B.C. Aronson - LOVE: Quotes and Passages from the Heart

An older gentleman who never married would be justified in mentioning his love of a great steak dinner with all the trimmings. The variations are endless. So it is that, in compiling a book of quotations about love, there is a vast well of material from which to draw. Whole volumes could be put together from William Shakespeares sonnets and plays alone. Romantic novels from ages past to the present day extol the virtues of love and present more sources. So do song lyrics from the fifties, say.

And the works of Plato, Bill Cosby, Woody Allen, and anyone who has ever written about spiritual life, friendship, cats, dogs, and almost anything else you can think of. Love really is all around. Personally, I am grateful for the love of my husband. For close to thirty years of marriage, he has always been there for me, no matter what. He patiently went along with my crazy idea of renewing our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary vows at a Las Vegas wedding chapel with an Elvis impersonator/justice of the peace presiding. As he is neither an Elvis fan nor a fan of Las Vegas kitsch, this little event wasnt something he would have chosen for himself.

But he came through it all relatively unscathed. Then, as we were flying home, he told me hed had a delightful time after all. It was confirmed for me again: hes my partner for life. I am also most thankful for my family of choice, otherwise known as my friends. They are a small but diverse bunch; each and every one is very special to me (and to my husband as well). Through good times and bad, they have stood by me with their love and support and done so without complaint.

Not a day goes by that I dont thank the Good Lord above for the gift of their friendship. I kept my personal experiences in mind as I was looking for material for this book. To keep Love manageable, it doesnt have fifty-two separate chapters of quotes. Rather, there are eleven sections, ranging from family love to true love, not that these represent the two opposite ends of the spectrum of love, you understand. There are no walls between these chaptersthe same love often belongs in many sections.

T HE FIRST LOVE WE FEEL IS FROM OUR MOTHER EVEN AS SHE CARRIES US . A FAMILY GROWS AROUND THAT LOVE IN AS MANY COMBINATIONS AS THERE ARE INDIVIDUALS : FROM THE FIRST A FATHER , THEN BROTHERS AND SISTERS PERHAPS ; GRANDPARENTS , UNCLES , AUNTS AND COUSINS ; AND MAYBE EVEN OUR OWN SONS AND DAUGHTERS DOWN THE ROAD . A BIG BROTHER STANDING UP TO A BULLY, A SISTER PUTTING ON YOUR MAKEUP , GRANDPARENTS SPOILING THE KIDS ROTTEN . T HE LOVE WE GET FROM OUR FAMILY IS OUR ROCK.
A mothers love for her child is like nothing else in the world. Agatha Christie, writer Mother love has been much maligned. Agatha Christie, writer Mother love has been much maligned.

An over mothered boy may go through life expecting each new woman to love him the way his mother did. Her love may make any other love seem inadequate. But an unloved boy would be even more likely to idealize love. I dont think its possible for a mother or father to love a child too much. Frank Pittman, psychiatrist and family therapist
Unconditional love is loving your kids for who they are, not for what they do it isnt something you will achieve every minute of every day. Stephanie Marston, family therapist and writer The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother. Henry Ward Beecher, preacher Where does the family start? It starts with a young man falling in love with a girlno superior alternative has yet been found. Winston Churchill, political leader
Of course if you like your kids, if you love them from the moment they begin, you yourself begin all over again, in them and with them. William Saroyan, writer You can see them alongside the shuffleboard courts in Florida or on the porches of the old folks homes up north. William Saroyan, writer You can see them alongside the shuffleboard courts in Florida or on the porches of the old folks homes up north.

They are in love, they have always been in love, although sometimes they would have denied it. And because they have been in love they have survived everything that life could throw at them, even their own failures. Ernest Havemann, writer
In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony. Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher Family love is messy, clinging, and of an annoying and repetitive pattern, like bad wallpaper. Eva Burrows, Salvation Army general
In truth a family is what you make it. Marge Kennedy, writer, and Janet Spencer King, writer [A mother] discovers with great delight that one does not love ones children just because they are ones children but because of the friendship formed while raising them. Gabriel Garca Mrquez, writer
The Family is the Country of the heart. Gabriel Garca Mrquez, writer
The Family is the Country of the heart.

There is an angel in the Family who, by the mysterious influence of grace, of sweetness, and of love, renders the fulfillment of duties less wearisome, sorrows less bitter. The only pure joys unmixed with sadness.