True Love Quotes

Love for another person may refer to a range of positive, intense emotions, from deep personal affection to the simple pleasure of spending time with them. Different people may experience love in various ways, and it's up to each person to define the meaning of "true love" and fall in love as it relates to their identity. 

Purpose of true love quotes

Because of the variety of experiences, you'll find endless quotes from philosophers, writers, poets, and celebrities discussing love in its many firms. Alongside reflective practices like therapy, exploring or reflecting on these quotes may help deepen your understanding of love. They’re also great for reading with your loved ones on Valentine’s Day. We've highlighted several of these quotes below if you'd like to read some for yourself.

Would you like to explore your beliefs about love?

Talk about it with a licensed therapist

The experience of love

Each identity and sexuality may have a different experience of love and attraction. Depending on your personal views, you may believe true love can happen at first sight or that it isn't something you can choose. While no one viewpoint is likely to be definitive for everyone, exploring quotes about true love to find ones you relate to can be comforting. 

True love quotes about accepting flaws 

For most of us, true love has its ups and downs, no matter how perfect another person may seem to us. And that's okay! A person does not have to be flawless to be valuable, successful, or worthy of love. These relationship quotes explore ways true love can be less than perfect. They might offer comfort when things aren't as smooth as you'd like and serve as a reminder you’re your partner is someone you want to cherish forever.

Sweet quotes about acceptance in love

• "I find the best way to love someone is not to change them, but instead, help them reveal the greatest version of themselves." - Dr. Steve Maraboli
• "There is hardly a more gracious gift that we can offer somebody than to accept them fully, to love them almost despite themselves." - Elizabeth Gilbert
• "Real love is when you love someone for who they are, accept them the way they are." - Anurag Prakash Ray
• "You don't love someone because they're perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they're not." - Jodi Picoult
• "I love you for a great many reasons and despite a great many others." - Richelle E. Goodrich

Quotes about choosing true love

Extending effort to sustain a relationship

At this point, it may require choice and effort to sustain a relationship, even in the presence of true love. These quotes explore true love from the perspective of continuing to accept and care for a person as time progresses. 

Examples of inspirational quotes about choosing true love

• "True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice." - Sadhu Vaswani
• "True love is choosing the many things a person did right rather than the one thing he did wrong. True love does not keep the record of wrongs." - Unknown
• "He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing." - Sherman Alexie
• “True love is usually the most inconvenient kind.” - Kiera Cass
• “So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you.” – Paulo Coelho
• "But love, I've come to understand, is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day." - Nicholas Sparks
• "It's always equal and pure. Without violent demonstrations: It is seen with white hairs and is always young at heart." - Honore de Balzac
• “Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.” – Zora Neale Hurston

• "Real love isn't just a euphoric, spontaneous feeling ― it's a deliberate choice ― a plan to love each other for better and worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health." - Seth Adam Smith“
• “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”– Lao Tzu.
• “Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones
• “You open your heart knowing that there’s a chance it may be broken one day and in opening your heart, you experience a love and joy that you never dreamed possible. You find that being vulnerable is the only way to allow your heart to feel true pleasure that’s so real it scares you. You find strength in knowing you have a true friend and possibly a soul mate who will remain loyal to the end. Life seems completely different, exciting and worthwhile. Your only hope and relief is in knowing that they are a part of your life.” – Bob Marley

More quotes about choosing love

• “In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.” – Maya Angelou
• “True love will triumph in the end—which may or may not be a lie, but if it is a lie, it's the most beautiful lie we have.” – John Green
• “I fell in love with her courage, her sincerity, and her flaming self respect. And it’s these things I’d believe in, even if the whole world indulged in wild suspicions that she wasn’t all she should be. I love her and it is the beginning of everything.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
• “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss
• “People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that’s what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.” – Elizabeth Gilbert

Quotes about whether true love happens at first sight

When examined through the lens of phases ― lust, attraction, and attachment ― we can see that love grows and develops over time. But does this rule out love at first sight? Each person's experience of true love is unique to them, and some may feel they've experienced love at first sight. Others question the truth of this phenomenon. These quotes explore love as something that must grow over time. 

Famous quotes about love growing over time

• "True love doesn't happen right away; it's an ever-growing process. It develops after you've gone through many ups and downs when you've suffered together, cried together, laughed together." - Ricardo Montalban
• "It is difficult to know at what moment love begins; it is less difficult to know that it has begun." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• "True love is not a strong, fiery, impetuous passion. It is, on the contrary, an element calm and deep. It looks beyond mere externals, and is attracted by qualities alone. It is wise and discriminating, and its devotion is real and abiding." - Ellen G. White
• “Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction.” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
• “Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.” – Robert Frost

Inspirational quotes about true love through hard times

If you stay with someone for an extended time, you'll likely experience trying situations together. For example, many wedding vows include remaining with the person "for better for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health." These quotes explore the notion that true love transcends life's pitfalls and disappointments. 

Some love quotes about loving and being loved through hard times

• "True love bears all, endures all, and triumphs!" - Dada Vaswani
• "You're not looking for perfection in your partner. Perfection is all about the ego. With soulmate love, you know that true love is what happens when disappointment sets in - and you're willing to deal maturely with these disappointments." - Karen Salmansohn
• "True love is not how you forgive, but how you forget, not what you see but what you feel, not how you listen but how you understand, and not how you let go but how you hold on." - Dale Evans
• "We simply can't abandon ship every time we encounter a storm in our marriage. Real love is about weathering the storms of life together." - Seth Adam Smith
• "Love until it hurts. Real love is always painful and hurts: then it is real and pure." - Mother Teresa
• "Real love means loving kindness and compassion, the kind of love that does not have any conditions." - Thich Nhat Hanh

More quotes about loving them at their worst

• "If he can't handle you at your worst then he does not deserve you at your best. Real love means seeing beyond the words spoken out of pain, and instead seeing a person's soul." - Shannon L. Alder
• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
• “One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.” – Sophocles
• “Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence.” – Henry David Thoreau
• “A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved.” – Kurt Vonnegut
• “True love stories never have endings.” – Richard Bach

Would you like to explore your beliefs about love?

Talk about it with a licensed therapist

Exploring relationships and love

Loving another person is a personal experience; only those involved can decide if it's "true love." Almost every relationship has ups and downs and exploring your connection with another person can help you better understand your feelings of love toward them. 

Understand relationships and love from an unbiased perspective

You might explore this together or separately, with or without an outside party like a therapist or relationship counselor. Often, a therapist can provide an unbiased perspective and help you better understand relationships and love through your unique lens. 

Benefits of online therapy

Many couples enjoy the experience of working with an online therapist for these purposes. For example, in one study, couples reported greater comfort when discussing personal matters due to the distance created by technology.

In addition, online therapy or relationship counseling can make it more convenient for all parties involved to find a time that works for their schedule, especially if you're participating in sessions together. And because proximity is less of an issue with an online therapist, you can choose from a broader range of professionals with more diverse backgrounds and experience levels.