Relatable Relationship Quotes For New Love, Marriage, Breakups, And More

Medically reviewed by Nikki Ciletti, M.Ed, LPC
Updated October 14, 2024by BetterHelp Editorial Team

Quotes about relationships can be inspirational, uplifting, validating, or simply explanatory. They can help us illustrate difficulties or explain emotions to our partners that we might otherwise feel are difficult to voice as eloquently. While quotes can be a helpful tool, working with an online individual or couples therapist is another method of improving your mental health and relationship.

Many of us experience times when we struggle to find the right words. Even authors experience moments of difficulty fully expressing their thoughts with the perfect phrasing. Good relationship quotes may create a connection and sense of understanding between the speaker or author and the reader. Being able to put feelings into words isn’t always easy, which is why love quotes from movies and lyrics can be so helpful. Often, we’ll hear a song or read a book and think, “Yes, this is exactly what I feel.” We can empathize, understand, and connect with the person on the other side of the words, even though we’ve never met them.

Relationship quotes stirring up intense emotions?

General quotes about relationships

If you’re in love in a relationship, you may find you want all the world to know about it. You may connect more deeply with poetry, all the weight that song lyrics may have becomes more apparent, and many of the things in your life can seem more positive. Relationship quotes can make you feel warm and fuzzy, and they may be perfect to add to a heartfelt card or text message to make your partner feel deeply loved.

  • “There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” – George Sand
  • A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.” – John Lennon
  • “Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
  • “True love stories never have endings.” – Richard Bach
  • “Having someone wonder where you are when you don't come home at night is a very old human need.” – Margaret Mead.
  • “Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.” – Lord Byron
  • "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” – Aristotle
  • "Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it. – Thomas Fuller
  • “I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time.” – A.A. Milne
  • “What is love? It is the morning and the evening star.” – Sinclair Lewis
  • “I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.” – JRR Tolkien
  • The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves." – Victor Hugo.
  • Only once in your life, I truly believe, you find someone who can completely turn your world around. You tell them things that you’ve never shared with another soul and they absorb everything you say and actually want to hear more.” – Bob Marley
  • “The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” – Carl Gustav Jung
  • “Love is life sharing, not for hurt, Love is alive both not ambiguous. Love is whole life, not an affair.” – Khalil Gibran
  • "To be fully seen by somebody, then, and be loved anyhow—this is a human offering that can border on miraculous." – Elizabeth Gilbert
  • "Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half a sorrow." – Swedish Proverb
  • "It is only when we no longer compulsively need someone that we can have a real relationship with them." – Anthony Storr
  • "A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself—to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me, but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart." – Leo F. Buscaglia
  • "In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find someone who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you." – Mac (J.K. Simmons)

Healing relationship quotes by Maya Angelou and more

All relationships have challenges, but how you mend the relationship is up to you and your partner. You may be able to talk things out to help you both get moving in the same direction, or it’s possible an intervention like online couples therapy could give you the guidance you need. For some couples, inspirational relationship quotes may provide the necessary perspective and direction.

  • “You can tell how often a person thinks of you by how often they tell you they think of you.” –Mark Boyer
  • "We come to love not by finding a perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly."- Sam Keen
  • “Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says: ‘I need you because I love you.’” – Erich Fromm
  • “The first duty of love is to listen.” – Paul Tillich
  •  “If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
  •  “Souls tend to go back to who feels like home.” – N.R. Hart
  • “The best proof of love is trust.” – Joyce Brothers
  • “Forgive, forget. Bear with the faults of others as you would have them bear with yours. Be patient and understanding. Life is too short to be vengeful or malicious.” – Phillips Brooks
  • The love of the family, the love of one person can heal. It heals the scars left by a larger society.” – Maya Angelou
  • Love is a two-way street constantly under construction." – Carroll Bryant.
  • "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude…Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
  • “A loving relationship is one in which the loved one is free to be himself -- to laugh with me, but never at me; to cry with me, but never because of me; to love life, to love himself, to love being loved. Such a relationship is based upon freedom and can never grow in a jealous heart” – Leo Buscaglia

Long-distance relationship quotes

The challenge of love knows no boundaries, and this is especially true for those who find their hearts in two different places. Long-distance relationships test the strength of love and the resilience of lovers. These quotes capture the essence of such a connection, where distance is just a test of love's endurance:
  • "Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great." – Roger de Bussy-Rabutin 
  • "Distance means so little when someone means so much." – Tom McNeal 
  • "The art of love is largely the art of persistence." – Albert Ellis 
  • "Love will travel as far as you let it. It has no limits." – Dee King 
  • "Ocean separates lands, not souls." – Munia Khan 
  • "Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." – Kahlil Gibran 
  • "If you found that one person who is really worth the sacrifices, pain, and hardships, then your efforts will not go to waste." – Anna Agoncillo

Relationship quotes about marriage

Marriage can be difficult at times, but the difficult experiences may be helped by seeking inspiration and strength. Sometimes, that inspiration and strength can be found in the words of another, reminding you that there may be better times to come for you and your soul mate.
  • "A successful relationship requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." – Mignon McLaughlin
  • “A perfect marriage is just two imperfect people who won't give up on each other.” – Kate Stewart
  • "A good husband makes a good wife." – John Florio
  • "Marriage is not about age; it’s about finding the right person." – Sophia Bush
  • "To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up." – Ogden Nash
  • “Love is something eternal; the aspect may change, but not the essence” – Vincent van Gogh
  • "Marriage is not just spiritual communion; it is also remembering to take out the trash." – Joyce Brothers
  • "Happily ever after is not a fairy tale. It's a choice.” -Fawn Weaver
  • "When I’m weak, you can be strong; when I’m strong, you can be weak. That’s what I believe marriage is." – Gisele Bundchen
  • "More belongs to marriage than four legs in a bed." – Rainer Maria Rilke
  • "Marriage should be a duet – when one sings, the other claps." – Joe Murray
  • "A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love." – Pearl S. Buck
  • "There is no more lovely, friendly, and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage." – Martin Luther
  • "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." – Harry (Billy Crystal)

Relationship quotes about trust

The Gottman Institute, founded by Drs. John and Julie Gottman, offers many powerful statements about trust as the foundation of a successful marriage. Several of these quotes include:
  • “The reality is that trust is built slowly over time. The basis of trust is really the idea of attunement. Consider the following acronym:
    • Awareness
    • Turning toward
    • Tolerance
    • Understanding
    • Non-defensive responding
    • Empathy”
  • “Trust is built in small moments which I call ‘sliding door moments’ after the movie Sliding Doors. In any interaction there is a possibility of connection with our partner or turning away from our partner.”
  • “Trust is built as you express compassion and empathy for one another’s feelings, and this foundation is essential when you face the inevitable betrayal. Betrayal exists in every relationship. More often than not, the betrayals accumulate like small dents. Other times, they arrive like a sudden crash. In both cases, they present a unique opportunity for trust building.”
  • "Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time." – Maya Angelou
  • "Be honest, brutally honest. That is what's going to maintain relationships." – Lauryn Hill
  • “A strong relationship is an honest relationship, and no honest relationship is all peaches and cream. Love is the key. Where love abides, anger is but a passing visitor.” – Jerry and Eileen Spinelli

Romantic relationship quotes by Oscar Wilde, Richard Bach, Dr. Seuss, and more

Whether you’re married or just dating, feeling special and unique can be important to cultivate quality relationships. You may wish to be swept off your feet, experience love at first sight, or to feel you are the most wonderful person to your partner, and vice versa. Romantic relationship quotes can be a useful way of expressing romance to your partner. 
  • "Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet." – Katharine Lee Bates
  • “When you look at me, when you think of me, I am in paradise." – William Makepeace Thackeray
  • "O, thou art fairer than the evening air clad in the beauty of a thousand stars." – Christopher Marlowe
  • "For two personalities to meet is like mixing two chemical substances: if there is any combination at all, both are transformed.” – Carl Gustav Jung
  • "All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action." – James Russell Lowell
  • "Beauty, sweet love, is like the morning dew, Whose short refresh upon tender green, Cheers for a time, but till the sun doth show And straight is gone, as it had never been." – Samuel Daniel
  • “Romantic love is painful." – will.i.am
  • “I fell in love like you would fall asleep: slowly and then all at once.” – John Green
  • "A romantic relationship requires honesty between a couple." – Tzipi Livni
  •  A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not what we’re pretending to be.” –Richard Bach
  • “You don’t love someone for their looks, or their clothes or their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.” –Oscar Wilde
  • “It can only be true love when you enable your other half to be better, to be the person they’re destined to be.” –Michelle Yeoh
  • “When you fall in love, the natural thing is to give yourself to it. That’s what I think. It’s just a form of sincerity.” –Haruki Murakami
  • “You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” –Dr. Seuss
  • “Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.” – Bruce Lee
  • "Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl, and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering." – Nicole Krauss
  • "You are my best friend, my human diary, and my other half. You mean the world to me and I love you." – Unknown
  • "Maybe you don't need the whole world to love you. Maybe you just need one person." – Kermit the Frog

A funny and cute relationship quote by Rita Rudner, and more

Humor can be an important component of a healthy and happy bond; laughing together is often part of what makes a relationship work. Quite a few relationships have a balanced mixture of romance and fun. Here are some relatable dating quotes:
  • “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow internet service to see who they really are." – Will Ferrell
  • "I love being married. It’s so great to find one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." – Rita Rudner
  • "Love is telling someone their hair extensions are showing." – Natasha Leggero
  • “My husband says I treat him like he's a god; every meal is a burnt offering.” – Rhonda Hansome
  • "All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." – Charles M. Schulz
  • “True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.” – Erich Segal.

Cute relationship quotes

Sometimes, it's the sweet, simple things in a relationship that mean the most. Sharing a giggle, a wink, or a smile can mean the world. These cute relationship quotes are a nod to the lighter side of romance, where every day is an opportunity to express love in fun and charming ways:
  • "I know I am in love with you because my reality is finally better than my dreams." – Dr. Seuss 
  • "You’re the peanut butter to my jelly." – Unknown 
  • "Love is being stupid together." – Paul Valery 
  • "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." – John Green 
  • "I love you more than coffee, but please don't make me prove it." – Elizabeth Evans 
  • "Every time I see you, I fall in love all over again." – Unknown 
  • “Let’s be weird and wonderful together." – Unknown 
  • "Love is not about how many days, months, or years you have been together. Love is about how much you love each other every single day." – Unknown 
  • "Sometimes, I look at you and wonder how I got to be so damn lucky." – Unknown

Quotes in relation to breakups

Breakups in relationships can be hard to understand and challenging to explain to others. A breakup can be a very difficult event that may leave you feeling lonely and isolated. Quotes can help others better understand what you’re feeling. They may also reassure you that even though your relationship has ended, you are not the only person who has felt what you are feeling. 
  • "Truth is everybody is going to hurt you: you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." – Bob Marley
  • We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings.” – Halle Berry
  • "How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." – Wayne Dyer
  • "The heart of another is a dark forest, always, no matter how close it has been to one’s own." – Willa Cather
  • "I was born when you kissed me. I died when you left me. I lived a few weeks while you loved me." -Humphrey Bogart
  • “You’re born single, you die single, but why not being in a relationship is some special ‘single’ status, I don’t understand. Life is less stress being single; I have to admit." – Bipasha Basu

Online therapy for relationship support

A 2020 study showed that, even though the participating couples had some doubts about the efficacy of online therapy before they began, they found it to be a positive experience that was beneficial for their relationships.   

Relationship quotes may give you strength and validation, ease your pain, make you laugh, or help you appreciate what you have. These quotes can be there for you when you’re at a loss for words or are struggling to express yourself. If there comes a time when you need more help than quotes can give, online therapy may be a helpful method of addressing any issues or challenging emotions you’re experiencing in any of your relationships.

Relationship quotes stirring up intense emotions?

Takeaway

Whether you’re in a relationship, married, or going through a breakup, online therapy may be an excellent way to talk through your thoughts and emotions and address any issues. Whether you and your significant other have busy schedules, or you don’t feel like leaving the house after a breakup, online therapy can make it simple to get the help you deserve at the time and location that is convenient for you.
Build healthy relationship habits with a professional
The information on this page is not intended to be a substitution for diagnosis, treatment, or informed professional advice. You should not take any action or avoid taking any action without consulting with a qualified mental health professional. For more information, please read our terms of use.
Get the support you need from one of our therapistsGet started