Shakespeare Love Quotes: 70 Timeless Words From The Bard to Capture Hearts

Looking for the perfect way to express your love? Let England’s foremost writer guide you with Shakespeare love quotes for any occasion.

When it comes to the subject of love, England’s playwright and poet par excellence, William Shakespeare, has more to say than most. In his prolific writings, we can observe a vast number of observations, comments, and lamentations upon the subject, with an offering to suit every situation. So, to help you find the perfect quote for yours, here is a list of 40 of Shakespeare love quotes, with a brief explanation of their meanings in modern terms.

1. “I love you more than words can wield the matter, Dearer than eyesight, space and liberty.”

Explanation: Words are not enough to describe my love for you.

2. “Love is like a child, That longs for everything it can come by.”

Explanation: Love overpowers everything else. [Confession: Definition of love: The true meaning of love & what it should feel like]

3. “The sight of lovers feedeth those in love.”

Explanation: Seeing others in love fuels the desire to feel loved, yourself.

4. “What is light, if Sylvia be not seen? What is joy if Sylvia be not by?”

Explanation: Without a loved one, there is no joy in life.

5. “Love is blind, and lovers cannot see, The pretty follies that themselves commit.”

Explanation: People act rather differently when they are in love.

6. “Love sought is good, but given unsought is better.”

Explanation: Falling in love when unexpected and unlooked for is the truest kind of love.

7. “Cupid is a knavish lad, thus to make females mad.”

Explanation: Love makes people act foolishly. [Read: Dumb things we do in the name of that 4-letter word: Love]

8. “Come what sorrow can, It cannot countervail the exchange of joy, That one short minute gives me in her sight.”

Explanation: All your life woes and miseries are forgotten in the presence of your loved one.

9. “Doubt that the stars are fire, Doubt that the sun doth move his aides, Doubt truth to be a liar, But never doubt I love.”

Explanation: The love you feel is an empirical truth.

10. “If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it that surfeiting the appetite may sicken and so die.”

Explanation: This quote expresses the hope that if you experience too much love, then maybe you will grow used to and tired of it, and it will bother you with its anguish no more.

11. “Speak low if you speak love.”

Explanation: True love is spoken of quietly to the object of your attentions, not loudly and dramatically to the whole world.

12. “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Explanation: Love is never easy.

13. “Love goes by haps; Some Cupid kills with arrows, some with traps.”

Explanation: Once you are in love, it is inescapable. [Read: Reasons why relationships are such hard work]

14. “Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.”

Explanation: You love a person for who they are, not how they look.

15. “Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?”

Explanation: Coming to love someone later on, after knowing them for a while is not true love. Only love at first sight is the deeply legitimate kind. [Read: Am I in love? 47 fuzzy signs of being in love that’s beyond lust & crushes]

16. “I would not wish any companion in the world but you.”

Explanation: People other than the one you love are no longer as important to you.

17. “Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love.”

Explanation: There is a difference between physical passion and passion that comes from true love.

18. “Love hath made thee a tame snake.”

Explanation: Love will humble and soften even the most hardened individual.

19. “She loved me for the dangers I had passed, And I loved her that she did pity them.”

Explanation: Empathy is one of the greatest signs of true love.

20. “Oh, how this spring of love resembleth, The uncertain glory of an April day, Which now shows all beauty of the Sun, And by and by a cloud takes all away.”

Explanation: Loving too much, too early can sometimes be a result of the passions rather than the heart, and disappears as swiftly as it began. [Read: How to fall in love slowly: 28 steps to create a real-life fairytale]

21. “A heart to love, and in that heart, Courage, to make’s love known.”

Explanation: When you are in love, you cannot keep it hidden.

22. “For where thou art, there is the world itself, And where thou art not, desolation.”

Explanation: In modern song terms, “I can’t live, if living is without you!”

23. “You cannot call it love, for at your age the heyday in the blood is tame.”

Explanation: Being “in love” as opposed to “loving” occurs only in the shallow passion of youth.

24. “She will die if you love her not, And she will die ere she might make her love known.”

Explanation: Whether you confess your love or keep to yourself, love can bring you pain.

25. “Men have died from time to time, and worms have eaten them, but not for love.”

Explanation: Someone who loves you wants you for yourself, not for any advantage you might bring them.

26. “Men’s vows are women’s traitors.”

Explanation: Men’s declarations of love are often not as true or heartfelt as women’s. [Read: What is true love? 58 signs & ways to tell if what you’re feeling is real]

27. “Alas, that love, so gentle in his view, Should be so tyrannous and rough in proof.”

Explanation: It’s easy to talk lyrically about love, but the path of true love is more often difficult and demanding.

28. “Love will not be spurred to what it loathes.”

Explanation: You cannot fake love.

29. “This bud of love by summer’s ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.”

Explanation: A more lyrical explanation of “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

30. “To be wise and love, Exceeds man’s might.”

Explanation: Love and common sense often don’t go hand in hand.

31. “What a pretty thing man is when he goes in his doublet and hose and leaves off his wit!”

Explanation: It’s amusing seeing someone completely change character in order to impress the object of their affections. [Read: Does he like me? 101 subtle signs & body language clues guys can’t hide]

32. “Is this the generation of love? Hot blood, hot thoughts, and hot deeds? Why, they are vipers. Is love a generation of vipers?”

Explanation: Love can lead people to make unusual and uncharacteristic decisions—sometimes for the worse.

33. “Love is begun by time, And time qualifies the spark and fire of it.”

Explanation: You will only know if it is true love if your passions remain the same after a long period of time. [Read: Long-term relationship: What it means & 30 secrets to have a love that lasts]

34. “The stroke of death is as a lovers pinch, Which hurts and is desired.”

Explanation: Love is painful, and yet we desire it no less.

35. “Lovers ever run before the clock.”

Explanation: Time flies when you are with someone you love, and the time you have is never enough.

36. “I know a lady in Venice would have walked barefoot to Palestine for a touch of his nether lip.”

Explanation: Love knows no bounds.

37. “I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say ‘I love you.’”

Explanation: If you are in love, you have no choice but to admit it.

38. “I’ll make my heaven in a lady’s lap.”

Explanation: Love is the true destination in the pursuit of happiness.

39. “You have witchcraft in your lips.”

Explanation: A kiss from your loved one makes all else seem unimportant, as if a love spell has been cast upon you. [Read: 29 sensual, romantic secrets to kiss someone passionately & deeply]

40. “I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”

Explanation: True love will be shown in a man’s deeds, not in his words. [Read: Does he love me? 86 warm signs he’s past like & seriously in love with you]

41. “Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.”

Explanation: Love brings joy and comfort, much like sunshine following a rainy day.

42. “O, how thy worth with manners may I sing, When thou art all the better part of me?”

Explanation: The speaker feels that their beloved is their better half.

43. “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

Explanation: The enduring power of love is celebrated, suggesting it will last as long as people can appreciate it.

44. “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”

Explanation: The moment of falling in love is so profound that all previous experiences pale in comparison.

45. “But love is blind, and lovers cannot see The petty follies that themselves commit.”

Explanation: Love often makes one overlook the small faults of the beloved. [Read: 45 big relationship red flags most couples completely ignore early in love]

46. “My love is deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, both are infinite.”

Explanation: This quote beautifully conveys the idea that love is not diminished by being shared; rather, it grows and becomes limitless.

47. “I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is not that strange?”

Explanation: The admission of love comes as a surprise, even to the speaker.

48. “Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you, Did my heart fly at your service.”

Explanation: The moment of falling in love is described as an instant and profound dedication.

49. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.”

Explanation: Love is described as endless and ever-growing.

50. “Love’s stories written in love’s richest book.”

Explanation: Love creates its own rich narrative.

51. “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”

Explanation: A guideline for life, emphasizing love and caution in whom to trust.

52. “O no! It is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken.”

Explanation: True love is constant and unchanging, even in difficult times. [Read: What is true love? 58 signs & ways to tell if what you’re feeling is real]

53. “Her eye discourses; I will answer it. I am too bold, ’tis not to me she speaks.”

Explanation: The power of non-verbal communication in love, though sometimes it can lead to misunderstandings.

54. “They do not love that do not show their love.”

Explanation: Love must be expressed to be meaningful.

55. “If music be the food of love, play on.”

Explanation: Love, like music, feeds the soul.

56. “Love is a smoke and is made with the fume of sighs.”

Explanation: Love is described as intangible and ephemeral, yet deeply felt.

57. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.”

Explanation: A beloved is compared to a perfect summer’s day, yet deemed even more wonderful.

58. “Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds.”

Explanation: True love remains constant, even when circumstances change.

59. “Love is a spirit all compact of fire.”

Explanation: Love is described as a passionate and intense force. [Read: Passionate love: What it is, the signs & why it’s so strong & scary]

60. “Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love.”

Explanation: The speaker asserts the certainty of his love, despite any doubts about other things.

61. “I would not wish any companion in the world but you.”

Explanation: Expressing a desire for only one’s beloved as a companion.

62. “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

Explanation: True love is often filled with challenges and obstacles. [Read: 34 true secrets to find love & why you haven’t found the right person yet]

63. “Love is too young to know what conscience is.”

Explanation: Love is often impulsive and not governed by reason.

64. “I love thee with a love that shall not die Till the sun grows cold and the stars grow old.”

Explanation: A declaration of eternal love.

65. “And therefore is winged Cupid painted blind.”

Explanation: This reflects the idea that love is not governed by reason or logic.

66. “O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon, That monthly changes in her circled orb, Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.”

Explanation: The speaker warns against swearing love by something as changeable as the moon.

67. “So are you to my thoughts as food to life, Or as sweet-seasoned showers are to the ground.”

Explanation: The beloved is as essential as food or rain. [Read: Love at first sight: Why we fall, how it feels & 21 signs to prove it’s real]

68. “Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?”

Explanation: Suggesting the immediate and powerful nature of love at first sight.

69. “The sight of lovers feedeth those in love.”

Explanation: Seeing other lovers can deepen one’s own feelings of love.

70. “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove: O no! It is an ever-fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken.”

Explanation: This famous line from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 speaks to the enduring and unchanging nature of true love, which remains steadfast even in the face of challenges. [Read: How to face relationship challenges & overcome them as a couple]

Try Borrowing These Romantic Lines

Shakespeare’s insights on love are timeless and universal. His understanding of the complexities, joys, and sorrows of love is unparalleled, making his works a treasure trove for anyone seeking the perfect expression of their feelings.

[Read: How to express your Feelings: Must-know ideas to speak your mind]

Whether you’re in the throes of a passionate romance, experiencing the pangs of unrequited love, or simply pondering the nature of love itself, these Shakespeare love quotes offer a rich source of inspiration and reflection. His eloquent words capture the full spectrum of human emotion, ensuring that for almost every shade of love, Shakespeare has the perfect articulation.