We are nearer loving those who hate us than those who love us more than we wish.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another’s heart, or its flame burns low.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
No thoughtful man ever came to the end of his life, and had time and a little space of calm from which to look back upon it, who did not know and acknowledge that it was what he had done unselfishly and for others, and nothing else, that satisfied him in the retrospect, and made him feel that he had played the man.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
A man of sense may love like a madman, but not as a fool.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
The real people nation have for centuries had the practice at birth of speaking the same first phrase to all newborns. Each person hears the same exact first human words: “We love you and support you on the journey”. At their final celebration, everyone hugs them and repeats the phrase again.
—Marlo Morgan (1937–98) American Novelist, Author
Love is all we have, the only way that each can help the other.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
In peace, love tunes the shepherd’s reed; in war, he mounts the warrior’s steed; in halls, in gay attire is seen; in hamlets, dances on the green. Love rules the court, the camp, the grove, and men below, and saints above; for love is heaven, and heaven is love.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Love and friendship exclude each other.
—Jean de La Bruyere (1645–96) French Satiric Moralist, Author
For what is love itself, for the one we love best? An enfolding of immeasurable cares which yet are better than any joys outside our love.
—George Eliot (Mary Anne Evans) (1819–80) English Novelist
The soul of woman lives in love.
—Lydia H. Sigourney (1791–1865) American Poetaster, Author
The best way will be to avoid each other without appearing to do so—or if we jostle, at any rate not to bite.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
On the last analysis, then, love is life. Love never faileth and life never faileth so long as there is love.
—Henry Drummond
Love is the only freedom in the world because it so elevates the spirit that the laws of humanity and the phenomena of nature do not alter its course.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-American Philosopher, Poet, Sculptor
He who is not impatient is not in love.
—Italian Proverb
If we love our country, we should also love our countrymen.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides.
—David Viscott (1938–96) American Psychiatrist, Author, Businessman
There is a compensation for everything except our first love.
—The Talmud Sacred Text of the Jewish Faith
In love, unlike most other passions, the recollection of what you have had and lost is always better than what you can hope for in the future.
—Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle) (1783–1842) French Writer
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.
—Buddhist Teaching
Friendship often ends in love; but love in friendship—never.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
A hundred hearts would be too few
To carry all my love for you.
—Unknown
One does not fall “in” or “out” of love. One grows in love.
—Leo Buscaglia (1924–98) American Motivational Speaker
Oh, why should man’s success remove the very charms that wake his love!
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Love, while you are able to love.
—Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810–76) German Poet, Translator
When the remedy you have offered only increases the disease, then leave him who will not be cured, and tell your story to someone who seeks the truth.
—Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207–73) Persian Muslim Mystic
I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
What’s terrible is to pretend that the second-rate is first-rate. To pretend that you don’t need love when you do; or you like your work when you know quite well you’re capable of better.
—Doris Lessing (1919–2013) British Novelist, Poet
Woman—for example, look at her case! She turns tantalizing inviting glances on you. You seize her. No sooner does she feel herself in your grasp than she closes her eyes. It is a sign of her mission, the sign by which she says to man: “Blind yourself, for I am blind.”
—Luigi Pirandello (1867–1936) Italian Dramatist, Novelist, Short Story Writer
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