From classic novels that are the staples of literature to contemporary books that reflect popular culture, love is a constant theme throughout them all. It is timeless. It is universal. Love speaks to all generations and cultures, and because of this, it has served as the inspiration for some of the most celebrated and respected works of literature. From Jane Austen to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Elizabeth Gilbert, love is a common thread no matter when their novels were written. RELATED: 100 Best Love Quotes That’ll Make Anyone Believe In Love Books also give us a feeling of love nostalgia. In the era of dating apps and hookup culture that feel as though they have sucked the life out of romance, a quote about love from a great author is utterly refreshing. After all, no one can describe love quite like a writer. Their poetic words not only provide wonderful stories of love, but they inspire us to seek it for ourselves. Perhaps you have been single for a while and are feeling bitter and frustrated about the modern dating world. Let the words of these timeless authors remind you that true love still exists, no matter how rare it may seem. Maybe you are in a relationship and are falling in love for the first time. These quotes about love are sure to speak to you. Our world can feel harsh. It’s good to be reminded of the joy in life and love is the best source of happiness out there.
These 40 love quotes from books will bring a smile to your face, warm your heart, and inspire you to never give up on love.
1. “Do I love you? My god, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.” — William Goldman, ‘The Princess Bride’
As you wish.
2. “And I’d choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I’d find you and I’d choose you.” — Kiersten White, ‘The Chaos of Stars’
Only you.
3. “In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” — Jane Austen, ‘Pride & Prejudice’
Say how you feel.
4. “Traveling is the great true love of my life… I am loyal and constant in my love of travel. I feel the way about travel the way a happy new mother feels about her impossible, colicky, restless newborn baby - I just don’t care what it puts me through. Because I adore it. Because it’s mine. Because it looks exactly like me.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat Pray Love’
Discovering what you love in life.
5. “Gatsby looked at Daisy in a way that every young girl wanted to be looked at.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘The Great Gatsby’
How lucky to find someone like that.
6. “Here’s to all the places we went. And all the places we’ll go. And here’s to me, whispering again and again and again and again: I love you.” — John Green, ‘An Abundance of Katherines’
Now that’s a toast.
7. “Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” — Emily Bronte, ‘Wuthering Heights’
Soul mates.
8. “‘How do you spell love?’ ‘You don’t spell it. You feel it.’” — A. A. Milne, ‘Winnie the Pooh’
That’s the truth.
9. “I love you. I am who I am because of you. You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I’ve ever had, and no matter what happens to us in the future, every day we are together is the greatest day of my life. I will always be yours.” — Nicholas Sparks, ‘The Notebook’
Swoon!
10. “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be.” — Charles Dickens, ‘Great Expectations’
Love knows no reason.
11. “You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.” — Margaret Mitchell, ‘Gone with the Wind’
Yes, please.
12. “Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and in sickness it would still be dear.” — Charlotte Bronte, ‘Jane Eyre’
I love all of you.
13. “You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.” — Jodie Picoult, ‘My Sister’s Keeper’
Love is not about being perfect.
14. “You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.” — John Green, ‘The Fault in Our Stars’
The hope and joy that love brings.
15. “I think… if it is true there are as many minds as there are heads, then there are as many kinds of love as there are hearts.” — Leo Tolstoy, ‘Anna Karenina’
Every love is unique.
16. “Don’t try to comprehend with your mind. Your minds are very limited. Use your intuition.” — Madeleine L’Engle, ‘A Wrinkle in Time’
Follow your heart.
17. “Before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.” — Harper Lee, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
You have to love yourself first before loving others.
18. “You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope… I have loved none but you.” — Jane Austen, Persuasion’
My only love.
19. “Who, being loved, is poor?” — Oscar Wilde, ‘A Woman of No Importance’
Love is true wealth.
20. “Did my heart love till now? Foreswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” — William Shakespeare, ‘Romeo and Juliet’
When you first see your true love.
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21. “Balance, my darling, is not letting anybody love you less than you love yourself.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat Pray Love’
Know what you deserve.
22. “I wish I had done everything with you.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘The Great Gatsby’
The person I want to experience life with.
23. “I ached all over for her; I leaned my head in her beautiful hair. Her little shoulders drove me mad; I hugged her and hugged her. And she loved it. ‘I love love,’ she said, closing her eyes. I promised her beautiful love. I gloated over her. Our stories were told; we subsided into silence and sweet anticipatory thoughts. It was as simple as that. You could have all your Peaches and Bettys and Marylous and Ritas and Camilles and Inezes in this world; this was my girl and my kind of girlsoul, and I told her that.” — Jack Kerouac, ‘On the Road’
That perfect connection.
24. “If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.” — Joan Powers, ‘Pooh’s Little Instruction Book’
For when you want to tell them you mean forever.
25. “When he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of Heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.” — William Shakespeare, ‘Romeo and Juliet’
That magical feeling of falling in love.
26. “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” — 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
How would you describe love?
27. “You’re mad. Bonkers off your head…but I’ll tell you a secret…all of the best people are.” — Lewis Carroll, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’
Love your unique madness.
28. “You are so busy being you that you have no idea how utterly unprecedented you are.” — John Green, ‘The Fault in our Stars’
Those who love us can see what we may not see in ourselves.
29. “You have bewitched me body and soul and I love, love, love you.” — Jane Austen, ‘Pride and Prejudice’
I put a spell on you…
30. “I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.” — Charles Dickens, ‘A Tale of Two Cities’
Good to know.
31. “Love looks not with the eyes.” — William Shakespeare, ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’
Love is blind.
32. “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” — Leo Tolstoy, ‘Anna Karenina’
Love is a powerful force.
33. “She is a mortal danger to all men. She is beautiful without knowing it, and possesses charms that she’s not even aware of. She is like a trap set by nature - a sweet perfumed rose in whose petals Cupid lurks in ambush! Anyone who has seen her smile has known perfection. She instills grace in every common thing and divinity in every careless gesture.” — Edmond Rostand, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’
When you’re completely smitten.
34. “Maybe…you’ll fall in love with me all over again.”
“‘Hell,’ I said, ‘I love you enough now. What do you want to do? Ruin me?’”
“Yes. I want to ruin you.”
“‘Good,’ I said, ‘That’s what I want too.” — Ernest Hemingway, ‘A Farewell to Arms’
Take the leap of love together.
35. “Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar: but never doubt I love.” — William Shakespeare, ‘Hamlet’
My love is true.
36. “You see, until I met you, I had only ever experienced desire. Love, never.” — Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’
Real love is a game-changer.
37. “It is better to love wisely, no doubt: but to love foolishly is better than not to be able to love at all.” — William Makepeace Thackeray, ‘Vanity Fair’
Don’t be afraid to take a chance on love.
38. “Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.” — Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Prometheus Unbound’
Kissing sparks.
39. “By my soul, I can neither eat, drink, nor sleep; nor, what’s still worse, love any woman in the world but her.” — Samuel Richardson, ‘Clarissa, or the History of a Young Lady’
The craziness of love.
40. “I wanted to know you moved and breathed in the same world with me.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, ‘Benediction’
When you need someone in your life.
RELATED: 25 Quotes That Remind You What It Was Like To Fall Madly In Love Jill Zwarensteyn is a writer and Michigan native who covers trending topics, pop culture, and astrology. When she’s not writing for YourTango, she is also a travel blogger and actress.
