...almost everything about a human creature is ridiculous, except its ability to suffer bravely and die gallantly for whatever it loves and believes in.

Robert Anson Heinlein, "Job: A Comedy of Justice"

The things we own, the places we live, the events of our lives: empty settings. How easy to chase after settings, and forget diamonds! The only thing that matters, at the end of a stay on earth, is how well did we love, what was the quality of our love?

Richard Bach, "The Bridge Across Forever"

Failure to love is almost like murder.

Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago"

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell, "Marriage and Morals"

True love makes the thought of death frequent, easy, without terrors; it merely becomes the standard of comparison, the price one would pay for many things.

Stendhal, "On Love"

So great had been his love for her that he had not suffered even the grave to hide her from him.

Oscar Wilde, "A House of Pomegranates"