Love has been around even before human beings invented writing. It is one of the most widely documented emotions in literature, and with that comes famous quotes that can set the heart beating faster, even if the quote came from centuries past.
These quotes come from poems, ballads, plays, songs, and movies, and there is no harm in learning a few to get over a break up or win someone's heart.
Being enamored
Found someone who's at the same wavelength as you are? Maybe "You had me at hello" from the movie Jerry Maguire captures that feeling precisely. Oscar Wilde, in his play, A Woman of No Importance, expertly describes the value of love with the quote, "Who, being loved, is poor?".
When you spot someone who instantly catches your eye from across the room, that narrator in your head may be saying, "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" from Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. After that first kiss, this quote from Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak may strike a chord: "You and I, it's as though we have been taught to kiss in heaven and sent down to earth together, to see if we know what we were taught."
Having lost
"Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss, and ends with a teardrop" is quote that wraps the life of love in one neat and sad package. You may also have heard "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" by Lord Alfred Tennyson, or the centuries-old quote from Socrates, "The hottest love has the coldest end."
Lighthearted
Not all romantic quotes are serious or sad, lines like "Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet service to see who they really are." by Will Ferrell. Comedians have the best take on love if you're looking to laugh and cry at the same time.
Chelsea Peretti summarizes the struggles of modern dating with, "If you text 'I love you' to a person and the person writes back an emoji -- no matter what that emoji is, they don't love you back".
So you like self-deprecating humor? "My best birth control now is just to leave the lights on" by Joan Rivers is a hilarious, though not entirely accurate one. The cynics out there may appreciate Richard Pryor in saying, "Marriage is really tough because you have to deal with feelings and lawyers".
Comedians aren't the only ones with witty, funny lines, Oscar Wilde is credited with "Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood", and cartoonist Scott Adams wrote "I love you like a fat kid loves cake". Jazz Songwriter Billie Holiday famously said "Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on".
Shakespearean
Anyone who truly knows Shakespeare will understand that he inspired many a love story. In the ever-famous Romeo and Juliet, "Parting is such sweet sorrow" captures the sadness of having to part, but the excitement and anticipation of your next meeting. "Love looks not with eyes, but with the mind," and "The course of true love never did run smooth" both from A Midsummer Night's Dream summarize the experience of true love in just a couple of lines.
Love comes in many forms, and Shakespeare is sure to have written about it in all its shapes.
Whether you plan on memorizing and delivering some romantic quotes, or you enjoy knowing a couple, they're worth a read. So look up famous authors and you're sure to find a quote on love written by them.
What's your favorite quote about love? Share them in the comments below!
