Love sayings are ways to express ideas about this most profound human emotion. These phrases are commonly believed to be truisms about what love is and how it controls life. While some of these sayings have become almost cliché, others are more obscure yet relevant in their timeless truths.
1. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Thomas Haynes Bayly (English poet)
This saying describes how a person longs for a loved one when they are separated. It's easy to take a loved one's presence for granted, but as soon as the person is no longer there, a longing immediately fills the empty space.
2. "At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet."
Plato (Ancient Greek philosopher)
The Greek philosopher's words are just as true and profound today as they were nearly 2,400 years ago. When people fall in love, their romantic side blossoms and poetry is a traditional mode for expressing that love.
3. “He who wants to do good, knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gates open.”
Rabindranath Tagore (Indian religious philosopher)
This saying indicates that love opens gates that people simply cannot open on their own, even if they doing good deeds. It makes the point that love has no barriers and knows no bounds.
4. “Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you.”
Loretta Young (Famous actress from 1940s-1960s)
This saying explains how you can't force yourself to love someone. If you go out looking for love, that doesn't mean you will find it. Love simply cannot be controlled. A force unto itself, love often strikes when you aren't trying to find it.
5. “The heart wants what the heart wants”
Emily Dickinson (American poet)
This modern saying is taken from a longer original quote, "The Heart wants what it wants - or else it does not care." This popular saying is often used as an excuse for infidelity or for loving someone you shouldn't. It implies that since the power of love is so uncontrollable and overwhelming, you simply cannot help yourself.
6. "Love is blind."
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale (1405)
Shakespeare lifted this quote from Chaucer and used it in several of his plays. Over the centuries, it has become a saying that is accepted as a truism about love. It is often used to explain how someone can love a very flawed person or even a bad person.
7. "Love makes the world go 'round."
Attributed to Medieval theology, this saying is based on the belief that love created everything. Love is what set the world in motion and everything else in the universe followed. Today, that meaning hasn't changed - without love there is nothing.
8. “Love conquers all."
Amor Vincit Omnia (Roman poet)
This saying expresses the idea that there is nothing that cannot be conquered by love. It implies that love is the supreme emotion and ruler of all human life. The original saying was, "Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to love."
9. “There is only one happiness in life — to love and to be loved.”
George Sand, (nom de plume for Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin)
This saying encapsulates Sand's philosophy, which she lived out through engaging in many romantic affairs that she didn't try to hide from the public. The meaning conveyed is that you must love and be loved in return if you want a life filled with happiness.
10. “Love is friendship that has caught fire.”
Ann Landers (Ask Ann syndicated advice columnist)
This saying is part of a broader statement Landers' made, but this part struck a chord in particular. The phrase demonstrates how friendship can often burst into love. The spark of love can be sudden and unexpected.
