70 Romantic Quotes About True Love and the Stages of Love


The land of love is capricious. Although the sweetness of its fruit is something we most look forward to and hope for in life, its climate is unstable and hides many traps. It’s safe to say that love will bring out our biggest demons, fears, and pains and ask us to face them and look them in the eye.  

Where there is a great passion, hope, and joy, there are also great disappointments, fears, and pains. Love is something bigger than life itself, something for which we are often ready to put everything on the line, which drives us crazy and tears us apart.  

Keep reading to learn more about true love, how it works and how to maintain it. But let’s start with some of our favorite quotes about true love. 

Quotes About True Love 

“Nirvana or lasting enlightenment or true spiritual growth can be achieved only through persistent exercise of real love.”  

M. Scott Peck

“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

“Your love shines in my heart as the sun that shines upon the earth.”

Eleanor Di Guillo 

“True love is usually the most inconvenient kind.”

Kiera Cass 

“The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. That’s what I hope to give you forever.” 

Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

“True love stories never have endings.”

Richard Bach 

“Rare as is true love, true friendship is rarer.”

Jean de La Fontaine 

“True love is selfless. It is prepared to sacrifice.”

Sadhu Vaswani 

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever.”  

Alfred Tennyson

“The course of true love never did run smooth.”

William Shakespeare 

“To love is nothing. To be loved is something. But to love and be loved, that’s everything.”  

T. Tolis

“Two things you will never have to chase: true friends and true love.”

Mandy Hale 

“You know, true love really matters, friends really matter and family really matters. Being responsible and disciplined and healthy really matters.”  

Courtney Thorne- Smith

“True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.”

Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

“Each day I love you more, today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow.”  

Rosemonde Gerard

“True love is the best thing in the world, except for cough drops.”  

William Goldman

“I saw that you were perfect, and so I loved you. Then I saw that you were not perfect and I loved you even more.”  

Angelita Lim

“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

“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

“True love cannot be found where it does not exist, nor can it be denied where it does.”  

Torquato Tasso

“If I had to choose between breathing and loving you I would use my last breath to tell you I love you.”  

Deanna Anderson

“How far should a person go in the name of true love?”

Nicholas Sparks 

“I swear I couldn’t love you more than I do right now, and yet I know I will tomorrow.”

Leo Christopher 

“True love bears all, endures all, and triumphs!”  

Dada Vaswani

“True love brings up everything – you’re allowing a mirror to be held up to you daily.” 

Jennifer Aniston

“True love is eternal, infinite, and always like itself. It is equal and pure, without violent demonstrations: it is seen with white hairs and is always young in the heart.”

Honore de Balzac 

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride.”  

Pablo Neruda

“True love is felonious. You take someone’s breath away. You rob them of the ability to utter a single word. You steal a heart.”  

Jodi Picoult

“We waste time looking for the perfect lover, instead of creating the perfect love.”

Tom Robbins 

“True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked.”

Erich Segal 

“For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.”  

Judy Garland

“If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love.”  

Thich Nhat Hanh

“You know it’s love when all you want is that person to be happy, even if you’re not part of their happiness.” 

Julia Roberts

“Real love is always chaotic. You lose control; you lose perspective. You lose the ability to protect yourself. The greater the love, the greater the chaos. It’s a given and that’s the secret.”

 Jonathan Carroll 

“No matter where I went, I always knew my way back to you. You are my compass star.” 

Diana Peterfreund 

“Everyone always wants to know how you can tell when it’s true love, and the answer is this: when the pain doesn’t fade and the scars don’t heal, and it’s too damned late.”

Jonathan Tropper 

“All, everything that I understand, I only understand because I love.”

Leo Tolstoy 

“True love is like a pair of socks you gotta have two and they’ve gotta match.”

Erich Fromm 

“True love, to me, is when she’s the first thought that goes through your head when you wake up and the last thought that goes through your head before you go to sleep.”

Justin Timberlake 

“Life is a game and true love is a trophy.”  

Rufus Wainwright

“I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever.”  

Rabindranath Tagore

“‎True love isn’t expressed in passionately whispered words an intimate kiss or a embrace; before two people are married, love is expressed in self- control, patience, even words left unsaid.”  

Joshua Harris

“She knew she loved him when ‘home’ went from being a place to being a person.”

E. Leventhal 

“True love is that which ennobles the personality, fortifies the heart, and sanctifies the existence.”

Henri- Frederic Amiel 

“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 

“True love that is, deep, abiding love that is impervious to emotional whims or fancy is a choice. It’s a constant commitment to a person regardless of the present circumstances.”  

Mark Manson

“My love for you has no depth; its boundaries are ever-expanding.”

Christina White 

“True love doesn’t need proof. The eyes told what heart felt.”

Toba Beta

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

Nat King Cole

“True love, especially first love, can be so tumultuous and passionate that it feels like a violent journey.”

Holliday Grainger

“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 

“People confuse ego, lust, insecurity with true love.”

Simon Cowell 

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.”

Hermann Hesse

“It is only with true love and compassion that we can begin to mend what is broken in the world. It is these two blessed things that can begin to heal all broken hearts.”

Steve Maraboli 

“The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love.”

Henry Miller 

“Always remember true love never fades away even if it is not reciprocated. It remains in the heart to purify and soften the soul.”

Aarti Khurana

“Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love.”

Billy Graham

“You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not.” 

Jodi Picoult 

“True love is not a hide and seek game: in true love, both lovers seek each other.” 

Michael Bassey Johnson

“I know love is real because her love is visible.”

Delano Johnson

“Genuine and true love is so rare that when you encounter it in any form, it’s a wonderful thing, to be utterly cherished in whatever form it takes.”

Gwendoline Christie

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love and to let it come in.” 

Morrie Schwartz 

“True love is supposed to make you into a better person- uplift you.” 

Emily Giffin

“I love true love, and I’m a woman who wants to be married for a lifetime. That traditional life is something that I want.”

Ali Larter 

“True love that lasts forever. Yes, I do believe in it. My parents have been married for 40 years and my grandparents were married for 70 years. I come from a long line of true love.”  

Zooey Deschanel

“For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.”

Antoine de Saint – Exupery 

“Love consists in giving without getting in return; in giving what is not owed, what is not due the other. That’s why true love is never based, as associations for utility or pleasure are, on a fair exchange.” 

Mortimer Adler 

“True love is finding your soulmate in your best friend.”

Faye Hall 

“True love doesn’t come to you it has to be inside you.”  

Julia Roberts

“True love lasts forever.”  

Joseph B. Wirthlin
just got married couple

Love Goes Through Stages and Trials 

It is important to know that love, even falling in love, goes through stages and trials. Love never stays the same, even if we would like it that way, and if we don’t understand and don’t allow love to live its life and transform, we may simply lose it.  

Everything that does not grow and transform simply withers and dies. However, it is this possibility of loss that scares us most, especially a person in love; change can be terrifying. Let’s remember how prone we are to swear by the eternity of love. Forever yours!  

It is in our nature to resist change and to strive to preserve what is important to us, but time is relentless, and love is no exception. Moreover, perhaps it is precisely on the plane of love that we most dramatically face the biggest demon of human existence –  time and the passing of things. 

If we want to use that not-very-happy expression “true love,” then we can say that it is reflected in the quality and durability of the relationship, and the quality and durability of the relationship are possible if love breathes, if there is room for diversity in it, if it changes, evolves, if it appears in new forms and if we are able to more or less deal with our fears of time and change. 

love quote and flowers

The Phases of True Love 

As we mentioned, true love passes through stages, and these stages are sometimes straightforward, and other times they are hard to grasp and navigate. Let’s investigate these stages and understand what each of these unique steps does to the love you feel towards someone. 

1. The enchantment stage 

The first stage is the enchantment stage. After this phase, we are faced with our first trials, and we usually say that the person we love has changed overnight. It is not the person who has changed, but our fascination is waning, and the need for distance appears.  

Distance allows us to desire each other again. On the other hand, one of the partners usually has a greater need for distance and rest than the other. The one who has a small need for distance then starts to fear, suspect and accuse.  

Our true love, which we swore by until yesterday, is now starting to “grow.” Constantly proving love is tiring, so the need for distance increases. Sometimes, there is a pain in this phase, and it is hard to live with it. A more envious partner feels that their partner’s need for distance is hurting the relationship while the other partner feels hurt by suspicions and accusations. 

2. Acceptance of distance and faith 

a couple on a hill

The task of the second phase that will test your true love is to find faith and accept the need for distance. Not even ashes will remain of our true love if we are not able to withstand the fears and pain that this stage brings if we are not able to believe.  

In order for love to continue to be true, you need to make difficult readjustments within your soul, and these are the hardest.  

What are these changes that you have to introduce?  

Well, for starters, you need to learn to live with faith and courage to endure. This is that thing that cannot be felt or touched, it is invisible and feels non-existent, but without these ingredients, your love might not prove to be true after all.  

It is the willingness to take risks without trying to condition the partner that makes all the difference. 

3. The phase of accusations 

a man and woman arguing

A couple that fails to pass the second stage enters a spiral of mutual accusations, and the pain grows. The force of mutual blame and pain can then destroy the relationship, although there are also couples who spend years and even their entire lives stuck in this phase.  

Luckily, not all couples are destined to reach this phase, and many have a smooth experience after the initial troubles. 

It is also necessary that the distance is garnished with time in which we can dedicate ourselves to each other. Distance renews desire and creates authentic interest. Authentic interest requires the skill of watching and listening. Watching and listening allow us to get to know our partner anew. 

4. The phase of fighting inner demons 

a woman standing in the hallway

True love is true if we are ready to be aware of how alone we actually feel sometimes, even when we love and are loved. No matter how much love we feel from our partner, sometimes they might not be able to help us cope with whatever we are going through. 

This is why we said that true love could feel lonely. Regardless of how much someone loves you, they are not there to complete a piece of the puzzle or to fix you without you putting in the effort first. 

When we are alone before the demons of time and transience, alone before fears, alone before emptiness and eternal questions, and alone in the search for the meaning of our life experience, we come across many interesting revelations about ourselves. It is the ability to be alone and face our inner demons that preserve love and makes it real. 

Sometimes, the efforts to escape from loneliness, fears, and other demons of existence to leads us to another person, this effort to escape from ourselves without working on improving our well-being will rarely lead to finding lasting true love. Because not every human being is big enough to carry us with our fears, our pain, and our disappointments. 

What Is the Meaning of True Love in Our Modern World? 

Some philosophers believe that the meaning of our life lies in searching for true love. Erich Fromm, the famous psychoanalyst, believed that love is the answer to the problem of the meaning of our existence. 

Because it turns out that the crisis of meaning, which is an integral part of life, screams at us much more terrible if there are no beings we love. This has become even more serious and harsh in the merciless times we live in. Love is that ability, a raft on the ocean of existential worries and feelings of meaninglessness.  

Love cannot be locked in a safe that is secure enough. To be true, love has to be refreshed with new ways of being, commitment, attention, and constant work on improving ourselves. The times are changing, and so is the world around us; the way we understand and interpret love will naturally change as well, but understanding the different phases of it and what it takes to truly love someone is one of the secret ingredients to living a happy life in the modern world. 

Wrapping Up 

The responsibility to manage ourselves and our choices is ours, and the brain is not some separate organ that “lives” apart from us. This is why it is so important that the partners have enough similarities and common values ​​that are important to them and through which they can connect and build their joint life and projects around them.  

One of the biggest life projects for all of us is finding our true love. As we mentioned, love is not very hard to come across; virtually anyone can do it, but finding true love is hard.  

We all have very different views about who, what, how, and how we should discover and practice our love toward others; one thing is sure – it requires plenty of time, attention, and hard work. True love can wither within a month if it is not cultivated, and we hope this article helped you understand it better and that our quotes got your heart racing.  

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Nemanja Đukić
Nemanja Đukić

I am a writer and a teacher of rhetoric, international humanitarian law, and entrepreneurship. As a writer, I specialize in writing about history, politics, and finding quirky ways to elevate all the great selling points of a product/service. I obtained my bachelor's degree in International Relations at the University of Montenegro and completed my master' s studies at the Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary where I studied diplomacy. I believe studying diplomacy and politics sets you up for knowing how to craft a sentence, how to fill it with content and ensure that your audience understands the message.