Three Helpful Relationship Quotes

The subject of love and being together provide a near endless supply of relationship quotes. Some are funny, such as "Love Stinks" by the rock group the J. Geils Band; some are pithy like the old adage "love is blind". It sometimes seems as though everybody has a thought or two to share about relationships.

Some people may roll their eyes at such sayings, but it's a smart person who will take such sayings and try to apply them in a positive way to their own lives. What follows are three quotes that have a little more substance to them; each is followed by a few thoughts about what they mean.

Ursula LeGuin is the renowned author of the Earthsea series. She shares the following quote about love: "Love doesn't just sit there like a stone; it has to be made - like bread, remade all the time, made new." What a wonderful way to look at it! Love isn't something that you fall into and then remain complacent about. No, it takes work, but, just like baking bread, it's pleasant work. And the results are aromatic and satisfying. On the other hand, if this idea doesn't appeal to you, then it's a good sign you are not with the right person for you.

Even the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle weighed in with a relationship quote of his own when he assuredly noted, "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies." There's a lot of truth there. Being willing to make sacrifices, or put the other person first all hallmarks of love. That sounds great, but in reality, most people would consider themselves lucky if they found such a deep and lasting love as that; where they truly feel like one. And, yet, that's the true nature of love, even if it doesn't seem like it, even if it never reaches that level...the possibility is always there.

"Our greatest joy and our greatest pain comes in our relationships with others", is a thought expressed by self-help guru Stephen R. Covey, author of many books on effectiveness, including several on inter-personal relationships. The loss of a loved one, breaking up, and other traumatic events create the worst pains we as human beings go through. It's a fact of life. While relationships can be the source for such intense pain, they are also the source of our most positive feelings. Ultimately, the potential of so much pain is more than worth the wonderful feelings only relationships can provide.

Of course, those are only three of the nearly endless relationship quotes that have been written over the centuries. You can find many more by doing a simple online search for them. The trick though, is to not just read them, but to give them some thought. Once you do that, the next step is to apply them in a positive way to whatever relationship you are currently involved in.

The Best Relationship Quotes I Know

I love reading relationship quotes and today I thought I would share a couple of my favorite ones with you. Where possible, proper credit has been given to the person who wrote or spoke the original quote. However in some cases that may not have been possible.

You know love funny quotes as I believe humour is a key ingredient in a great relationship. Some of the funny ones I like are:

"What can you say to a man who has just had sex? Anything you like as he is asleep".

Or for those male readers - "what is the difference between a terrorist and a woman with PMS?" "You can negotiate with a terrorist!"

Joking aside, this quote credited to Leo Buscaglia should be in all couple’s homes.

“Too often we under estimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around”.

As most of us know it is the little things in a relationship that can cause it to fail or blossom. It is easy to blame the other person in our relationship for our dissatisfaction but as Martha Washington said “I have learned from experience that a greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.”

Some relationship quotations are beautiful and sad at the same time. Such as the one from William Somerset Maugham (an English Writer) on unrequited love being "The love that lasts the longest is the love that is never returned."

While I don't think Colin Powell was talking about relationships when he said "None of us can change our yesterdays, but we can all change our tomorrows", it is one that we could all do with remembering. Too often we waste time and energy holding grudges against our partners for something they did in the past. It is too late to change it now so let it go once and for all. So long as it isn't a pattern of repeated behaviour it doesn't do anyone any good to remember it.

"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much " Helen Keller. This lady was my idol when I was growing up. Despite being born blind and mute she achieved so much more than the rest of us often do. I believe that being part of a couple and then a family gives us the chance to be so much more. We need to appreciate the gifts we have. Our relationships would be a lot happier if we said thank you and I love you just a little more often.

As Mother Theresa is quoted as saying "There is more hunger for love and appreciation in the world today than for bread". Make sure your loved one knows how much you love and appreciate them today, to avoid a day when you wished you had listened to the relationship quotes.