I have selected 65 quotes on love and romance for your convenience. These quotes offer great insights about love and living a romantic life. I wrote comments for each quote. So, this post ended up being by far the longest post ever I’ve posted on this site. Take your time and bookmark this page if you like so you can come back here to read this post again and again.
If you are a new visitor to this site – I write on living a romantic life, for all of you who believe that your life is your art. I’m here to help you create your art of life and make it romantic. If you are one of those people who want to live a romantic life, that’s great! You can read more about this site here. If you enjoy this post, go to the start here page and take a look at other articles as well.
Without further ado… here’s 65 love and romance quotes that inspire you to become a better lover.
The Nature of Love
1. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
Life is short. I believe you can spend your life much better loving than hating. Love creates more love, and hatred creates more hatred. Which one do you want?
2. “For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
And perhaps that is the most rewarding of all our tasks as well. Prepare to love and do everything with love.
3. “I tell you, the more I think, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” – Vincent Van Gogh
I love this quote, for it serves as a piece of the puzzle I’m trying to solve. I believe my life is my art and I want to live a romantic life. Gogh’s way of thinking helps me see love as what goes into the canvas of my life. What do you think?
4. “Love doesn’t make the world go round, Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Instead of being indifferent towards your life and being carried in a dark box from birth to death, be curious, get out of your box and experience your life fully. Love your life and your life will love you back.
5. “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A. Heinlein
Love is about giving and sharing. When someone you love is happy, you become happy. What’s awesome is that the fact that you became happy makes that person happier. It repeats and repeats.
6. “Love is but the discovery of ourselves in others, and the delight in the recognition.” – Alexander Smith
To discover ourselves in others is to discover connections between us and others. If you think about it, we all have connections with one another. We have dreams. We have fears. We’re all human.
7. “The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.” – Elie Wiesel
How do we cure indifference? By choosing to be curious. If you want to live a happy life, stop being indifferent. Start caring. Start being curious. Manifest your curiosity by taking action.
8. “To love is to be vulnerable.” – C.S. Lewis
When you love, you show up as who you are. You expose yourself and your vulnerabilities. You might be rejected. You might fail. But when you choose to love, you’ll get courage and strength. That courange and strength keep you safe even when you are being vulnerable.
9. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu
Notice that you are already loved – yes, you are loved. Realize the strength you already have and use it to love more and get courage. With strength and courage, you’ll be able to love even more. When you are able to love more deeply, you are likely to be loved more deeply too.
10. “Fortune and love favor the brave.” – Ovid
Those who take action are brave. They do have fears and insecurities, but they do it anyway and their action gives them courage.
11. “A heart that loves is always young” – Greek Proverb
No matter how old you are, as long as your heart loves, you are young and alive forever. Keep loving and keep living.
12. “Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Love is not a game where one person dominates the other. Both lovers cultivate their connections and grow together. That’s something beautiful about love.
13. “Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible – it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.” – Barbara de Angelis
Instead of trying to accumulate material things in your life, why not living your life in such a way that you get to experience love more? We are all going to die, and we can’t take love or material possession when we die. But I’m sure you will be much more satisfied when you’ve lived a life full of love than a life full of material things.
14. “Love is a game that two can play and both win.” – Eva Gabor
I’m not a big fan of seeing dating&relationship as a game, but if we are to take them as a game, I believe Eva Gabor’s quote describes that game well. It’s not a game of manipulation where one player tricks the other and scores something from that person. Instead, it’s a game where both players find connections between them, cultivate their relationship and go on an adventure together. If you are playing the game of manipulation, stop it and switch to the latter kind of game right now.
15. “You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.” – Barbara De Angelis
When you are not used to expressing your feelings, it might scare the shit out of you to express your love. But, just acknowledge your fear and do it anyway. Your expression of love will not be wasted if you do express it to the world. Let there be more expressions of love!
16. “Love is the power to see similarity in the dissimilar.” – Theodor Adorno
As a practical tip, I believe it’s better to assume that there are some similarities between you and others and it’s better to interact with them to find such similarities. Then you will gain that power Adorno is talking about and you will find these similarities.
17. “Love is three quarters curiosity.” – Giacomo Casanova
Curiosity is a fuel that drives us in life and in love as well. Always choose to be curious, because you will be able to experience more beautiful moments and you will be able to create deep connections that way. Ask questions and be fascinated by these questions. Have a sense of wonder – that’s an ingredient for loving your life as well.
18. “Sometimes it’s a form of love just to talk to somebody that you have nothing in common with and still be fascinated by their presence.” – David Byrne
In many societies, it’s probably the case that you are culturally/socially not expected to say “I love you” to a person you’ve just met, but whether you choose to say it or not, do understand that this simple fascination David Byrne talks about in this quote is a form of love sometimes and that love has many faces. What’s the threshold between loving and not loving? Mother Theresa might say “just love”. In any case, realize that you don’t have to set this threshold high. Work on lowering it and you’ll start loving more and your life will be filled with more love.
19. “Where love is concerned, too much is not even enough.” – P.A.C. de Beaumarchais
Love is abundant. The more you love, the more love there will be created in the world. Keep loving.
20. “Who, being loved, is poor?” – Oscar Wilde
Realize that you have an ability to love others and to enrich those who you love by loving them. Isn’t it amazing to have this realization?
21. “Love is like a piece of art work, even the smallest bit can be so beautiful.” – Stacie Cunningham
If you want to live a life full of beautiful moments, choose to seek beauty in your life. To actually find beauty, the easiest way, I believe, is to make connections with amazing people and to fall in love with them. These people help you create your art of life and you end up helping them experience beautiful moments as well.
22. “Love is a choice you make from moment to moment.”- Barbara De Angelis
Always remember that you have a choice to make. If you want to live a romantic life, make choices in such a way that your choices will lead you to a romantic life.
Romance
23. “If you press me to say why I loved him, I can say no more than because he was he, and I was I.” – Michel de Montaigne
There is something more in us than superficial features and material things. When you find that something in another… or rather, when you open yourself to who that person is, that’s when love begins.
24. “If you wished to be loved, love.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
It’s not about tricking others into liking you. Forget about seeking love, but start loving others first.
25. “The very essence of romance is uncertainty.” – Oscar Wilde
Be comfortable with uncertainty and enjoy your ride into uncertainty. When you switch your position from fear of uncertainty to curiosity towards uncertainty, you will be ready to go on an adventure and that’s one way of making your life more romantic.
26. “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” – Dr. Seuss
It’s OK to be weird. Your weirdness can be something beautiful about you too, especially if you are comfortable with it. It’s even more beautiful when you find someone whose weirdness is compatible with yours! Also, if you tend to be shy and intimidated by the thought of interacting with people – keep in mind that other people have something weird about themselves as well.
27. “You learn to like someone when you find out what makes them laugh, but you can never truly love someone until you find out what makes them cry.” – Unknown
This is such a powerful quote and it reminds us that in order to love people we need to understand multi aspects of them, especially their vulnerabilities. Do you know what makes you cry? Are you comfortable with sharing it with others?
28. “All I really, really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you too.”- Joni Mitchell
Bring out the best in people you love. Listen to them and support them in achieving what they want to achieve and becoming who they want to be. Keep growing together. Being in a relationship doesn’t mean stopping right there, but going on a romantic journey together.
29. “Romance is the glamour which turns the dust of everyday life into a golden haze.” – Amanda Cross
Living a romantic life is not necessarily about living a life full of one night affairs, but it’s more about what Amanda Cross says. Be a romantic person who is open and loving and turn ordinary moments into beautiful moments. Your attitude is what matters; love and smile make it possible.
30. “They spoil every romance by trying to make it last forever.” – Oscar Wilde
I believe that each relationship lasts forever one way or another as your memories, but at the same time, I agree with Oscar Wilde’s quote. Instead of trying to make a romance last forever, focus on celebrating each moment you spend with a person you love. Be present now rather than being absorbed in the future that hasn’t arrived yet, especially when you are spending time together with that person.
31. “Do all things with love.” – Og Mandino
If I am to name one way of making your life more romantic, I’d say Og Mandino’s quote is spot on. Do everything with love. If you are not in such a situation where you feel love is lacking from what you do (or you feel you are doing what you hate), change your environment and start doing things with love more.
32. “We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Instead of trying to possess someone, create connections and memories with that person. To do so, you need to be compassionate and to listen to that person. Love is like a dance and you can’t just do your own moves. Find moves both of you want to make and immerse yourselves into music.
33. “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but looking outward in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
You and your partner are on a romantic adventure together, moving into the same direction. Isn’t it amazing to share the same path with someone together? By the way, one of the best relationship tips I’ve ever heard is to sit or stand with people you love side by side rather than face to face. I like how this tip fits well with Saint-Exupery’s quote.
34. “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” – Ingrid Bergman
Action speaks louder than words.
35. “The course of true love never did run smooth.” – William Shakespeare
Especially when you and your love go on an adventure together. Do go on an emotional adventure as well as a physical adventure. Love is a life long journey.
36. “Romance has been elegantly defined as the offspring of fiction and love.” – Benjamin Disraeli
You are the writer of your own romance. Live your life as your art and do it with love. Your life will be more romantic.
37. “Romance is everything.” – Gertrude Stein
As a man who wants to make the world more romantic… what can I say to this quote? Hell yeah!
38. “To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde
To love oneself is, I believe, the most important kind of love, because it is the foundation for any other kinds of love. If you can’t love yourself, then you can’t love others. Do you have a great relationship with yourself? How do you feel about yourself? Do you like your body? Do you beat yourself up? Make sure to treat yourself well and love yourself.
Love and Life
39. “Looking back, I have this to regret, that too often when I loved, I did not say so.” – David Grayson
A lesson we can learn from this quote? Express your love more often. See what happens when you show up and are not afraid of expressing your love. I guarantee you that your life will be more romantic.
40. “Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Can you love all the dragons you run into in your life? Can you love everything that frightens you? Can you choose to love despite the fear you have?
41. “The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller
To feel these best and most beautiful things in this world, you must open your heart first. How open is your heart? Even if it’s not fully open, you can choose to open it little by little. The question is: do you want to experience the best and most beautiful things in this world? If you do, start loving.
42. “The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost.” – G. K. Chesterton
In a similar vein, I recommend you to cultivate relationships in terms of building connections, deepening understanding between one another and creating beautiful memories. The opposite of this would be trying to possess other people. One day, you will separate with people you love for whatever reason. You can’t carry them with you till you die. But you can always carry memories of them with you. Of course, our memories fade away and might be lost as well, but this understanding helps you appreciate actual experiences you have with people you love more than ever…
43. “There are two basic motivating forces: fear and love. When we are afraid, we pull back from life. When we are in love, we open to all that life has to offer with passion, excitement, and acceptance. We need to learn to love ourselves first, in all our glory and our imperfections. If we cannot love ourselves, we cannot fully open to our ability to love others or our potential to create. Evolution and all hopes for a better world rest in the fearlessness and open-hearted vision of people who embrace life.” – John Lennon
Do you love yourself? No matter what others say, can you appreciate and accept who you are? If you can’t… stop the negative talk you have about yourself right now. You need to stop doing that. Start loving yourself and start loving others.
44. “To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.” – Bertrand Russell
I can understand that loving and being loved can be scary, and I tell you that it’s OK to love and to be loved. Let go of your fear and take a small step towards a life full of beauty and love. I say this again and again, but choose to be curious about your life and yourself. That’s where you begin your romantic journey.
45. “All mankind love a lover.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Be a lover of life. Be a lover of joy. Be a lover of knowledge. Be a lover of men. Be a lover of women. Be a lover of nature. Be a lover of story. Be a lover of art. Be a lover of beauty. Be a lover of love. Be a lover of mankind.
46. “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Mother Teresa
To smile is one of the simplest and most effective actions you can take to change your life instantly and to make it more romantic. With smile you can acknowledge people and share happy feelings with them.
47. “The only true gift is a portion of yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sharing your authentic self with others is an act of love and it’s a gift you can give to others. Be authentic and be present. Listen to others and be compassionate towards them. That’s how you give a portion of yourself to others.
48. “Till I loved I never lived.” – Emily Dickinson
Do you love and live? If not, today is the first day of your new life. Start loving.
49. “We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end.” – Benjamin Disraeli
We tend to make things complicated, but it all comes down to love. To love and to be loved. Make it a purpose of your life. How you manifest it is up to you, but when you live for love, everything else will follow.
50. “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa
And I’m pretty sure great things are composed of such small things done with love.
51. “To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever.” – Henry Drummond
I believe love is inclusive and abundant rather than exclusive and scarce. The more you love, the more love there will be. When you live a life full of love, I believe you will pass your love onto others and inspire others to be a lover. Your love is contagious and it will spread even after you are dead. Your love and life could be forever in the sense that your legacy will be left for the next generation.
52. “We can only learn to love by loving.”- Iris Murdoch
Love is a practice. I write about love and you can read it. There are a number of resources on love as well. But what matters is not how much you read about it, but to learn to love by loving. Be humble and know that we are always a student of love rather than a master as well. Every day is a chance to practice your love. Love yourself, love your people, love strangers, love your life… Keep loving and you’ll get better.
When We Love
53. “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride: I love you in this way because I do not know any other way of loving but this, in which there is no I or you, so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that when I fall asleep your eyes close.” – Pablo Neruda
It’s one of the most beautiful experiences we can have in our life: the love you create with another becomes the intersection of you and that person and both of you intertwine with one another physically and psychologically.
54. “If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don’t, they never were.” – Khalil Gibran
Sometimes we go on a different path and our paths may never cross again. But that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t return to each other even if we could. What really matters is the will to return, I believe. Regarding the idea of letting go, do let go of people you love when letting go of them makes their life go better. But be connected with them forever.
55. “The pleasure of love is in loving.” – Francois de La Rochefoucauld
At the time of writing this post, I’m 27 years old and I’m yet to live many, many years unless I get run over by a car or something, but in any case, I’m lucky, because I know that the pleasure of love is indeed in loving and I feel that the greatest pleasure of living lies in loving. For the rest of my life, I get to work on proving this right. I hope you’ll find these pleasures as well.
56. “There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love, as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning.” – Vincent Van Gogh
Be the burning lamp and illuminate the entire world with your love. That’s what living a romantic life is about.
57. “You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly.” – Sam Keen
Finding the perfect person can be a long journey if it can be done at all. But you can start seeing imperfect people perfectly right now. You can start practicing it from today and you will get better and better at it. And, as always, start with seeing yourself – do you realize your imperfections are what makes you beautiful?
58. “I love you, and because I love you, I would sooner have you hate me for telling you the truth than adore me for telling you lies.” – Pietro Aretino
Telling the truth can be uncomfortable, but it is better than deceiving people you love. When people who love you tell you the truth, appreciate their honesty as well. Honesty is the best policy and an act of love.
59. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” – Mother Teresa
As a former sceptic of love, I know it is difficult to dive into the ocean of love and to simply love people without judging them. I do judge people to some extent and I’m far from Mother Teresa. But instead of wining that it’s difficult, realize there’s a huge difference between difficult and impossible and let’s love more. Love is a practice; the more you love, the better you’ll get at loving.
60. “When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss
This is especially true when you are in love with your life. Are you in love with your life? Can you accept what it is now and love it even more? If it sucks, do you have the guts to be honest and say that to your life?
61. “Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly.” – Rose Franken
Love (and sex!) need not only passion, but also playfulness. Be light and be delighted.
62. “The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti
Realize, also, that when you love someone and that person feels love in his or her heart, the world will be transformed for that person. Isn’t that exciting? Spread love. Go and make the world more romantic.
63. “When we come into contact with the other person, our thoughts and actions should express our mind of compassion, even if that person says and does things that are not easy to accept. We practice in this way until we see clearly that our love is not contingent upon the other person being lovable.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
If you choose to love, you love anyway despite the fact that your love might not be returned. Practice love and compassion and get better at loving.
64. “To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.” – Alphonse de Lamartine
If you want to fall in love with an angel, love for the sake of loving and your angelic love shall reach an angel.
65. “You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.” – Henry Drummond
Of all the quotes in this post, this quote resonates with me more strongly than others. You will experience more beautiful moments by loving your life and showing up as who you are, because such love helps you notice those moments – in reality, you are surrounded by beauty and all you need to do is to simply notice that there are many, many beautiful things in your life. Love your life and your life will be full of beauty.
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What did you learn from these quotes? Is there any quote that resonated with you? Write and share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you enjoyed this post and think that more people need to learn to love, please share it with your friends by clicking the tweet button or the like button below.
(Photo by Josh Liba)