17 Love Quotes That Will Make You Think Twice

Love.
The most mysterious, yet the most important thing to learn about.
The life force.
The driving force.
Love is the greatest thing ever happened to us.
It’s not all glitters, rainbow, and butterflies.
In fact, love could be the only thing that allows us to feel both the joy and pain – deeply.
But it’s also the one thing that would get you back up again and again.
We would try to understand and learn about love throughout our life.
And this could be that one lifelong learning with no simple conclusion, it’s just too complex to be described with words.
Here are 17 love quotes I’ve handpicked for you.
The ones that would make you think twice about this very thing we’ve called love.

What is love, really?

1

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

2

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

3

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.

Anais Nin

4

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Believe it or not, I’m contemplating so hard right now. “Love” is hard to talk about. Not because I don’t like it (who doesn’t like love, though?). But because it really is a serious matter.

I believe that love is that one thing that couldn’t be defined by a set of phrases. It is something that has to be experienced to be understood. And I believe that in our lifetime, we’ll actually see and taste just a glimpse of it. Because we humans are creatures of boundaries and almost everything we do is not unconditional, to one extent or another, if you think about it. Admit it or not, which is understandable, as we all are trying to survive living in this world. Only love is unconditional and capable of breaching these existing boundaries.

Another thing I do know is that love will always exist. Also that it is the key to all good things in life. Our job is to endure and persevere until we can finally see it through all the distractions, noises, and horror within that emptiness.

Now let’s talk about self-worth and respect between 2 individuals in a romantic relationship.

I guess these could be the perfect love quotes to be read by us ladies (and partners!).

5

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.

Elbert Hubbard

6

I’m selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.

Marilyn Monroe

7

You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect—you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break—her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.

Bob Marley

8

If he’s not calling you, it’s because you are not on his mind. If he creates expectations for you, and then doesn’t follow through on little things, he will do same for big things. Be aware of this and realize that he’s okay with disappointing you. Don’t be with someone who doesn’t do what they say they’re going to do. If he’s choosing not to make a simple effort that would put you at ease and bring harmony to a recurring fight, then he doesn’t respect your feelings and needs. “Busy” is another word for “asshole.” “Asshole” is another word for the guy you’re dating. You deserve a fcking phone call.

Greg Behrendt

So you see that these 4 love quotes above came from different people with diverse backgrounds. And they all do place great emphasis on woman’s worth.

A loving relationship is not all about cupid’s love arrows and short-lived flings. It requires so much effort from the two involved individuals to make it work, successful and ever thriving. These two individuals would never stop growing and evolving in a healthy relationship.

Mutual understanding is one prerequisite for a healthy romantic relationship. It might not always be easy for some of us to communicate all our concerns and feelings to our partner – me included! Guess what, though: effective communication really is essential in a healthy relationship.

So know your worth, ladies (and gents!). Give just enough benefit of the doubt when needed, but save yourself from that unhealthy, one-sided relationship.

But how do we know at all?

9

I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ … There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.

Maya Angelou

10

We accept the love we think we deserve.

Stephen Chbosky

11

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu

12

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

C.S. Lewis

13

Above all, don’t lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.

Fyodor Dostoevsky – “The Brothers Karamazov”

Whenever you need some practical advice on healthy vs. unhealthy relationship, you could simply re-read these love quotes above.

In a nutshell, see if you’ve been able to accept and love yourself, which includes all your imperfections too. If not, think twice before jumping on a new relationship. The same goes for your prospective partner. Maya Angelou’s saying is 100% on point right there – couldn’t have said it better myself!

Does he keep himself healthy physically and mentally? Or has he at least tried to do so – and still in the process? Does he grow and evolve with you?

No judgement here whatsoever.

In fact, all this came from my own experience, with me being the depressed and frustrating one years ago. I’d be forever grateful for my partner’s patience for my depressed self.

Heal yourself from past trauma because, really, we cannot love someone when we don’t know how to accept and love ourself. And how many times have you heard about someone entering into a toxic relationship, and turns out that they’ve had unresolved issues themself from the past. Stephen Chbosky is right to a great extent when he said “we accept the love we think we deserve.”

But then again, when we love we put our vulnerable self out there. Walls down, uncertainty everywhere. Trust, faith and hope rise. Loving someone is dangerous, but necessary for our growth.

The only thing we could is cultivate that self respect towards ourself. Always remind yourself that you are worthy. And you’ll find that respectful love that is worthy of it all.

And if anything goes “wrong”…

14

This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something.

Elizabeth Gilbert

15

The very essence of romance is uncertainty.

Oscar Wilde

16

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness.

Friedrich Nietzsche

17

They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.

Tom Bodett

As far as I understand it, heartbreaks are inevitable whenever love is involved. Whether it’s that major, life-changing heartbreak, or the less severe ones. That’s one part of love. It’s like part of the “deal” we’ve made with ourself when we choose to love.

Heartbreak overwhelms our humanly certainty-seeking nature. It could be devastating and even traumatic. But, you see, it teaches us. We learn and grow so much from it. And without it, we wouldn’t know what love and joy really are.

When your heart breaks, feel it until you’re ready to accept it. And then heal and forgive yourself, because there’s always reason to love. Even if everything crumbles at the end.

You might feel empty at some points in your life. But never stop trying to remember and believe that love is always there. Endure and persevere, and you’ll finally get through the noises and blinding fog. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to miss what’s on the other side of this madness!

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And that’s it – the 17 love quotes that will hopefully cause you to think twice!

Because love really is that important.

If only each one of us could just stop for a moment, seek and listen to what love is trying to teach us, we’ll make our life experience more meaningful and whole.

What is love to you?

Let’s share your invaluable love experiences and thoughts to the world, in the comments below! This way, we could support and learn from each other.

Love and best wishes,

Ella