Son, brother, father, lover, friend. There is room in the heart for all the affections, as there is room in heaven for all the stars.
—Victor Hugo
Pain was my tie to a past that a part of me wanted to hold on to. The more I hurt, the more I knew I loved, and that felt like a good thing.
—Daria Snadowsky in Anatomy of a Single Girl
Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and living alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You are here to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up.
—Louise Erdrich in The Painted Drum
It's not enough to find someone you love. You have to be ready for that love, and ready to make changes to welcome it into your life.
—Uzma Jalaluddin in Ayesha at Last
It is better to have loved and lost than never to have lost at all.
—Samuel Butler
I can tell you that the pain of living is worth it. That if you live, your life will be as full of love as it is darkness, and for every moment of pain, you'll have one of joy too.
—Emily Henry in The Love That Split the World
In the end, the best we can hope for is that we've left our mark on the people who matter most to us, that we've loved them so well, a piece of us will forever remain a part of them.
—Jennifer Ryan in Her Renegade Rancher
A lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it.
—Jacques Yves Cousteau
I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.
—Rita Rudner
In this world no one rules by love; if you are but amiable, you are no hero; to be powerful, you must be strong, and to have dominion you must have a genius for organizing.
—John Henry Newman
Love matches are formed by people who pay for a month of honey with a life of vinegar.
—Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington