Love Quotes to Inspire You

I’m a huge fan of quotes. Back in high school theater, I loved keeping a Shakespeare line or two in my back pocket. Even before the internet, I kept books of quotes at home (among them “Peter’s Quotations,” from 1977, and “The Guinness Book of Poisonous Quotes,” from 1991).

So why do quotes appeal to me so much? I’ll point you to this one: “I quote others only in order the better to express myself.” — Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays.

Sometimes I can’t put a feeling into words quite the way I experience it. Other times, someone else’s perfect metaphor helps me grasp an idea more clearly.

With that in mind, here are a few of my favorite quotes about love and relationships, along with my own two cents on why they’re worth keeping close.

Absence Diminishes Little Passions – Roger de Rabutin

Two love sayings always seemed to be at war with each other in my head: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder” and “Out of sight, out of mind.” I could see both being true.

Coming across this quote from Roger de Rabutin made it all click.

“Absence diminishes little passions and increases great ones, as wind extinguishes candles and fans a fire.” – Roger de Rabutin

Love needs a foundation first, so there’s something to miss. Nobody’s going to pine for you if you never gave them anything worth pining over!

“Love doesn’t make the world go ‘round.  Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” — Franklin P. Jones

Maybe I’m a hopeless romantic, but I think anything can turn fun and enjoyable when someone you love is riding shotgun, singing and cheering right alongside you!

Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Odds are this one has come up at more than one wedding you’ve attended, right?

”Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

The Bible isn’t really my thing, but this quote speaks to me. It describes the idealized kind of romantic love I think we should aim to imitate.

Some may see this quote as pure fantasy, but I think it’s a worthy goal. It also serves as a handy reminder of where love isn’t.

Love Quotes With Real Meaning

“Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint Exupery

In an argument with your partner, remember that it isn’t you against them. It’s the two of you against the world, facing outward in the same direction with shared values. You see the world in similar ways and take it on together as a unit.

“I love you not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you. I love you not only for what you have made of yourself, but for what you are making of me. I love you for the part of me that you bring out.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Sometimes it takes that love to bring out our best. At our lowest moments, we can’t always see it ourselves. When someone views you in a loving light, it can help you realize how wonderful you really are.

“Love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.” – Vincent van Gogh

Love isn’t just for the person you’re dating. Show love to your friends, your town, your favorite holiday. Spreading love across many parts of your life 1) makes you a lot happier and 2) makes it far easier for love to come back to you.

Love Quotes From Music

“Watching your chest rise and fall like tides of my life. Your bones have been my bedframe, and your flesh has been my pillow.” – Ani DiFranco, “Both Hands”

This one just gets me. It’s a couple of simple lines about a person gazing at their sleeping significant other and reflecting on how much that partner means to them.

“I found a dream that I could speak to. A dream that I can call my own. I found a thrill to press my cheek to. A thrill that I have never known.” – Etta James, “At Last”

The legendary Etta James croons about finding the man of her dreams, and it hits me right in the feels.

“And when you ran to me, your cheeks flushed with the night. We walked on frosted fields, of juniper and lamplight. I held your hand.” – Simon & Garfunkel, “For Emily, Wherever I May Find Her”

Usually, when we think of our sweetest day, our most loving memory, or even the best compliment we ever got, it isn’t something grand. It’s the little things: quiet moments and feelings in the middle of life’s chaotic cacophony. The entire song pays tribute to exactly that.

Love at First Sight? A Myth – Mia White

This quote wins me over because we need a dose of reality alongside all the fantasy. Sure, LUST at first sight is real. Love at first sight? Not really.

“Love at first sight is a myth. True chemistry and connection develops over time.” – Mia White

Fascination, excitement, attraction, and electricity can all happen at first sight. Love, though, runs deeper and is more mature than any of that. Discovering it takes time and vulnerability.

“We have this idea that love is supposed to last forever. But love isn’t like that. It’s a free-flowing energy that comes and goes when it pleases. Sometimes, it stays for life; other times it stays for a second, a day, a month or a year. So don’t fear love when it comes simply because it makes you vulnerable. But don’t be surprised when it leaves either. Just be glad you had the opportunity to experience it.” — Neil Strauss, “The Game”

I almost left this one out, since “The Game” gave dating and love something of a black eye. Then again, a stopped clock gets it right twice a day. And love is beautiful and wondrous when we allow it to be what it’s meant to be.

But sometimes, if we bend it into the shape we want, or the one we wish it had, it will leave us. Knowing a relationship has a shelf life isn’t necessarily a reason to run from it.

“Meeting someone you like and dating them is supposed to make you feel better, not worse.” – “He’s Just Not That Into You”

Healthy relationships lift you up. A good partner helps you feel good about who you are. That’s all. Full stop.

Love Is Like…

Plenty of quotes compare love to something else. These are my favorites:

“Love is like pi – natural, irrational, and very important.” – Lisa Hoffman

“Love is like the wind, you can’t see it but you can feel it.” — Nicholas Sparks

“Love is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time.” — Henri Frederic Amiel

“Love is like a mirror. When you love another you become his mirror and he becomes yours …. And reflecting each other’s love you see infinity.” — Leo Buscaglia

“Love is like a butterfly, a rare and gentle thing.” — Dolly Parton

“Love is like a spice. It can sweeten your life – however, it can spoil it, too.” – Confucius

“Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.” — Bruce Lee

“Love is like magic and it always will be. For love still remains life’s sweet mystery! Love works in ways that are wondrous and strange and there’s nothing in life that love cannot change! Love can transform the most commonplace into beauty and splendor and sweetness and grace. Love is unselfish, understanding and kind, for it sees with its heart and not with its mind! Love is the answer that everyone seeks… Love is the language that every heart speaks. Love can’t be bought, it is priceless and free, love, like pure magic, is life’s sweet mystery!” — Helen Steiner Rice

Some Quotes Help Us Understand Love & Life Better

Everyone hears and learns differently. If I were talking with a sports guy and quoted author Brené Brown, my point might not land with him.

“Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen”. – Brené Brown (empowerment author)

But if I can find a good quote from an athlete he knows, we’ll connect over our (assumed) shared love of sports, and the message may hit home harder.

“Courage means you don’t let fear stop you.” – Bethany Hamilton (shark-attack survivor and surfer)

That’s why hunting down quotes is so much fun, and why it helps to carry these words of wisdom with you through love’s ups and downs. Let them light your way toward your own version of happiness. Or use them as fun, interesting conversation starters on a date night. However you use them, I hope they stick with you.