What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.
—Helen Keller
You have to love somebody that much to also hate them that much, too.
—Sherman Alexie in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Boys will lie, cheat, and steal to get into your pants. A man will stand the test of time. Make him wait, and you'll see which one he is.
—Penelope Douglas in Falling Away
One thing I truly knew—knew it in the pit of my stomach, in the center of my bones, knew it from the crown of my head to the soles of my feet, knew it deep in my empty chest—was how love gave someone the power to break you.
—Stephenie Meyer in New Moon
It's frightening when things you love appear suddenly changed from what you have always known.
—Barbara Kingsolver in The Poisonwood Bible
The man as he converses is the lover; silent, he is the husband.
—Honoré de Balzac
It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country,
but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but
one country and mankind its citizens.
—Bahá'u'lláh
I don't think you realize how hard it is to always be reaching out to you, and to continually be rebuffed.
—Sarah Dessen in What Happened to Goodbye
A lot of people wonder how you can tell if you're really in love. Just ask yourself this question: 'Would I mind being financially destroyed by this person?
—Ronnie Shakes
Love is a gross exaggeration of the difference between one person and everybody else.
—George Bernard Shaw
I should have told you I loved you every day. I should have given you the stars.
—Amie Kaufman in Illuminae
The Bad Boy. This one will probably steal your heart in your early 20's, in those years when you're trying to figure out who you are and who you want to be, and discovering your wings seems to come with a side of rebellion. You'll think you can change him, but you can't. (And secretly, you won't want to, because if you did, he'd no longer be the boy who stole your heart.) He'll make you cry as much or more as he makes you laugh. Underneath it all, you suspect he has a heart of gold… and he probably does… but it will take years and many women after you to uncover it. Here's the thing about bad boys: In the end, they always walk away. But they don't leave you empty-handed. In their wake will be a girl who now knows what she wants out of love and what she won't ever again stand for. And she's finally learned how to say "Thanks, but no thanks" to anyone who doesn't meet that standard.
—Mandy Hale in Beautiful Uncertainty
Men always want to be a woman's first love—women like to be a man's last romance.
—Oscar Wilde
Do you know what I love? Life. And romantic love is a distraction that makes staying alive more difficult.
—Kresley Cole in Kiss of a Demon King
It's funny what love can do to a person. It strips them of everything, even their instincts. It creates a new reality for you to adhere to, a new world where you break the rules just to keep the love intact.
—Karina Halle in On Every Street