Friday, February 12, 2016

Let’s consider these famous quotations about LOVE


St. Valentine’s Day, with the heart-shaped chocolates and musings about love, is shortly upon us.

 

Years back, DS asked me why almost all the popular songs are about love. I answered that love is, well, popular. The accoutrements and trimming attached to love have always been popular. Speaking about love is a perennially popular topic, and singing about it is “the popularest.”

 

This got me thinking about famous quotations from venerable sources that, when you stop to think, don’t quite hold water. Don’t get me wrong, they all contain some truth. But in the main they come short.

 

“Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”
 
Erich Segal

Really? Me no likey this one.

 

“Love isn’t something you find. Love is something that finds you.”

 Loretta Young

Very nice Loretta, but it ain’t so, darlin’.

 

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”

 Mother Teresa

Oh, brother! I mean, oh, mother—sometimes yes and mostly no.

 

“Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.”

 Aristotle

And I thought Aristotle was the earthbound thinker. Really, Ari.



So while all of these are nice enough, though sorely lacking, I find this last one, not as pithy or as poetic, to be much more satisfying:

 

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.”
Ann Landers

~~~

 

My sixpence-worth is that Love is a mystery. Just like life, and all of creation.



Keep singing, and send chocolates. That part is all good.

11 comments:

Kelly Hashway said...

Quotes about love make it seem so easy, but it's not. Ann Landers got the closest to the real thing.

Vijaya said...

You make me laugh, Mirka. I don't like that first one either. Our priest reminds us that love is not just a fuzzy feeling but an act of the will. I go by the famous litany of love by St. Paul -- love is patient, love is kind ... love never fails. It really is a prescription for life.

A Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Elizabeth Varadan, Author said...

I'm sure there must be some famous quotes that do hold water, and to be fair to Mother Theresa, she wasn't speaking of romantic love. But of course, Valentine's Day is all about romantic love, and I think Ann Landers got close to what love is about.

Evelyn said...

Good thought teasers. I agree that Ann Landers hit closest to the mark. And I'm with Vijaya on the I Corinthians 13.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, dear friend.

Ann Herrick said...

Another vote for Ann Landers. And that Love Story "sorry" quote is the worst! :D

Cherdo said...

Love means always saying you're sorry...even if you didn't do anything...because people are more important than being right, lol.

Nice post, Mirka!

Mirka Breen said...

Amen, sister.

Johnell said...

C.S. Lewis has some of my favorite thoughts on love: “Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
Happy Valentine's Day.

Anonymous said...

You're certainly right about that first famous quote. Perhaps in the book/movie it made more sense than out of context, but still… I'm spending way too much time analyzing Aristotle's quote…I guess I get what he meant, but kind of a stretch for me. If I remember correctly, there's one by Plato about love being a mental disease. Enjoy your day, Mirka.

janlcoates said...

One of my favorite songs at the moment, "It Deepens With Time" (Ron Sexsmith - we saw him in concert in a 70-seat venue on the weekend) really speaks to me as a long-married person. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up0VShtuHG0)

BB said...

Excellent post and your responses are hysterical. Love can be the biggest stressor for a lot of people!!