Love has been, is, and forever will be the most popular topic to write about. From epic love tales, like Romeo and Juliet, to listicles about how to get your crush to love you back via snapchat; humans will always be curious about love. Why is love such a cause for query? Perhaps it’s because love is complex, and yet can often be quite simple. It happens quickly, sometimes slowly and ends in the biggest of agonies to then come knocking again, asking for another chance. It’s bitter and sweet and most importantly it’s available to everyone. Everyone falls in love. Love is one of those things that connects us as a human race. We all have grand love stories to tell and because of this, love will forever be something to question and ponder on. All the greats had an opinion on love and here are some of those opinions that hold so much truth.

1.

“Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

— William Shakespeare

Have you ever spent an entire day with the man/woman you love, but felt sorrow after that day of fun was over? You can’t get enough of that person. Shakespeare was spot on with this one. Parting with the one you love is so sad. You’re thankful for the time you got to spend together, but you feel an emptiness when it’s time to go. The only thing that brings a little solace to that feeling is knowing that you’ll see them again at some point.

2.

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

— Aristotle

There comes a point in a relationship where you’re so in tune with your SO that you know what they’re thinking without them speaking a single word. You can read their body language an instantly know that they’re not okay. You know that they get hungry at a certain hour, that they get sleepy at midnight and that when they give you a particular look, it’s cause they want some lovin’! Love is such a strong connection and it does become as if you’re a two in one combo.

3.

“Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within reach of every hand.”

— Mother Teresa

Love is available everywhere. Whether you’re in NYC , the deepest jungle in Brazil, the Congo, or Fiji, love will find its way to you. It may manifest in different ways depending on the culture, but love is universal and opportunities to find it are always in season.

4.

“Love is an untamed force. When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.”

— Paulo Coelho

Have you ever been in a situation where you fell for someone who was completely wrong for you? Or worse, they were dating someone else? In an attempt to try and forget that person, you will always suffer. It’s hard to tell your heart not to feel. Love is like getting hit by a truck. I know that sounds like a gruesome way to describe love, but love is completely life-changing. Getting hit by a truck would change your life completely (and possibly end it). What I’m trying to say is that as much as you don’t want for it to affect you, it will. It changes you and forces it’s way in without giving you a say and when you try to make any sense of it, you’re left confused and exhausted.

5.

“Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

I love seeing older couples. There’s this one couple that I know who embodies this quote perfectly. They’re in their seventies and they still hold hands and dance. He makes her laugh and she still makes him an afternoon snack. They take walks, he buys her flowers, they still chat and remember the good old days. Their faces are wrinkled and their bodies aren’t as strong anymore. Their physical youth has long ago slipped away, but they continue to love each other despite the fact that they no longer look like the two gorgeous youngsters that fell in love one balmy night in Brooklyn. The physical erodes with time, but love keeps things beautiful on the inside.

6.

”Even when love isn’t enough, somehow it is.”

— Stephen King

You know when you were little and you fell and scraped your knee and your mom came rushing over to pick you up, clean your cuts and then kissed you. That kiss, somehow, made things all better. Love doesn’t make problems go away, but sure does make them easier to deal with.

7.

“Where there is love there is life.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

Love makes the world grow bigger. When we love someone, we want to share our lives with that special person and sometimes the love is so much that you can’t contain it within the pair of you anymore, so another person must be created in order for that love to have a place to live. Love continues to grow and then maybe another one or two people must be created to give that love some room to dwell in. Wherever there is love, you can rest assured that there will be life.

8.

“Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.”

— Loretta Young

Do you ever wonder what would happen if you deleted all of your dating apps? I know it’s a scary thought, but sometimes we’re so hung up on finding someone to go out with on Friday nights and hopefully wake up to on Saturday mornings that you completely miss the fact that the hot guy on the N train was totally checking you out. It’s okay to give ourselves a chance with love and maybe look for it, but sometimes we do have to let it find us.

9.

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.”

— Peter Ustinov

Love forgives. When you love someone, no matter what they do, your inclination will always be to forgive. Though some things are more easily forgiven than others, eventually you put all wrongs behind you. Love makes you look at the one who has wronged you tenderly, because true love can see past imperfections. With that said, I feel like I have to PSA, so here goes. If someone you love is hurting you physically or psychologically, you do not have to forgive that. In fact, you need to get out of there as soon as possible. Someone who loves you will never purposefully want to hurt you in any way. This quote is reserved for the dumb stuff that we get hurt by, like when he didn’t text you to say goodnight, or when she made a scene when you causally looked at another girl’s butt. The heavy, life-endangering things can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.

10.

”Love is like an hourglass, with the heart filling up as the brain empties.”

— Jules Renard

Take a look at anyone who is in love and notice the idiotic look on their face. We look so stupid when we’re in love, but I’d rather look dumb and have a full and happy heart than look cool and have an empty space in my heart where love is meant to be. Love makes you do crazy things, but being a fool in love is such a great feeling.