Quotes About True Intimacy

Intimacy quotes can serve as reminders of the meaning of real intimacy, which can be defined as a state of reciprocal emotional closeness and trust between people that allows them to openly express their thoughts, feelings, and needs. That said, there are many ways to describe intimacy, which highlights the highly personal interpretation, perception, and expression of its possible meanings. While it’s often discussed in reference to romantic and/or sexual relationships, intimacy can be present in connections of all different types. To hear how various people—from authors to actors to philosophers—have described intimacy in its various forms, read on. 

Emotional intimacy quotes

Here’s a selection of quotes about emotional intimacy: 

• “It is not time or opportunity that is to determine intimacy; —it is disposition alone. Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.” –Jane Auste
• “Intimacy requires courage because risk is inescapable. We cannot know at the outset how the relationship will affect us. Like a chemical mixture, if one of us is changed, both of us will be." –Rollo May
• “Intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them and their response is ‘you’re safe with me’, that’s intimacy.” –Taylor Jenkins Reid
• “The deepest moments of intimacy occur when you’re not talking.” –Patricia Love
• “It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.” –John Joseph Powell

Physical intimacy quotes

Physical intimacy involves showing affection or closeness through touch. In romantic and/or sexual relationships, common forms of physical intimacy include kissing, hugging, caressing, sex, cuddling, holding hands, and other tangible displays of affection or desire. Some researchers suggest that touch is one of the primary ways that intimacy gets expressed in romantic relationships. 

That said, forms of physical intimacy like hugging and holding hands can also characterize platonic and familial relationships. Culture often affects how friends and family show physical affection to one another. Learn more about physical intimacy through the following quotes: 

• “Passion is the quickest to develop, and the quickest to fade. Intimacy develops more slowly, and commitment more gradually still.” –Robert Sternberg
• “Intimacy transcends the physical. It is a feeling of closeness that isn’t about proximity but of belonging. It is a beautiful emotional space in which two become one.” –Steve Maraboli
• “Take a lover who looks at you like you are magic.” –Frida Kahlo
• “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” –Oprah Winfrey
• "The true feeling of sex is that of a deep intimacy, but above all of a deep complicity." –James Dickey
• "Kissing someone is pretty intimate, actually very intimate, and your heart always kind of skips a beat before you do that." –Keanu Reeves

True intimacy quotes

Another definition of intimacy to consider is this one published by the American Psychological Association (APA): "an interpersonal state of extreme emotional closeness such that each party’s personal space can be entered by any of the other parties without causing discomfort to that person." 

However, the definition of “true intimacy” can vary from person to person and situation to situation. Some people may have a deeply emotional connection with little physical intimacy, for example, or a close emotional tie without even being in the same geographic place. The following quotes may help you consider different perspectives and decide what intimacy means to you:

• "True intimacy is a human constant. People of all types find it equally hard to achieve, equally precious to hold." –Robert Grudin
• "Real intimacy is only possible to the degree that we can be honest about what we are doing and feeling." –Joyce Brothers
• "Marriage is a coming together for better or for worse, hopefully enduring, and intimate to the degree of being sacred." –William O. Douglas
• "Whenever we pray alone, study, read, write, or simply spend quiet time away from the places where we interact with each other directly, we are potentially opened for a deeper intimacy with each other." –Henri Nouwe
• "True love is not a hide and seek game: In true love, both lovers seek each other." –Michael Bassey Johnson
• "Intimacy is the deep connection, where your souls and skins are one distance, age, silence and the like fails to ravage. –Priya Lakshmi
• "Intimacy is the capacity to be rather weird with someone—and finding that that's OK with them. –Alain de Botton
• "I think we're scared of intimacy—all of us, a little bit." –Brit Marlin
• "I wonder if this is how people always get close: They heal each other’s wounds; they repair the broken skin." –Lauren Oliver
• “The trick...is to find the balance between the bright colors of humor and the serious issues of identity, self-loathing, and the possibility for intimacy and love when it seems no longer possible or, sadder yet, no longer necessary.” –Wendy Wasserstein
• "If you age with somebody, you go through so many roles—you’re lovers, friends, enemies, colleagues, strangers; you’re brother and sister. That’s what intimacy is if you’re with your soulmate." –Cate Blanchett
• “If intimacy grows through repetition and familiarity, eroticism is numbed by repetition. It thrives on the mysterious, the novel, and the unexpected. Love is about having; desire is about wanting.” –Esther Perel 

Looking for ways to nurture intimacy in your relationships?

A licensed therapist can help

Therapy for nurturing intimacy and developing healthy relationships 

If you’re looking for support in developing healthier or more intimate relationships, you might consider therapy. A therapist can help you address fears and insecurities, develop skills like communication and boundary-setting, and find healthy ways to manage interpersonal stress. 

If in-person sessions are not convenient for you, virtual sessions are also available. A platform like BetterHelp for individuals or Regain for couples can connect you with a licensed therapist who you can meet with from the comfort of your own home or anywhere you have an internet connection. Whether through in-app messaging, videoconferencing, or phone calls, you can openly explore concerns with them in a supportive, non-judgmental environment. Research suggests that online therapy can often be as effective as in-person therapy for addressing a variety of challenges.