Was It Necessary

“Was it necessary to tell me that you wanted nothing in the world but me?'

The corners of his mouth drooped peevishly.

Oh, my dear, it's rather hard to take quite literally the things a man says 

when he's in love with you.'

Didn't you mean them?'

At the moment.”

~ W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

I Used To Think

“I used to think -- and given the way we ended up,

maybe I still do -- that all relationships 

need the kind of violent shove that a crush brings,

just to get you started and to push you over the humps.

And then, when the energy from that shove has gone

and you come to something approaching a halt,

you have to look around and see what you've got.

It could be something completely different,

it could be something roughly the same,

but gentler and calmer,

or it could be nothing at all.”

~ Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

Every Incident

“Every incident chips away at your limit. 

Every time you choose to stay,

 it makes the next time that much harder to leave.

 Eventually, you lose sight of your limit altogether, 

because you start to think, ‘I’ve lasted five years now. 

What’s five more?”

~ Colleen Hoover, It Ends with Us

I Used To Think

“I used to think--and given the way we ended up, maybe I still do -- 

that all relationships need the kind of violent shove that a crush brings, 

just to get you started and to push you over the humps. 

And then, when the energy from that shove has gone

 and you come to something approaching a halt, 

you have to look around and see what you've got. 

It could be something completely different, 

it could be something roughly the same, 

but gentler and calmer, or it could be nothing at all.”

~ Nick Hornby, High Fidelity

An Honorable Human Relationship

“An honorable human relationship – 

that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love" – 

is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, 

a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.”

~ Adrienne Rich, On Lies, Secrets, and Silence. Selected Prose 1966-1978

This Emotion

“This emotion I'm feeling now, this is love, right?"

"I don't know. Is it a longing? Is it a giddy stupid happiness just because you're with me?"

"Yes," she said.

"That's influenza," said Miro. "Watch for nausea or diarrhea within a few hours.”

~ Orson Scott Card, Children of the Mind

I Think What I Want

“I think what I want is for someone to know me. 

Really know me. 

Know me better than anyone else and maybe even me. 

Isn’t that why we commit to another? 

It’s not for sex. 

If it were for sex, we wouldn’t marry one person. 

We’d just keep finding new partners. 

We commit for many reasons, 

I know, but the more I think about it, 

the more I think long-term relationships are for getting to know someone. 

I want someone to know me, really know me, 

almost like that person could get into my head. 

What would that feel like? 

To have access, to know what it’s like in someone else’s head. 

To rely on someone else, have him rely on you. 

That’s not a biological connection like the one between parents and children. 

This kind of relationship would be chosen. 

It would be something cooler, 

harder to achieve than one built on biology and shared genetics. 

I think that’s it. 

Maybe that’s how we know when a relationship is real. 

When someone else previously unconnected to us 

knows us in a way we never thought or believed possible.”

~ Iain Reid, I'm Thinking of Ending Things

If You Walked Away

“If you walked away 

from a toxic, negative, abusive,

one-sided, dead-end, low vibrational

relationship or friendship — you won.”

~ Lalah Delia

What A Relationship Looks Like

“What a relationship looks like on the outside 

isn't the same as what it's like on the inside. 

You can be more in love with someone in your mind 

than with the person you see every day.”

~ Jean Kwok, Girl in Translation

Life

“Life takes a bit of time and a lot of relationship.”

~ Wm. Paul Young, The Shack

Funny

“Funny how we take it for granted that we know all there is to know about another person, 

just because we see them frequently or because of some strong emotional tie.”

~ Robert Bloch, Psycho

Laughter

“Laughter is more than just a pleasurable activity...

When people laugh together, they tend to talk and touch more 

and to make eye contact more frequently.”

~ Gretchen Rubin, The Happiness Project

Better To Put Your Heart On The Line

“Better to put your heart on the line, risk everything, and walk away with nothing 

than play it safe. Love is a lot of things, but “safe” isn’t one of them.”

~ Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass

Somewhere Along The Way

 

“Somewhere along the way, we all go a bit mad.

So burn, let go, and dive into the horror,

because maybe it’s the chaos which helps us find where we belong.”

~ Robert M. Drake

If You're Right And I'm Not

“If you're right & I'm not, I'm going to be hell to live with, she said. 

So, you better think about that next time you want to be right. ”

~Brian Andreas