„To love is to tire of being alone; it is therefore a cowardice, a betrayal of ourselves. (It is exceedingly important that we not love.)“

— Fernando Pessoa

Last update Nov. 14, 2021.

Fernando Pessoa289

Portuguese poet, writer, literary critic, translator, publi… 1888 - 1935

— Kirby Page American clergyman 1890 - 1957

Individualism and Socialism (1933)

Love, God, Religion, Exercises

„I'm tired of being in love and being all alone
When you're so far away from me.
I'm tired of making out on the telephone
Because you're so far away from me.“

— Mark Knopfler English guitarist 1949

So Far Away
Song lyrics, Brothers in Arms (1985)

Love

„Love is what makes us alive,
That is why we feel so alive when we love.
Service is being available to love.

Life is the combustion of love.

That we love ourselves here,
That is the true magnificence
In the mountains of being.“

— Alex Grey American artist 1953

Art Psalms (2008), The Vast Expanse

Mountain, Love, Life, Making love

„Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another.“

— Thomas Merton Priest and author 1915 - 1968

Variant: Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone we find it with another.
Source: Love and Living

Love, Life, love, Heart Touching

„Quit being so hard on yourself. We are what we are; we love what we love. We don't need to justify it to anyone… not even to ourselves.“

— Scott Lynch, book The Republic of Thieves

Source: The Republic of Thieves

Love

„All cowardice comes from not truly loving, or at least, not loving well.“

— Ernest Hemingway American author and journalist 1899 - 1961

Love

„Here is a doctrine at which you will laugh. It seems to me, Govinda, that Love is the most important thing in the world. It may be important to great thinkers to examine the world, to explain and despise it. But I think it is only important to love the world, not to despise it, not for us to hate each other, but to be able to regard the world and ourselves and all beings with love, admiration and respect.“

— Hermann Hesse German writer 1877 - 1962

Siddhartha (1922)

Love, Hate, World, Thinking

„The supreme happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves—say rather, loved in spite of ourselves.“

— Victor Hugo, book Les Misérables

Variant: The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.
Source: Les Misérables

Love, Life, Wise, Happiness

„If we do not know how to take care of ourselves and to love ourselves, we cannot take care of the people we love. Loving oneself is the foundation for loving another person.“

— Thich Nhat Hanh Religious leader and peace activist 1926

Source: Your True Home: The Everyday Wisdom of Thich Nhat Hanh: 365 days of practical, powerful teachings from the beloved Zen teacher

Love, People, Personality

„A true opium of the people is a belief in nothingness after death - the huge solace of thinking that for our betrayals, greed, cowardice, murders we are not going to be judged.“

— Czeslaw Milosz Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator 1911 - 2004

Death, People, Thinking, Betrayal

„A gorgeous pitless account of love, violence and betrayal.“

— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, book Half of a Yellow Sun

Source: Half of a yellow sun (2006)

Betrayal, Love

„Loneliness is not being alone, It's loving others to no avail.“

— John Berendt, book The City of Falling Angels

Source: The City of Falling Angels

Love, Loneliness

„We cease loving ourselves if no one loves us.“

— Anne Louise Germaine de Staël Swiss author 1766 - 1817

On cesse de s'aimer si quelqu'un ne nous aime.
Sophie, or The Secret Sentiments (Sophie, ou les sentiments secrets, 1790), Act 2, sc. 8

Love

„God knows best who we are and why we were created and therefore, we should concern ourselves only with the fear of God, love of God and obedience to God's commands.“

— Bu Ali Shah Qalandar Indian Sufi saint 1209 - 1324

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 270

God, Love, Fear

„Forgiveness is not just a selfish pursuit of personal satisfaction or righteousness. It actually alleviates the amount of suffering in the world. As each one of us frees ourselves from clinging to resentments that cause suffering, we relieve our friends, family, and community of the burden of our unhappiness. This is not a philosophical proposal; it is a verifiable and practical truth. Through our suffering and lack of forgiveness, we tend to do all kinds of unskillful things that hurt others. We close ourselves off from love, for example, out of fear of further pains or betrayals. This alone—a lack of openness to the love shown to us—is a way that we cause harm to our loved ones. The closed heart lets no one in or out.“

— Noah Levine American Buddhist teacher 1971

The Heart of the Revolution (2011)

Forgiveness, Family, Betrayal, Selfishness

„Wisdom consists not only in becoming detached from the reflections, but also in knowing and feeling that the archetypes are to be found within ourselves and are accessible in the depths of our hearts; we possess what we love to the extent that what we love is worthy of being loved.“

— Frithjof Schuon, book The Transfiguration of Man

[2005, The Transfiguration of Man, World Wisdom, 109, 978-0-94153219-8]
Spiritual path, Wisdom

Wisdom, Heart, Love, Feeling

„It is love that alone gives life, and the truest life is that which we live not in ourselves but vicariously in others, and with which we have no concern. Our concern is so to order ourselves that we may be of the number of them that enter into life — although we know it not.“

— Samuel Butler novelist 1835 - 1902

Ramblings In Cheapside (1890)
Context: All we know is, that even the humblest dead may live along after all trace of the body has disappeared; we see them doing it in the bodies and memories of these that come after them; and not a few live so much longer and more effectually than is desirable, that it has been necessary to get rid of them by Act of Parliament. It is love that alone gives life, and the truest life is that which we live not in ourselves but vicariously in others, and with which we have no concern. Our concern is so to order ourselves that we may be of the number of them that enter into life — although we know it not.

Love, Life