy of love.
—Italian Proverb
Grace is the absence of everything that indicates pain or difficulty, hesitation or incongruity.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Absence—that common cure of love.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Absence is a shrew.
—English Proverb
In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery?
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
—Henry Kissinger (b.1923) American Diplomat, Academician
Absence makes the heart forget.
—African Proverb
The heart may think it knows better: the senses know that absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends. The friend becomes a traitor by breaking, however unwillingly or sadly, out of our own zone: a hard judgment is passed on him, for all the pleas of the heart.
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973) Irish Novelist, Short-story Writer
Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
—Thomas Fuller (1608–61) English Cleric, Historian
The deeper the experience of an absence of meaning—in other words, of absurdity—the more energetically meaning is sought.
—Vaclav Havel (1936–2011) Czech Dramatist, Statesman
Long absence changes friends.
—French Proverb
Coolness, and absence of heat and haste, indicate fine qualities. A gentleman makes no noise; a lady is serene.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Absolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible to himself.
—Henry Adams (1838–1918) American Historian, Man of Letters
Absence in love is like water upon fire; a little quickens, but much extinguishes it.
—Hannah More