Planning a wedding—and making it feel as meaningful and personal as possible—is not always an easy feat. When it comes to matters of the heart, turn to famous words of wisdom about love and life to give you some ideas for the speeches, readings and signage your day requires. Avoid words for words sake; add a thoughtful quote to your program, highlighting something important to both of you as a couple, or choose to incorporate sentimental notes into personalized vows or readings. But take it from us: Signage, decor, invitations, and more should be kept simple and void of excess verbiage.
Whether you're writing your vows, a speech, or need some inspiration for your ceremony (which we recommend you discuss with your planner), we've rounded up some of our favorite philosophical, literary, influential, and pop culture quotes on all things love, life, and romance. Here, 65 powerful phrases to inspire your upcoming celebrations.
Philosophical quotes about love.
1. "Where there is love, there is life." Mahatma Ghandi
2. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” Lao Tzu
3. "In love, one and one are one." Jean-Paul Sartre
4. “Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.” Dalai Lama
5. "Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone–we find it with another." Thomas Merton
6. "Love is the Water of Life." Rumi
7. "Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself." Søren Kierkegaard
8. “Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.” Lao Tzu
9. “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” Henry David Thoreau
10. “Love is a canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.” Voltaire
11. “When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again.” Albert Einstein
Literary quotes about love.
12. "There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved." George Sand
13. "Love is always patient and kind. It is never jealous. Love is never boastful or conceited. It is never rude or selfish. It does not take offense and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people’s sins, but delights in the truth. It is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes." The Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
14. “Yours is the light by which my spirit’s born: yours is the darkness of my soul’s return—you are my sun, my moon, and all my stars.” E.E. Cummings, #38 of 73
15. "I loved you first: but afterwards your love." Christina Rossetti, Monna Innominata
16. “There are all kinds of love in this world, but never the same love twice.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
17. "Never love anyone who treats you like you’re ordinary." Oscar Wilde
18. “I would rather share one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
19. “We loved with a love that was more than love.” Edgar Allan Poe, Annabel Lee
20. “Constancy in love is a good thing; but it means nothing, and is nothing, without constancy in every kind of effort.” Charles Dickens, Bleak House
21. "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." Antoine de Saint-Exupery, On Love
22. "If music be the food of love, play on." William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night
23. "To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides." David Viscott, How to Live with Another Person
24. "You are the answer to every prayer I’ve offered. You are a song, a dream, a whisper, and I don’t know how I could have lived without you for as long as I have." Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
25. “Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” Charles Dickens, Hard Times
26. “Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” Zelda Fitzgerald
27. "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
28. “You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” Dr. Seuss
29. “To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. There is no other pearl to be found in the dark folds of life.” Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
30. “When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there’s no need at all to understand what’s happening, because everything happens within you.” Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
31. "I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou
32. "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever." Alfred Tennyson
33. "I love you more than there are stars in the sky and fish in the sea." Nicholas Sparks
34. “It is such a happiness when good people get together—and they always do.” Jane Austen, Emma
35. “What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
36. “He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
37. “Love, having no geography, knows no boundaries.” Truman Capote, Other Voices, Other Rooms
38. “A great marriage isn’t something that just happens; it’s something that must be created.” Fawn Weaver
39. “Who, being loved, is poor?” Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance
40. "When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
Legacy quotes about love.
41. “There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.” Martin Luther
42. "The giving of love is an education in itself." Eleanor Roosevelt
43. "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller
44. “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” Henry Ford
45. "If you find someone you love in your life, then hang on to that love." Diana, Princess of Wales
46. “There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.” Ronald Reagan
47. “Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”Mother Teresa
48. "A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love." Max Muller
49. “Marriage, to women as to men, must be a luxury, not a necessity; an incident of life, not all of it.” Susan B. Anthony
50. “What is done in love is done well.” Vincent Van Gogh
51. “Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within."
James Baldwin
52. “A good marriage is a contest of generosity.” Diane Sawyer
53. "We choose love. Our love for our children. Our commitment to leaving them a better world. Our love for our county... our love for our fellow citizens... that's what we choose. Michelle Obama
Pop culture quotes about love.
54. “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.” Audrey Hepburn
55. “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.” The Beatles
56. “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.” Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally
57. "All that you are is all that I’ll ever need." Ed Sheeran, "Tenerife Sea"
58. "Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down." Oprah Winfrey
59. "Here's looking at you, kid." Casablanca
60. "Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, dreams are forever." Walt Disney
61. "Love is real, real is love." John Lennon
62. "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." Winnie the Pooh
63. “They say love is the best investment; the more you give, the more you get in return.” Audrey Hepburn
64. "That's why they call them crushes. If they were easy, they'd call them something else." Sixteen Candles
65. “Because when I look at you, I can feel it. And I look at you and I’m home.” Dory, Finding Nemo
Heather Hall
Contributing Weddings Writer
Heather Hall is a weddings, fashion, and lifestyle writer and editor. Her career in weddings began at The Knot, where she worked as a bridal fashion editor. She then worked as a PR Manager at Amsale, a bridal design house, before starting her ownevents and digital marketing business. She has been featured on Today.com, MSN.com, Yahoo.com, Racked.com,Huffington Post, Verily Magazine, andStyle Me Pretty. Heather loves music, travel, and practicing yoga. In her spare time she's typicallyresearching the next fun workout class to try, orfinding a new concert to attend. Her latest goal: become a DJ.
