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One seeks to make the loved one entirely happy, or, if that cannot be, entirely wretched.

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Jean de La Bruyere, "Of the Heart"

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We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.

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Jean de La Bruyere, "Of the Heart"

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The sorrowful spirit finds rest when united with a similar one. They join affectionately, as a stranger is cheered when he sees another stranger in a strange land. Hearts that are united through the medium of sorrow will not be separated by the glory of happiness. Love that is cleansed by tears will remain externally pure and beautiful.

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Gibran Khalil Gibran, "The Broken Wings"

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Real beauty lies in the spiritual accord that is called love which can exist between a man and a woman.

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Gibran Khalil Gibran, "The Broken Wings"

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But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

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Gibran Khalil Gibran, "The Prophet"

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All passions make us commit some faults, love alone makes us ridiculous.

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Francois de La Rochefoucauld, "Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims"

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If it is so painful to love and to be charged with this electric current, how much more painful must it be to a woman and to be the current, and to inspire love.

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Boris Pasternak, "Doctor Zhivago"