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28 Romantic Movie Speeches That Will Make Us All Fall In Love

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Famous Speeches Sure to Inspire Your Next Declaration of Love

By Marisa Polansky and Kristine Keller

Whether it’s your new boo, your old BFF, or your tattooed barista, someone in your life is worthy of a little love. But articulating the abstract, undefinable feeling of l-o-v-e can be a pain in the . . . you know what.

We’ve worked on many beautiful speeches, but the most memorable professions of love? They don’t hold anything back. They’re honest and enthusiastic and unforgivingly passionate. So to help you express yourself like a pro, we’ve compiled a list of top speeches sure to inspire declarations of love to just about anyone in your life.   

For your significant other who supports you from afar—and with whom you wish you had more red carpet photos: Ryan Gosling wins a Golden Globe in 2017 and takes the opportunity to thank his behind-the-scenes support system, Eva Mendes. And while the rest of us might have fawned more than Mendes, it had to have made her knees at least a little weak. Gosling reminds us that when it comes to a happily ever after, it takes two. (Minutes 0:55–1:33)

By Christian Allaire

   For your never-could-there-ever-be-a-smarter-cooler-stronger soulmate: The mic drop heard ’round the world. Though you’ll likely not be speaking to your sweetheart as the president of the United States, take a cue from number 44, who keeps it real in the most unreal of circumstances. In his last speech as POTUS, Obama applauds Michelle’s ability to take on the First Lady role “with grace, and with grit, and with style.” And if you’re lucky enough to find yourself a Michelle, you’ll need to deliver many speeches like this. She deserves it.

   For that person who seeks light in the darkness: At a time when the world is at risk of forgetting the importance of love, Lin-Manuel Miranda has the perfect message to remind us that, “Love is love is love is love is love is love is love, cannot be killed or swept aside.” His words at the 2016 Tony’s spotlight the idea that love and kindness really can conquer all. (Minutes 1:50–2:46)

   For your best and oldest friend who inspires you—and looks real good in a tuxedo: Before Barack and Joe, there was Matt and Ben, whose friendship inspired bromances, matching necklaces, and a Mindy Kaling off-Broadway play. From Beantown to Tinseltown, the pair shows us how best to conquer the world with your best friend forever. Their 1997 Academy Awards speech reminds us that before Gigli and Bourne , they were just two dudes from Boston with a lot of enthusiasm for some guy named Chris Moore. (Minutes 0:45–1:52)

For all the old friends who made you a survivor: Let’s face it: Not everyone is meant to be in your life for always. But even those once-upon-a-time friends were there at a time when you needed them. Or, if you’re Beyoncé, they, ya know, helped make you Beyoncé. In the classiest speech to ever grace the 2011 Billboard Music Awards, Queen Bey thanks all the founding members of Destiny’s Child, saying their name (saying their name) before she—bonus—calls out Jay Z in the cutest shout-out ever. (Minutes 9:00–10:53)

   For the people who maybe you don’t always get along with but, hey, there’s love for them too: At the Screen Actors Guild Awards last month, Mahershala Ali proves there’s enough love to go around and that, sometimes, differences can be beautiful. Just as you’ll always have people in your life who disagree with you, you’ll always have a choice on how to react to them. So why not choose love? (From 1:00–2:00, or the whole speech)

For a parent who inspired you and put up with all your ridiculous hairdos: At the 2014 Academy Awards, Jared Leto tells the unlikely story of a young high school dropout who, against all odds, creates a happy life for her family. Spoiler alert: That girl is his mother and her child now has an Oscar. Let this speech be your inspiration when thanking Mom and Dad, whose early struggles paved the way for your achievements. (Minutes 1:36–2:24)

For all the people who make you feel seen and appreciated and validated: It’s hard to believe that a goddess like Sally Field could ever feel unlikable—and yet, her Academy Awards speech from 1985 tells otherwise. Though it’s famously misquoted as “You like me! You really like me!” the sentiment holds true. Sometimes external validation ain’t such a bad thing. This Valentine’s Day, maybe it’s your turn to do a little validating. (From 3:20–3:50)

   For the coworker you’ve thanked too silently in the past: Sometimes people need to hear your appreciation a little bit louder now. Here, Cuba Gooding Jr. accepts his 1997 Oscar by literally shouting praise to those who helped him along the way. Let this speech inspire your own standing ovation for all the coworkers who’ve helped you organize Outlook. (1:10–1:57)

   For your insanely precocious daughter who inspires your funniest one-liners: They may pick their noses in your presence. They may make you park seven blocks away when you pick them up from school. But your kids also challenge you to look at life through a different lens, making you a little wiser and, most likely, a lot funnier. At the 2009 SAG Awards, Tina Fey shows us the right way to say thank you for using all my makeup. (2:28–3:24)

Marisa Polansky and Kristine Keller are the founders of Speech Tank , a concierge speech-writing service in New York City.

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A Short Speech on Love ❤️

Love, surprisingly, has been equated with emotions. But is it all that is there to it? Emotions keep changing; don’t they? Today, you feel madly in love with someone; when the sun rises the next day you wonder where all the “love” you felt yesterday has gone; don’t you?

So love does not properly belong to the realm of emotions; though emotions do colour our love with all kinds of splashes. Then what is love?

It is basically a decision to hold the other person in the highest esteem , value him or her above all else, and cherish that person like no other and hold him or her so close and dear to one’s heart.

Love is not about getting; it is about giving. Love is not about selfishness; it is about sacrifice. Love is not about being on top of the charts; it is about humility, the willingness to serve. Love is not about bragging; it is about doing things for the other without advertising. Love is not about covering up evil; it is about being transparent and living in the light. Love is not about falsehood; it is about speaking the truth.

Love is not static; it grows. The love of a parent for a child grows along with years; the love of a husband for his wife ideally should grow along with years and vice versa. The limitless potential for growth, for discovery, for being surprised, for finding joy in little things, are all what makes love, love.

Finally, we cannot think on love without thinking of God. The well known passage in the Bible speaks about love in this compelling way: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” * Not one of us can earn this love; but each one of us can respond to it.

So love is a response as well. Wishing you an ever-increasing capacity to respond to God’s everlasting love for you, the love of the members of your family , your friends and colleagues, and all those whom you come into contact with. At times when you respond in love to hate and evil behaviour, the other is also constrained to love!

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“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered , it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

— 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 Bible

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Competitions

9 of the best big romantic movie speeches.

By Britton Perelman · February 9, 2022

Sometimes they happen in the rain, or on a plane. Or maybe when you’re leaving a party, sitting by a pool, or maybe graduating middle school.

Big romantic speeches are the trademark of romance dramas and romantic comedies, a staple of the genre if there ever was one. But while they might be a given trope, the subject matter of these swoon-worthy speeches can vary greatly.

From the practicalities of relationships to head-over-heels declarations, here’s a list of 9 of the best big romantic movie speeches.

Spoiler alert: most of these speeches take place at the end of their respective movies, so plot spoilers abound.

When Harry Met Sally…

The new year’s eve speech.

After running through New York City on New Year’s Eve, Harry makes it to the party just in time to find Sally. Their eyes meet and he says the perfect line: “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you.” As the partygoers around them count down to the new year and start singing  Auld Lang Syne , Harry declares his love for her.

“I love that you get cold when it’s 71 degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get a little crinkle above your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you, I can still smell your perfume on my clothes. And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it’s not because I’m lonely, and it’s not because it’s New Year’s Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”

Can you think of a better way to ring in the new year? Me either.   

The Notebook

 the “i want you” speech.

Noah and Allie fell in love when they were teenagers, were kept apart by her parents, and found their way back to one another years later when Allie was engaged to another man. During a heated argument, Noah lays it all on the line for her. In a hopelessly romantic movie full of hopelessly romantic lines (“If you’re a bird, I’m a bird”) Noah’s emphatic, brutally honest depiction of love would make anyone a little weak in the knees.

“So it’s not gonna be easy, it’s gonna be really hard. And we’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I wanna do that because I want you. I want all of you. Forever. You and me. Every day.”

Silver Linings Playbook

 pat’s letter to tiffany.

After their dance competition, Pat walks away from Tiffany and goes to speak with his ex-wife. Hurt, and thinking that he’s still in love with her, Tiffany storms out of the hotel. When Pat finally catches up to her, he hands her a letter. As she reads it, Pat begins to speak the words aloud.

“The only way you could meet my crazy was by doing something crazy yourself. Thank you. I love you. I knew it the minute I met you. I’m sorry it took so long for me to catch up, I just got stuck.”

  The scene ends with Pat revealing that he wrote the letter a week before their competition and a perfect kiss under the street’s twinkly lights.

The “Hill of Beans” Speech

Casablanca  is deceptively romantic. It’s a war movie without any combat, a love story without any sex scenes. And it ends with a whopper of a speech.

Rick has just revealed that he’s not getting on the plane with Ilsa, that he’s letting her leave with Victor Laszlo. And then… he tells her why…

Ilsa: “But what about us?” Rick: “We’ll always have Paris. We didn’t have— we’d lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.” Ilsa: “When I said I would never leave you.” Rick” “And you never will. But I’ve got a job to do too, and where I’m going you can’t follow. What I’ve got to do, you can’t be any part of. Ilsa, I’m no good at being noble, but it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you’ll understand that. Now, now. Here’s looking at you, kid.”

Palm Springs

The “run-on sentence” speech.

We all know the infinite time loop drill — Sarah and Nyles, stuck in the same day over and over again. There’s some comedy, there’s some romance. Eventually, she wants out.

And after spending some of her infinite days studying quantum physics, Sarah thinks she’s found a way out of the loop. She’s about to leave when Nyles catches up to her. But Sarah interrupts his big speech and instead gives him a single sentence.

Nyles: “Even though I pretend not to be, I’ve realized that I am completely co-dependent, but I’m cool with it because I think that life should be shared now, and I need you to survive—” Sarah: “Okay. That’s your one sentence.” Nyles: “I need you to survive, COMMA, but it’s so much more than that, COLON: I know you better than anyone knows you, and remember that night that we saw the dinosaurs, you said it yourself, in order to really know a person you have to see their entire package, the good and the bad, and I’ve seen your package, and it is excellent, Sarah, AMPERSAND you’re my favorite person that I’ve ever met, and yes, I know that it’s crazy odds that the person I like the most in my entire life would be someone I met while I was stuck in a time loop, but you know what else is crazy odds? Getting stuck in a time loop. Dot dot dot—“ Sarah: “Ellipses.” Nyles: “Ellipses, thank you. Ellipses. Look, I hope that blowing ourselves up works, but it’s really irrelevant to me, as long as I’m with you, and if it kills us, well then, I’d rather die with you than live in this world without you. Emphatic period.”

The Proposal

The proposal proposal.

Sometimes romantic speeches are a little sappy, other times they start with an explanation of absolute hate. After spending an unexpected weekend together, Andrew realizes that the person he thought he despised is actually the one he wants to spend his life with. So he tells her just that in an honest, heartfelt, and slightly amusing speech in front of all their co-workers.

“Three days ago, I loathed you. I used to dream about you getting hit by a cab, or poisoned. Then we had our little adventure up in Alaska and things started to change. Things changed when we kissed. And when you told me about your tattoo. Even when you checked me out when we were naked. But I didn’t realize any of this until I was standing alone, in a barn, wifeless. Now, you can imagine my disappointment when it suddenly dawned on me that the woman I love is about to be kicked out of the country. So Margaret, marry me. Because I’d like to date you.”

Crazy Rich Asians

The “plane proposal” speech.

Whoever said that boarding a plane wasn’t romantic clearly hadn’t met Nick Young, who somehow manages to make it the perfect place for a proposal.

“I always imagined what me proposing to you would be like. You know what? I had it all planned out. Oh— right behind you, don’t mind me. I’d bring you to my favorite spot on the island. There’s a hidden trail that I used to go to as a child, and there’s a cove there that opens up to this beautiful lake— um, sorry dude. Give me a second. When the sun hits the horizon, I’d get down on one knee, and the rest of the world would fall away because it would just be you and— sorry, I can help you with that. Stay there. You too? Watch your fingers. Lift that up. Okay. Everybody okay? Because I just need 30 seconds with this woman. Okay, thank you. Coming through, sorry. I know this is a far throw from a hidden paradise, but wherever you are in the world, that’s where I belong.”  

Crazy, Stupid, Love

 the “soulmate” speech.

After Robbie gives half of an incredibly cynical middle-school graduation speech about how true love is a lie, his dad stands up in the crowd and takes over. Cal then stands up and ruminates on the subject of soulmates.

“My son — not him, my actual son — believes in grand, romantic gestures. He believes in the existence of one’s soulmate. And it’s easy to just look at a 13-year-old and say, ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. You are wrong.’ But I’m not so sure. I met my soulmate when I was 15 years old. We went out for ice cream. After, my dad started teasing me about my first date, the way dads do, and I told him, ‘Dad, it’s no big deal. I’m gonna be going out with a lot of different girls on a lot of different dates.’ And that is the first time that I ever lied to my father. I met my soulmate when I was 15 years old, and I have loved her every minute or every day since I first bought her that mint chocolate chip cone. I have loved her through the birth of my three perfect children. I have loved her even when I’ve hated her. Only married couples will understand that one. And I don’t know if it’s gonna work out. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. Sorry, Robbie, I can’t give you that. But I can promise you this: I will never stop trying. Because when you find the one, you never give up.”

Not exactly what my middle-school graduation was like, but I think I prefer the movie version, don’t you? 

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things

The speech by the pool.

What is it about infinite time loops that make people prone to romantic speeches?

In this one, the two main characters spend their infinite days looking for tiny perfect things in their unchanging world. And after some complications and a big revelation, they end up at their neighborhood pool. Margaret explains to Mark that on the worst day of her life, all she wanted was for time to stop. And it did.

“And then the really weird thing is that you showed up and I didn’t know where you came from and why it was you. And now I think I know why. I think it’s because, when it’s time to go, I wouldn’t have to go alone. It’s time. It’s not gonna be perfect, you know? We’re never gonna find the fourth dimension or cure cancer or fix the world, but the point is that I was wrong. We’re the ones sleeping. Everyone else is awake and it’s just us dreaming. I know it’s gonna hurt really bad. But I think that I have to wake up now. I think that this is the moment. Right now. And I don’t want to miss it.”

And then she kisses him, which is exactly how all big romantic speeches should end, don’t you think?

Honorable Mentions

• What Tim says to Mary when he’s trying to convince her to ditch the party and get dinner with him in  About Time , which doesn’t make this list because it’s a conversation, not a speech.
• Christian’s declaration of love to Satine in  Moulin Rouge ’s “Elephant Love Medley,” which doesn’t make this list because it’s a song, not a speech.
• Jack saying “I wish I knew how to quit you,” in  Brokeback Mountain , which doesn’t make this list because it’s really just a single line, not a full-fledged speech.
• Juno’s dad’s speech about love in  Juno , which doesn’t make this list because he’s teaching his daughter a life lesson, not declaring his love for someone.
• The “things I hate about you” poem in  10 Things I Hate About You , which doesn’t make this list because it’s a poem, not a real speech.

Scripts from this Article

When Harry Met Sally…

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Marriage and Love

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“The Family: A Proclamation to the World” from The Church of Jesus Christ beautifully teaches about marriage and love. It states that “marriage between man and woman is essential to [God’s] eternal plan.” This teaching about marriage is core to the doctrine of the Church. It even traces back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where God commanded them to remain together.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ believe that families can be together forever, not just on earth. Being together forever is possible when a husband and wife are married and sealed together for time and eternity. Sealing happens in sacred temples and puts an end to “till death do us part.” Marriage and love are some of the most significant sources of joy and happiness in this life, and working through trials can significantly help couples grow in charity and love. Church president Russell M. Nelson has said, “There is great power in a strong partnership. True partners can achieve more than the sum of each acting alone” (“Disciples of Jesus Christ—Defenders of Marriage,” August 14, 2014).

When dating, remember that a healthy relationship is an equal partnership between two people willing to sacrifice for each other. Real love is more than mutual attraction; love that forms a lasting relationship needs a well-established foundation. We can build a good foundation through respect, forgiveness, and hard work. Remember President Boyd K. Packer’s advice in your search for marriage and love: avoid temptation and feelings of pride. Instead, “seek the pure, eternal love that God has in store for [us]” (“Eternal Love,” November 3, 1963).

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How Can I Love Someone Unconditionally?

Sometimes patience with a significant other can run thin. Whether you’ve gotten into an argument or you just don’t see why your partner can’t put their dishes in the sink, you may find yourself asking, “How am I supposed to love this person unconditionally ?” To answer this, we need not look further than the perfect example of unconditional love: Heavenly Father. Despite all our weaknesses and shortcomings, God loves us no matter what. When we love others unconditionally, we do just that—we love them  no matter what .  While this doesn’t mean you should let your partner’s erroneous actions go unchecked, it does mean  that  you should recognize the eternal potential in your partner. Try to see them as God sees them—as a being capable of repentance and growth. In doing so, you will find that your love for them and patience with them will increase.  

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How Can I Tell if I Should Marry the Person I’m Dating?

Deciding to marry is one of the biggest commitments you will ever make, so how can you know if the person you are dating is the “right” one for you?  As  Bruce A. Chadwick explained ,  “To most of us Heavenly Father says, ‘There are  thousands  .  . .  who are worthy to enter my house and covenant to be your eternal mate. You pick one you like who is worthy, and I will give you my blessing’ ” (“ Hanging Out, Hooking Up, and Celestial Marriage ,” May  7 , 2002).    

I f  you both   are  committed to each other and to living according to the gospel of Jesus Christ ,   t hen go to the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to help you understand His will. He will send the Holy Ghost to help you feel peace and assurance about whether the person you are dating will be a good marriage partner for you, and you for them.  

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All couples face challenges in love and marriage. Contention  can spout from innocent differences in opinion or from situations of greater weight, such as financial problems. Whatever the cause, husbands and wives can work together to overcome any challenge when they remember that their marriage is a sacred covenant and responsibility.  

Ultimately you have the power to choose how you will react when things aren’t going well in your marriage. Will you respond to your spouse with anger, frustration, and bitterness? Or will you react with patience, love, and humility? As President Boyd   K. Packer said, “An eternal marriage is worth every effort it requires” (“ Eternal Marriage , ”  April  14,  1970  ).  So  don’t give up. As you pray for guidance, the Lord will bless you with an increase of love for your spouse and the strength to overcome your trials.  

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While a quick scroll through Instagram might convince you otherwise, there is no such thing as a perfect relationship. There are, however, a few characteristics that are common in healthy relationships. Some of those characteristics are trust, good communication, compromise, and honesty. Above all else, a relationship is healthiest when partners keep their covenants with each other and God. There is no better way for two people to draw closer together in love and unity than for both to keep the commandments, serve others, and strengthen their individual testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you find that your relationship is unsteady or failing, remember this quote from Elder Holland: “You want capability, safety, and security in dating and romance, in married life and eternity? Be a true disciple of Jesus” (“ How Do I Love Thee? ” February 15, 2000).

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Understand This: Love is Everything. Lead With Love In Everything You Do

Understand this: love is everything. lead with love in everything you do.

LOVE is the answer, the solution, the start, the middle and the end of everything great in life.

Transcript – Understand This: LOVE is Everything. Lead With Love In Everything You Do – (Motivational Speech)

Somewhere along the way as you work hard to build a successful business, as you work hard to get ahead, as we study hard in school, as we become lost in that overwhelming drive to create something magical in our lives, as we try to fill the emptiness in our hearts with work, we forget why we’re doing it all.

Why do we work?

Why do we create? Why do we put ourselves out there? What is that burning need inside us that drives us to sacrifice everything?

What is it that pushes us to work with so much focus and persistence that we forget ourselves, our health, our wellbeing… pushing so hard that we end up sabotaging our cherished relationships that we end up missing our child’s first day at school, that we willingly give up time with loved ones?

We’re doing it all. We’re building, creating, working hard, for love. When I say love, I don’t mean romantic, steamy or sexual love. I mean pure love.

Love that you might have for a spectacular piece of artwork. Love that you might have for travel and for new adventures. Love that you might have for the quiet beauty of a snowfall. This is the love that creates. The love that inspires.

That love that we are doing it all for. It’s fascinating to see what happens when you introduce love to your work, your creation. When you let love in to everything you do, everything you do seems to be created with a little more magic. When you let love into your work, your work is better. When you let love into your business, your clients show up for you. Back you, support you, cheer you on.

When you let love in, you have endless courage, creativity, clarity and drive. Love is behind it all. Love brings out the best in you. It brings out the best in your people.

Love brings out the best in your work. In everything you do.

Apple, the electronics company decided to love their clients above all else. They would have store managers, not just assistants, call customers who needed help and spend as much time as necessary on the phone to make things right. This is an expensive thing to do, but Apple found that each hour their managers spend on the phone, an additional $1,000 in sales would be generated. Loving your customers isn’t just a good idea. It’s smart business.

Love works. Loving each other works. Loving your team works. Loving your clients works.

Sometimes it feels like the bad guys win. I know it feels like the world tells you you need to be a hard nosed, slimy asshole entrepreneur to get to the top, but that’s not true. Sooner or later, the bad guys lose. In the end love always wins. Always. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({ google_ad_client: "ca-pub-1604773209528901", enable_page_level_ads: true });

Love is why we do what we do.

You’re not doing it for the money. Ask yourself why you want the money. So you can buy that big house? Why do you want that house or the car or the recognition? Because you believe at some level you’ll be happier when you get them. You believe you will get more love when you get them. But the truth is you can lead with love now. So remember your why. Why do you want to win? Why do you want to win? What is it that really matters to you?

You might have heard of this old saying, it’s not personal. It’s business. Wrong. Business is personal. It always has been. There is no other way we could keep doing what we do. There’s no other reason to wake up every day and run your business or your life, your relationships, everything.

Let love in. Fuel everything with all the love you have. Then watch your business take off. Watch your vision and your goals come to life when your team and your clients support you with love.

Business is love. Let love in. Fuel every thing with all the love you have. Ask how you can serve, not what you can get. Create with love and service in mind and let the money chase you. Watch your vision and your goals come to life. When you lead with love, when your work is filled with your love.

When you love what you do and you do what you love, know this… understand this, embody this, live by this. It’s how you stay true to yourself. It’s how you make the impossible possible. It’s how you experience authentic success and happiness. It’s how you live big.

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What Are the Five Love Languages?

Knowing your partner's love language could strengthen your relationship

Sherri Gordon, CLC is a published author, certified professional life coach, and bullying prevention expert. She's also the former editor of Columbus Parent and has countless years of experience writing and researching health and social issues.

Ivy Kwong, LMFT, is a psychotherapist specializing in relationships, love and intimacy, trauma and codependency, and AAPI mental health.  

Adah Chung is a fact checker, writer, researcher, and occupational therapist. 

Verywell / Alison Czinkota

• The 5 Love Languages
• Identify Your Love Language
• Benefits of Love Languages

Love Languages in Everyday Life

Frequently asked questions.

The five love languages describe five ways that people receive and express love in a relationship. These are words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, acts of service, and receiving gifts.

Knowing your partner's love language and letting them know yours is a way to help you both feel loved and appreciated. Author and pastor Gary Chapman describes how to use these love languages to show your partner you care for them in a way that speaks to their heart.

The Five Love Languages

Chapman's book "The 5 Love Languages" was first published in 1992. Before writing the book, Chapman began to notice patterns in couples he was counseling. He realized that the couples were misunderstanding each other's needs.

That led him to come up with five love languages, or ways that people in relationships express love. They are:

• Words of affirmation
• Quality time
• Physical touch
• Acts of service
• Receiving gifts

Words of Affirmation

"Words of affirmation" is about expressing affection through spoken words, praise, or appreciation. When this is someone's primary love language, they enjoy kind words and encouragement, uplifting quotes, love notes, and cute text messages. You can make this person's day by complimenting them or pointing out what they do well.

Quality Time

Someone with this love language values your full presence when you are together. They feel most loved if you give them your undivided attention and spend time together in meaningful and interactive ways. This means putting down the cell phone, turning off the computer, making eye contact, thoughtfully interacting, and  actively listening .

People with this love language are looking for quality over quantity.

Physical Touch

A person with physical touch as their primary love language feels love through physical affection. Aside from sex, they feel loved when their partner holds their hand, touches their arm, or gives them a massage at the end of the day, for example.

This person's idea of a wonderful date night might be cuddling on the couch while watching a movie, slow dancing together with a lot of physical contact, or taking a long walk together while holding hands. They feel most loved when physically interacting with their partner.

Acts of Service

Acts of service are nice things you do for your partner that make them feel loved and appreciated, such as:

• Helping with the dishes
• Running errands
• Putting gas in the car

If your partner's main love language is acts of service, they'll notice and appreciate little things you do for them. They tend to perform acts of service and kindness for others, too.

Receiving Gifts

For someone who resonates with this love language, gifts symbolize love, care, and affection. They treasure not only the gift itself but also the time and effort the gift-giver put into selecting it.

People who enjoy receiving gifts as part of their primary love language do not necessarily expect large or expensive presents; it's more the effort and thoughtfulness behind the gift that count.

When you take the time to pick out a gift specifically for them, it tells them you are thoughtful and really know and care about them and their preferences. People with this love language can often remember every little gift they have received from their loved ones because it makes such an impact on them.

Are There Other Love Languages?

According to Chapman's framework, the original five love languages have stayed the same, but that doesn't mean there aren't other ways to express and receive love.

This is just one framework, and there have been several proposed additions over the years. For example, ideas like shared experiences and emotional security. The more we think about ourselves and what fills our relationship tank, the more ways we have to help our partner love us in the way we most want to be loved.

How to Identify Your Love Language

In a relationship, do you feel more loved when your partner:

• Tells you, "I love you," or praises something you did?
• Surprises you with a meaningful gift?
• Plans a trip for just the two of you?
• Runs the errands or does the laundry?
• Holds your hand while you're walking?

Answering these questions could give you a hint as to what your love language might be. You could also try to recall the sorts of things you ask for in a relationship or consider how you express love to your partner.

Your partner's love language might not be the same as yours. When couples have different primary love languages, there are bound to be misunderstandings. However, if your partner learns to speak your love language (and you, theirs), they will likely feel loved, appreciated, and, ultimately, happier in the relationship.

Take our fast, free quiz to find out your love language:

This love languages quiz was reviewed by Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD.

How Love Languages Benefit Relationships

We all express and receive love differently. Learning and understanding those differences can have a meaningful impact on your relationship. According to Chapman, this is one of the simplest ways to improve your relationships. Here are some other ways learning your respective love languages could be beneficial.

Love Languages Promote Selflessness

When you are committed to learning someone else's love language, you are  focused on their needs rather than your own. This is the central premise of Chapman's theory. Couples should make an effort to learn and respond to their partner's love language rather than trying to convince their partner to change to their own. Ideally, both people will want to express and share love in a way that is meaningful to the other..

The entire purpose of exploring your love languages together is to learn how to love your partner in a way that is meaningful to them.

Love Languages Create Empathy

As you learn more about how your partner experiences love, you learn to empathize with them. It helps you step outside of yourself for a moment and take a look at what makes another person feel significant and loved.

When couples are committed to learning and using the love languages, they increase their emotional intelligence and learn how to put someone else's needs above their own. Instead of speaking their own love language to their partner, they learn how to speak in a language that their partner understands.

Love Languages Help Maintain Intimacy

Regularly talking about what keeps your love tanks full can build more understanding—and ultimately,  intimacy —in your relationship. You'll not only learn more about one another, but you'll also connect in more meaningful and significant ways. When this happens, your relationship deepens in intimacy.

A 2016 review published in the Global Journal of Health Science concluded that improving communication skills can aid intimacy in a marriage.

Love Languages Aid Personal Growth

Focusing on something or someone outside of yourself can lead to personal growth. Loving your partner in ways that are outside your comfort zone can inspire and motivate you to grow and change , and to look at ways of thinking and being beyond yourself.

Love Languages Help You Share Love in Meaningful Ways

When couples start speaking one another's love language, the things they do for each other become more intentional and meaningful. They are saying "I love you" in ways that make sense to their partners, who then receive that love and feel more noticed, content, and appreciated.

According to Chapman, love languages also apply to relationships between parents and children, among coworkers, and among friends. For example, if your child's primary love language is words of affirmation, they'd like to hear verbal praise or, "I love you." It's highly individual: A coworker might feel more appreciated if you use one love language instead of another.

Your love language can also change occasionally. For instance, if you had a bad day at work, you might prefer a hug from your partner rather than an encouraging word.

The key is to regularly communicate and ask  what your partner needs to feel cherished , heard, appreciated, and loved. Once you have checked in, you can take the information learned and put it into practice.

Criticisms of the Love Language Theory

Though learning the love languages helps many people communicate better with their partners, there are limitations to the theory and how people apply it to their relationships.

Many People Misuse the Languages

Some people get a bit competitive about using love languages, which can actually strain a relationship. For example, you might start keeping track of all the times you use your partner's love language and compare it to how many times your partner used yours.

The love languages are intended to give you more awareness and options when it comes to giving and receiving intimacy, not to be used for control, punishment, or manipulation.

Love languages can be a way to open up communication and compassion, but you shouldn't use them as games or weapons against your partner. Some people continue to use their own language (instead of their partner's) to show they care—and that's OK.

You can be in a relationship with someone who doesn't share your love language. Try to be understanding and open. You can recognize and appreciate your partner’s actions even if they don’t match your own language perfectly.

They Don't Fix Other Relationship Problems

The five love languages won't fix all of your relationship issues ; they are simply one tool of many you can use to improve communication with your partner.

Research shows that couples who use each other's love languages feel the happiest within their relationships when they also use self-regulation tools to handle their own emotions. While the love languages were a tool, the couples' accountability for their emotions and behavioral changes contributed the most to their overall happiness.

Your love language can change, too. It's important to accept and expect that love languages can change over time, especially given life stressors or major changes such as having children.

They May Lead to Pressure on Partners

Many people talk about love languages in the context of committed relationships or marriage. Remember that learning and understanding your own love language is an important tool for you to practice self-love.

You want to avoid putting too much pressure on your partner to consistently express your love language to you.

One study found that the biggest obstacle for couples who were using each other's love languages was that the recipient often didn't recognize that their partner was trying to use their love language.

It's important for the giver to communicate and for the recipient to recognize and show appreciation for their partner's efforts, even if they don't exactly meet expectations. This positive feedback will allow learning to happen and changes to continue instead of shaming which leads to shutdown

They Perpetuate Heteronormativity

Chapman’s original model focuses on heterosexual couples even though the theory can apply to any partnership regardless of their sexual orientation. If you're reading "The 5 Love Languages" and you aren't in a heterosexual relationship or you aren't heteronormative, it might feel frustrating to be excluded from the text.

What is heteronormativity?

Heteronormativity is the assumption that all people are straight and that romantic and sexual relationships are always between one man and one woman. It assumes that heterosexuality is the default sexual orientation and that it's the only normal or natural way to express sexuality and attraction.

Keep in Mind

Once you and your partner know each other's love language, you both can benefit. Speaking your partner's love language can take a bit of effort and intention, though, especially if it is different from yours. Remember, healthy relationships aren't born; they're developed through attention and effort.

The good news is that you can enhance your relationship by learning your partner's love languages and putting them into practice. And, if you both are committed to loving one another in the ways that speak to both of you, you will find yourself not only deeper in love, but also in a more meaningful and fulfilling relationship.

In 1997, Gary Chapman wrote a book with Ross Campbell, MD, about how the five love languages can apply to children as well. In it, he describes methods of observing which love language your child may resonate with. There is also a quiz that a parent can take on behalf of their child. It is available on the Five Love Languages website .

The easiest way to determine your partner's love language is to have them take the quiz. You could also consider what they ask for or do most in a relationship. Do they frequently bring you thoughtful gifts? Or tell you they love you? This could be a hint as to what their love language might be.

Kardan-Souraki M, Hamzehgardeshi Z, Asadpour I, Mohammadpour RA, Khani S. A review of marital intimacy-enhancing interventions among married individuals . Glob J Health Sci . 2016;8(8):74-93. doi:10.5539/gjhs.v8n8p74

5 Love Languages. Frequently asked questions .

Hughes JL, Camden AA. Using Chapman’s five love languages theory to predict love and relationship satisfaction . PsiChiJournal. 2020;25(3):234-244. doi:10.24839/2325-7342.jn25.3.234

Bunt S, Hazelwood ZJ. Walking the walk, talking the talk: Love languages, self-regulation, and relationship satisfaction . Pers Relationship. 2017;24(2):280-290. doi:10.1111/pere.12182

Campbell R, Chapman G. The 5 Love Languages of Children: The Secret to Loving Children Effectively . Moody Publishers.

Chapman G. The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts . Moody Publishers.

By Sherri Gordon Sherri Gordon, CLC is a published author, certified professional life coach, and bullying prevention expert. She's also the former editor of Columbus Parent and has countless years of experience writing and researching health and social issues.

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Blog – Posted on Tuesday, Sep 14

65 beautiful love poems everyone should know.

There’s nothing quite so moving as beautiful love poems. Luckily for us romantics, they’ve been in abundant supply throughout history! From Rumi in the Islamic Golden Age, to iconic playwright William Shakespeare, to modern-day “Instapoets” like Rupi Kaur, love has been one of the most-explored themes among writers and poets for centuries. 

In this post, we’ve put together the 65 most beautiful love poems ever written. Whether you’re looking for something to share with your partner, seeking solace after a breakup, or craving inspiration for how to write your own passionate prose , there’s bound to be a poem on this list which speaks to your heart. 

Wondering which love poem you are? Take our 30-second quiz to find out.

Which love poem are YOU?

Discover which poem best fits you in this quiz. Takes 30 seconds!

1. “Come, And Be My Baby” by Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou was one of America’s most acclaimed poets and storytellers, as well as a celebrated educator and civil rights activist. In ‘Come, And Be My Baby’, Angelou beautifully captures how overwhelming modern life can be and the comfort that love can provide during times of hardship — even if only for a moment.

2. "Bird-Understander" by Craig Arnold

These are your own words

your way of noticing

and saying plainly

of not turning away

you have offered them 

to me    I am only 

giving them back 

if only I could show you

how very useless 

they are not

The raw honesty of Craig Arnold’s poetry makes ‘Bird-Understander’ an easy pick for our list of the most beautiful love poems. In this piece, Arnold recounts a moment with his partner that makes his love grow even stronger. The language is simple yet evocative, putting a strong metaphor in the reader’s mind and facilitating a deeper understanding of Arnold’s feelings.

3. "Habitation" by Margaret Atwood

at the back where we squat 

outside, eating popcorn

the edge of the receding glacier

where painfully and with wonder

at having survived even

we are learning to make fire

Best known for her alarmingly realistic dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale , Margaret Atwood demonstrates similar strengths in this poem: ‘Habitation’ is strikingly real. For context, Atwood here admits to the challenges of marriage and acknowledges the work needed to overcome them. It is this candor which makes the poem so beautiful.

4. "Variations on the Word Love" by Margaret Atwood

One of the most fascinating things about love is that it can come in so many different forms — platonic, passionate, or even patronizing. Margaret Atwood unflinchingly lays out some of these in her poem ‘Variations on the Word Love’.

5. "The More Loving One" by W.H. Auden 

Were all stars to disappear or die, 

I should learn to look at an empty sky

And feel its total dark sublime, 

Though this might take me a little time.

Whilst poems about heartbreak might not be as uplifting as those about the joys of love, they can be equally as beautiful and meaningful. The celestial extended metaphor of W.H. Auden’s ‘The More Loving One’ demonstrates this — though ultimately he would rather be ‘the more loving one’ himself, Auden perfectly encapsulates the pain of loss when love ends.

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6. "To My Dear and Loving Husband" by Anne Bradstreet 

Thy love is such I can no way repay;

The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.

Then while we live, in love let’s so persever, 

That when we live no more, we may live ever.

Anne Bradstreet’s Puritan belief that marriage is a gift from God comes across strongly in ‘To My Dear and Loving Husband.’ Reading it through a modern lens, it’s easy to start the poem feeling a little skeptical; however, Bradstreet’s genuine gratitude and dedication to her husband soon manifests to make it a deeply moving assertion of true love.

7. "Always For The First Time" by André Breton

There is a silk ladder unrolled across the ivy

That leaning over the precipice 

Of the hopeless fusion of your presence and absence 

I have found the secret 

Of loving you

Always for the first time

‘Always For The First Time’ is André Breton’s ode to a woman he has not met, but is willing to wait every day for. Breton was the French founder of the surrealist movement, which aimed to blur the lines between dreams and reality in art — explaining the rather whimsical nature of this beautiful love poem. 

8. "Love and Friendship" by Emily Brontë

Love doesn’t have to be confined to romance — love between friends can be just as strong and beautiful. In ‘Love and Friendship’, Emily Brontë compares romantic love to a rose — stunning but short-lived — and friendship to a holly tree which can endure all seasons.

9. "To Be In Love" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Next on our list of the most beautiful poems about love is ‘To Be in Love’ by Gwendolyn Brooks. Brooks was a poet, author, and teacher — and perhaps most notably, in 1950, was also the first African-American writer to receive a Pulitzer Prize. In this powerful poem, Brooks conveys the intense emotions which come with falling in love and how it can change your entire outlook on life.

To be in love

Is to touch with a lighter hand.

In yourself you stretch, you are well.

10. "How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning 

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was a renowned Victorian poet who influenced the work of many later English-language poets, including Emily Dickinson. ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ is one of Browning’s most recognizable poems, and indeed one of the most famous love poems ever written — its ardent yet clear declaration of love has resonated with readers for over 150 years. 

11. "A Red, Red Rose" by Robert Burns 

Similar to Browning, Robert Burns’ profound love is evident in his poem ‘A Red, Red Rose’. Burns declares this love to be both passionate and refreshing — with each comparison, we see that even the loveliest language pales next to the depth of Burns’ ‘Luve’. 

12. "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron 

She walks in beauty, like the night 

Of cloudless climes and starry skies; 

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes; 

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

Though its author was known for a life of adventure and scandal, Lord Byron’s poem ‘She Walks in Beauty’ refers notably less to passionate or sexual love compared to his other works. That said, his astonishment at this woman’s beauty comes across instantly, making this a beautifully romantic poem.

13. "Love is a fire that burns unseen" by Luís Vaz de Camões

Love is a fire that burns unseen, 

a wound that aches yet isn’t felt, 

an always discontent contentment, 

a pain that rages without hurting,

One of Portugal’s greatest poets, Luís Vaz de Camões is known for his lyrical poetry and dramatic epics. ‘Love is a fire that burns unseen’ is an example of the former, reflecting his numerous turbulent love affairs and how each brought a complex fusion of pleasure and pain.

14. "Beautiful Signor" by Cyrus Cassells

This is the endless wanderlust:

yours is the April-upon-April love

that kept me spinning even beyond your eventful arms 

toward the unsurpassed:

the one vast claiming heart, 

the glimmering, 

the beautiful and revealed Signor.

‘Beautiful Signor’ is an entry from Cyrus Cassells’ poetry collection of the same name, which he dedicated to ‘Lovers everywhere’. Culturally set against the backdrop of the AIDS epidemic, the collection aims to remind people of the potent beauty of romantic love.

15. "Rondel of Merciless Beauty" by Geoffrey Chaucer 

Upon my word, I tell you faithfully

Through life and after death you are my queen;

For with my death the whole truth shall be seen.

Your two great eyes will slay me suddenly;

Their beauty shakes me who was once serene;

Straight through my heart the wound is quick and keen.

Widely regarded as the ‘Father of English poetry’, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote some of the most renowned works of the English language, including ‘The Canterbury Tales’ and ‘The Book of the Duchess’. The standalone poem ‘Rondel of Merciless Beauty’ (here translated from Middle English) recounts Chaucer’s heartbreak after being left by the love of his life, pledging his everlasting devotion to her even though it pains him.

16. "Love Comes Quietly" by Robert Creeley 

Robert Creeley’s short but striking love poem aptly summarizes the feeling of never wanting to be apart from the person you love, almost making you forget what life was like before you met them.

17. "[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]" by E. E. Cummings 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done 

by only me is your doing,my darling)

As one of America’s most prolific twentieth century poets, E.E. Cummings needs no introduction. Many of his poems centered around love and ‘[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]’ is perhaps the best-known of them all. The rich imagery and intimate infatuation earns it a prominent spot on our list of the most beautiful love poems ever written.

18. "[love is more thicker than forget]" by E.E. Cummings

love is more thicker than forget 

more thinner than recall

more seldom than a wave is wet 

more frequent than to fail

Another brilliant example of Cummings’ love poetry is [love is more thicker than forget]. This poem explores the complexity of love, expressing that it cannot simply be defined as one thing or another — and indeed, painting love as a paradox of rarity and frequency, modesty and profundity, sanity and madness, and much more.

19. "Sthandwa sami (my beloved, isiZulu)" by Yrsa Daley-Ward

my thoughts about you are frightening but precise

I can see the house on the hill where we make our own vegetables out back

and drink warm wine out of jam jars

and sing songs in the kitchen until the sun comes up

wena you make me feel like myself again.

Yrsa Daley-Ward’s ‘Sthandwa sami (my beloved, isiZulu)’ is one of the most personal and revealing accounts of love on this list. The poem comes from her collection bone, which tackles some of the deepest aspects of humanity, including religion, desire, womanhood, race, and vulnerability.

20. "Married Love" by Guan Daosheng

Have so much love, 

Burns like a fire, 

In which we bake a lump of clay

Molded into a figure of you

And a figure of me.

Guan Daosheng was a Chinese painter and poet of the early Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). ‘Married Love’ uses the image of clay figurines to represent two lovers being united as one through the sacred act of marriage, just as clay solidifies in a kiln.

21. "Heart, we will forget him!" by Emily Dickinson 

Heart, we will forget him!

You and I, to-night!

You may forget the warmth he gave, 

I will forget the light.

‘Heart, we will forget him!’ aligns with the forceful nature of so many Emily Dickinson poems . It is a powerful reflection of the fallout after a passionate love affair and how she tried to move on, going so far as to command her heart to do so, even knowing it’s futile.

22. "Air and Angels" by John Donne 

John Donne’s work is known for tackling faith and salvation, as well as both human and divine love. In ‘Angels and Air’, Donne compares his love to the movement of angels — pure and elegant. His conclusion that two lovers can come together and grow stronger adds another layer to this already quite romantic poem.

23. "Flirtation" by Rita Dove 

Outside the sun 

has rolled up her rugs

and night strewn salt 

across the sky. My heart 

is humming a tune

I haven’t heard in years!

The sparkling flirtation at the start of a new relationship is surely one of the most exciting parts of love. ‘Flirtation’ by Rita Dove eloquently captures this joy and anticipation, and is one of the most relatable poems about this aspect of love. 

24. "Heart to Heart" by Rita Dove 

It’s neither red

It doesn’t melt

or turn over,

break or harden,

so it can’t feel

In ‘Heart to Heart’, Rita Dove rejects the typical clichés that come with falling in love. With her down-to-earth approach to the topic, she assures the intended reader that although she may struggle to show her love, that doesn’t mean it’s not there. 

25. "Love" by Carol Ann Duffy 

you’re where I stand, hearing the sea, crazy 

for the shore, seeing the moon ache and fret

for the earth. When morning comes, the sun, ardent, 

covers the trees in gold, you walk 

towards me,

out of the season, out of the light love reasons.

In 2009, Carol Ann Duffy made history when she was appointed the first female and openly lesbian British poet laureate. ‘Love’ is a perfect example of the monologue-style poems she is known for, fitting in with her usual sensory and emotional style of writing; here, she describes love as beautifully boundless, like the light of the sun or the crashing sound of waves. 

26. "The Love Poem" by Carol Ann Duffy 

‘The Love Poem’ takes a different tack, depicting Duffy’s struggle to find the right words to describe her love. It comes from her 2005 collection Rapture, which charts the speaker’s journey through a love affair; at this stage, Duffy gets metafictional about love poetry, striving to explain the challenges of writing it (and invoking several other famous poems along the way).

27. "Before You Came" by Faiz Ahmed Faiz

Don’t leave now that you’re here—

Stay. So the world may become like itself again:

so the sky may by the sky,

the road a road,

and the glass of wine not a mirror, just a glass of wine.

Faiz Ahmed Faiz wrote of love, politics, and community throughout his tumultuous life, and has been especially acknowledged for his contributions to traditional Urdu poetry. In ‘Before You Came’, Faiz writes about how his perspective on life changed after falling in love and how he never wants to be without his lover, who helps him see things as they truly are.

28. "Lines Depicting Simple Happiness" by Peter Gizzi

It feels right to notice all the shiny things about you

About you there is nothing I wouldn’t want to know 

With you nothing is simple yet nothing is simpler

About you many good things come into relation

The beauty in Peter Gizzi’s poetry stems from its simplicity. In ‘Lines Depicting Simple Happiness’, Gizzi’s adoration for his love is clear — however, he avoids overused clichés, meaning the poem is both more personal and less mawkish than other modern love poems.

29. "Six Sonnets: Crossing the West" by Janice Gould 

In that communion of lovers, thick sobs

break from me as I think of my love 

back home, all that I have done

and cannot say. This is the first time 

I have left her so completely, so alone.

Janice Gould’s work homes in on themes of love and connection, with strong links to her identity as a Maidu lesbian. In ‘Six Sonnets: Crossing the West’, Gould equates her lover to a dream, never running short on ethereal ways to describe her... and mourning when she slips away, even temporarily.

30. "For Keeps" by Joy Harjo 

Contrasting love with the beauty of nature helps to create an unbreakable bond between the two. This comparison helps illustrate Joy Harjo’s feelings for her lover in her marvelous poem, ‘For Keeps’.

31. "You Are the Penultimate Love of My Life" by Rebecca Hazelton 

  The garden you plant and I plant

                             is tunneled through by voles,

                                                         the vowels                                          

              we speak aren’t vows,

               but there’s something

                             holding me here, for now,  

             like your eyes, which I suppose                                               

              are brown, after all.’

‘You Are the Penultimate Love of My Life’ is an unorthodox love poem, focusing on the realities rather than the fantasies of being in love. Rebecca Hazelton isn’t writing about her soulmate, and she’s aware of that — but that doesn’t make the love they share any less special.

32. "Yours" by Daniel Hoffman 

I am yours as the summer air at evening is 

Possessed by the scent of linden blossoms, 

As the snowcap gleams with light 

Lent it by the brimming moon. 

Without you I’d be an unleaded tree

Blasted in a bleakness with no Spring.

Daniel Hoffman’s carefully chosen metaphors make ‘Yours’ a truly beautiful love poem. Hoffman’s complete dedication to his lover is obvious — in comparing her to everything from summer evenings to snow-capped mountains, it seems he cannot stop thinking about her throughout the changing seasons.

33. "A Love Song for Lucinda" by Langston Hughes 

Is a high mountain 

Stark in a windy sky.

Would never lose your breath 

Do not climb too high.

Each stanza of Langston Hughes’ ‘A Love Song for Lucinda’ compares love to a specific feeling, all of which are linked to the natural world. This poem emphasizes the exhilaration of falling in love and the all-encompassing enchantment that comes with it.

34. "Poem for My Love" by June Jordan 

Political activist, poet, and essayist June Jordan is one of the most widely-published Jamaican American writers of her generation. In her ‘Poem for My Love’, the speaker is in absolute spiritual awe of her partner and the way she feels about their transcendent love.

35. "for him" by Rupi Kaur

be love at 

first sight when 

we meet it’ll be love 

at first remembrance 

‘cause i’ve recognized you 

in my mother’s eyes when she tells me, 

marry the type of man you’d want to raise your son to be like.

At just 21 years old, Rupi Kaur wrote, illustrated, and self-published her first poetry collection, milk and honey. She describes her poetry as ‘simple and accessible’ — which has allowed it to reach millions of readers worldwide, particularly through Instagram presence. ‘for him’ is a perfect example of a beautiful, powerful love poem which doesn’t have to try too hard to pack a punch.

36. Untitled by Rupi Kaur

love will hurt you but 

love will never mean to 

love will play no games

cause love knows life 

has been hard enough already

Another entry from milk and honey, this short, untitled poem takes a bittersweet and world weary, but ultimately generous look at love and its challenges.

37. "Poem To An Unnameable Man" by Dorothea Lasky

And I will not cry also 

Although you will expect me to

I was wiser too than you had expected 

For I knew all along you were mine

Prolific poet Dorothea Lasky has written multiple collections and currently directs the poetry programme at Columbia University. In ‘Poem To An Unnameable Man’, she uses celestial imagery to explore a romantic relationship, describing her power and strength to the lover who underestimates her.

38. "Movement Song" by Audre Lorde

‘Movement Song’ by Audre Lorde is about the end of a relationship. While the sorrow felt after the speaker’s heart has been broken is clear, the poem ultimately ends with hope that the pair can both have a new beginning — albeit apart.

39. "Camomile Tea" by Katherine Mansfield 

We might be fifty, we might be five,

So snug, so compact, so wise are we!

Under the kitchen-table leg

My knee is pressing against his knee.

Our shutters are shut, the fire is low,

The tap is dripping peacefully;

The saucepan shadows on the wall

Are black and round and plain to see.

Katherine Mansfield has been praised for her ability to simplify complex emotions through short stories and poetry. One of the more tranquil poems on this list, ‘Camomile Tea’ paints a picture of a couple who are calm and quiet and happy with the life they’ve made for themselves, highlighting the underrated joy that peaceful familiarity and comfort can bring in a relationship.

40. "Love Elegy in the Chinese Garden, with Koi" by Nathan McClain 

Because who hasn’t done that —

loved so intently even after everything

has gone? Love something that has washed

its hands of you? I like to think I’m different now, 

that I’m enlightened somehow, 

but who am I kidding?

Nathan McClain’s inspiration for ‘Love Elegy in the Chinese Garden, with Koi’ was a date to the Huntington Botanical Gardens. In the poem, McClain aimed to ‘explore the sense of anxiety’ between two potential lovers, and the weighty emotional baggage that previous failed relationships can bestow upon you.

41. "I think I should have loved you presently (Sonnet IX)" by Edna St. Vincent Millay 

I think I should have loved you presently, 

And given in earnest words I flung in jest;

And lifted honest eyes for you to see, 

And caught your hand against my cheek and breast;

And all my pretty follies flung aside

That won you to me, and beneath you gaze

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s ‘I think I should have loved you presently’ serves as a subversion of the traditional sonnet form. In the poem, the speaker laments their inability to reciprocate their lover’s earnest affection, instead choosing sweet nothings and superficial flirtation over genuine connection.

42. "Love Sonnet XI" by Pablo Neruda

I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets. 

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts

me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

There is a strong sense of longing in Pablo Neruda’s ‘Love Sonnet XI’, as our speaker confesses  the thought of his love never leaves his mind, driving him to the point of distraction. Evocative and at times alarming, it's a love poem which perfectly treads the blurred line between romance and obsession. 

43. "Your Feet" by Pablo Neruda 

In ‘Your Feet’, Neruda expresses a similar devotion to his love as he explains his love for her from head to toe, and gives thanks for the forces he feels brought them together inevitably.

44. "Dear One Absent This Long While" by Lisa Olstein

I expect you. I thought one night it was you

at the base of the drive, you at the foot of the stairs

you in a shiver of light, but each time

leaves in wind revealed themselves, 

the retreating shadow of a fox, daybreak. 

We expect you, cat and I, bluebirds and I, the stove.

The speaker in Lisa Olstein’s ‘Dear One Absent This Long While’ is anxiously waiting for her loved one to return home. The nervous buzz of anticipation as the speaker waits to return to a life of comfort and mundanity, a puzzle from which their lover is the only missing piece, gives this love poem a beautiful raw honesty.

45. "My Lover Is a Woman" by Pat Parker

my lover is a woman 

& when i hold her

feel her warmth

i feel good

Pat Parker was an American poet and activist who drew great inspiration from her life as an African-American lesbian feminist. ‘My Lover Is a Woman’ is about the struggles Parker faced as an openly queer woman of colour, and the safe harbour her lover represents in that storm.

46. "It Is Here" by Harold Pinter 

What is this stance we take,

To turn away and then turn back?

What did we hear?

It was the breath we took when we first met.

Listen. It is here.

Relationships have a funny way of transcending time and space,  and that transcendence isexpressed in Harold Pinter’s beautiful love poem ‘It Is Here’ as he asks his lover to think back to the beginning of their relationship, and in doing so brings the long-passed moment to life.

47. "Untitled" by Christopher Poindexter

I miss you even when you

are beside me. 

I dream of your body

even when you are sleeping

in my arms.

The words I love you

could never be enough.

Christopher Poindexter here presents a deeply honest and relatable portrait of a love that goes beyond the limits of language, as he describes the overwhelming and paradoxical longing it’s possible to feel even when your lover is right by your side. 

48. “Love Is Not A Word” by Riyas Qurana 

Amidst all this 

I keep a falling flower in the mid-air

Not to fall on the earth 

Is it not up to you who search for it

To come and sit on it

And make love?

Don’t forget to bring the word

When you come.

Written from the point of view of a personified love, “Love Is Not A Word” is a rather ambiguous poem. Riyas Qurana explores the notion of love as a whole and relates the concept to nature to emphasize how elemental it is to the human experience. 

49. "[Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape]" by Rainer Maria Rilke 

Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape

and the little churchyard with its lamenting names

and the terrible reticent gorge in which the others

end: again and again the two of us walk out together 

under the ancient trees, lay ourselves down again and  

among the flowers, and look up into the sky.

Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke believed that it was ‘perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks’ for one human to love another (Letters to a Young Poet, 1929). In ‘[Again and again, even though we know love’s landscape]’, Rilke celebrates the continuous, everyday love that two people can share, and the strength that comes from making one vulnerable enough to love another, despite knowing the risk of heartbreak.

50. "Echo" by Christina Rossetti

In ‘Echo’, Christina Rossetti reflects on a lost love and how she wishes it would come back to her like an echo. Rossetti is in despair, longing for her ex-lover, and the resulting yearning creates an equally heartbreaking and beautiful love poem. 

51. "I loved you first: but afterwards your love" by Christina Rossetti

I loved you first: but afterwards your love 

Outsoaring mine, sang such a loftier song

As drowned the friendly cooings of my dove.

Which owes the other most? my love was long, 

And yours one moment seemed to wax more strong

Despite a concern with reciprocity (or a lack thereof) in these opening lines, a feeling of ‘oneness’ in fact runs throughout ‘I loved you first: but afterwards your love’, also by Rossetti. This poem reflects the feeling of complete understanding between two people who love each other deeply, as Rossetti explains how their individual feelings combine to create one love, a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

52. "Defeated by Love" by Rumi 

The sky was lit

by the splendor of the moon 

So powerful 

I fell to the ground 

has made me sure 

I am ready to forsake 

this worldly life 

and surrender 

to the magnificence 

of your Bering

The words of 13th-century Persian poet Rumi have transcended national, ethnic, and religious divides for centuries. The passion and dedication in ‘Defeated by Love’ is apparent in each line, making this enduring testament to the power of love one of the most beautiful love poems on our list. 

53. "Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? (Sonnet 18)" by William Shakespeare 

Although William Shakespeare may not have have written any romance novels , there are few more celebrated love poets and ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?’ is perhaps the most iconic and recognizable opening line of any love poem. Its simplicity compared to some of Shakespeare’s other sonnets makes it stand out against an incomparable library of work, but the hidden depths and layers of meaning in this densely packed mini-masterpiece have kept readers returning for centuries.

54. "Let me not to the marriage of true minds (Sonnet 116)" by William Shakespeare

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments. 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

In ‘Sonnet 116’, Shakespeare talks about the permanence of love — even if the people change as time goes on, the love between them will remain true and strong, or else it isn’t love at all.

55. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun" (Sonnet 130) by William Shakespeare

I grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare. 

In Shakespeare’s final entry on our list, he challenges the traditional association of love with beauty. It doesn’t matter what his lover looks like — to him she is the most rare and valuable thing in the world.

56. "Love’s Philosophy" by Percy Bysshe Shelley 

The fountains mingle with the river

And the rivers with the ocean, 

The winds of heaven mix forever

With a sweet emotion;

Nothing in the world is single;

All things by a law divine

In one spirit meet and mingle

Why not I with thine?

‘Love’s Philosophy’, while a beautiful love poem, offers a much more logical take on romance than many of the other poems on our list. Percy Bysshe Shelley expresses to his lover that  their love is as natural as a river meeting the ocean — but equally that all the beauties of nature are meaningless if he doesn’t have her.

57. "One Day I Wrote her Name (Sonnet 75)" by Edmund Spenser 

One day I wrote her name upon the strand, 

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand, 

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

This beautiful love poem is part of Amoretti , a sonnet cycle about Edmund Spenser’s relationship with Elizabeth Boyle. Spenser explains in ‘Sonnet 75’ that — despite the seemingly portentous way his attempts to make a physical monument to his lover by writing her name in the sand is repeatedly foiled — his love for Boyle will never end, and he will do whatever it takes to make it last. 

58. "I Am Not Yours" by Sara Teasdale

A longing for genuine, passionate, all-encompassing love is the central theme of Sara Tesdale’s ‘I Am Not Yours’. The speaker doesn’t feel any sense of belonging in her current relationship, and wants to find a partner who makes her feel lost in their love.

59. "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson 

Now sleeps the crimson petal, now the white;

Nor waves the cypress in the palace walk;

Nor winks the gold fin in the porphyry font.

The firefly wakens; waken thou with me. 

Now drops the milk-white peacock like a ghost,

And like a ghost she glimmers on to me.

‘Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal’ is a song from The Princess, a longer, narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It was inspired by the ghazal , a Persian form of love poetry which focuses on unsustainable love, and is a classic masterclass in sensual description.

60. "poem I wrote sitting across the table from you" by Kevin Varrone 

I would fold myself 

into the hole in my pocket and disappear 

into the pocket of myself, or at least my pants

but before I did 

like some ancient star

I’d grab your hand

Kevin Varrone confesses how close he feels to his lover in ‘poem I wrote sitting across the table from you’. Written in a moment of procrastination as he worked on a longer verse in a coffee shop, the poem expresses how Varrone wants his lover to partake on all of his adventures, no matter how big or small.

61. "On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous" by Ocean Vuong

Tell me it was for the hunger 

& nothing less. For hunger is to give

the body what it knows 

it cannot keep. That this amber light 

whittled down by another war 

is all that pins my hand 

to your chest.

While you’re probably familiar with Vuong’s 2019 novel by the same name, you may not be familiar with the poem that came first. Ocean Vuong’s writing invites the reader to slow down and understand every word, and ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous’ explores themes of desire, impermanence, and craving when in love.

62. "Love After Love" by Derek Walcott

You will love again the stranger who was your self. 

Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart

to itself, to the stranger who has loved you 

all your life, whom you ignored 

for another, who knows you by heart.

Nobel Prize winning poet Derek Walcott offers advice and reassurance to anyone experiencing a breakup in his poem ‘Love After Love’. Encouraging the reader to return to themselves, the poem is a tonic in a world full of love poetry which expects us to hand ourselves over to lovers completely. 

63. "I Love You" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

I love your lips when they’re wet with wine

And red with a wild desire;

I love your eyes when the lovelight lies

Lit with a passionate fire. 

I love your arms when the warm white flesh

Touches mine in a fond embrace;

I love your hair when the strands enmesh

Your kisses against my face.

In ‘I Love You’, Ella Wheeler Wilcox lays out the tiny moments that add up to why the speaker feels so passionately about her love, before going on to describe the colder attributes she’s not looking for in a relationship. This juxtaposition helps to make the initial love she describes all the more special.

64. "We Have Not Long to Love" by Tennessee Williams

Though better known for his plays than as a romance author , Tennessee Williams was also an accomplished poet. In ‘We Have Not Long to Love’ Williams stresses the importance of appreciating the time we do have and cherishing the love that comes with it, remembering that nothing will last forever.

65. "Poem to First Love" by Matthew Yeager 

To have been told “I love you” by you could well be, for me, 

the highlight of my life, the best feeling, the best peak 

on my feeling graph, in the way that the Chrysler building

might not be the tallest building in the NY sky but is

the best, the most exquisitely spired

Matthew Yeager’s ‘Poem to First Love’ is a bittersweet young romance where, as the title suggests, the speaker is reminiscing about his relationship with his first love, and explores the different ways one might try to logically quantify the utterly illogical force of love. 

Looking to dive a little deeper into the world of poetry? Check out our post on the 60+ best poetry books of all time !

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Plato’s Symposium: Diotima’s Speech on Love

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "Symposium" by Plato. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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What does Diotima say about love in Plato’s Symposium ? How does her concept of love relate to beauty?

In Plato’s Symposium , Diotima’s speech centers on the human experience of love rather than its purpose or benefits. She concludes that the main object of love is not beauty. Rather, it’s goodness. However, she argues that beauty is integral to a good life and introduces the concept of the “ascent”—a process of learning to appreciate beauty in all its forms.

In this article, we’ll explore Diotima’s views on love by explaining what humans love, why humans love, and how humans should love.

What We Love

In Plato’s Symposium , Diotima explores love and how it relates to beauty. She suggests that, instead of beauty, the main object of human love is goodness. This is because goodness brings people happiness—a meaningful life well-lived. By definition, a good life is a happy life. 

Furthermore, Diotima concludes that humans desire immortality: If people have good things, they desire to continue having them. Therefore, people want to permanently have good things. The longer someone lives, the longer they can have good things, so by desiring goodness people desire immortality.

(Shortform note: To understand what Plato means by happiness, it helps to consider the original Greek word: eudaimonia. Eudaimonia is usually translated to “happiness,” though it doesn’t entirely match our modern definition. While we usually think of happiness as a temporary positive emotion, eudaimonia refers to an overall state of living life excellently . The stabler, longer-lasting state of eudaimonia also explains why Diotima says people want permanent good—she’s saying people want to always live excellently, not that they want to always experience pure joy or bliss.)

Why We Love

Diotima suggests that the purpose of love is reproduction, either in a physical sense (creating a child) or a mental sense (creating virtue and wisdom). Creating physical or mental offspring is the closest a human can get to becoming immortal (and therefore permanently having good things). An individual’s offspring will live much longer than they do—physical children will carry on parts of their ancestors, and great works of art, ideas, or virtuous acts are often remembered long after the death of their creators.

Diotima emphasizes in particular the importance of mental children—a great work or great deed lives far longer than any physical child, and therefore brings its parent closer to immortality. 

(Shortform note: It seems like Plato contradicts his other dialogues here by saying we reproduce because we desire immortality. In several of his other works (including the Meno and Phaedo ), Plato argues that people have immortal souls (his idea of the soul is similar to the mind or the self) that are reborn into many different bodies. This raises the question: If our souls are immortal, then why is reproduction the closest we can get to immortality? Some scholars argue that this is an inconsistency where Plato temporarily appeals to a more pragmatic, skeptical viewpoint . Others suggest that in the Symposium , Plato talks about individual immortality—immortality of one person rather than of their soul (which over time inhabits many people).)

Love as Reproduction

According to Diotima, everyone is pregnant in some way—every individual has the potential to create physical or mental offspring. However, people can only give birth in the presence of beauty : 

In a physical sense, beauty excites people to seek out suitable sexual partners and makes them happy and relaxed enough to engage in sex (or, later on, childbirth). 

(Shortform note: You might wonder why Diotima suggests that males and females can become physically pregnant. Scholars suggest that Plato refers to ejaculation as the male form of pregnancy and childbirth : An aroused male is pregnant and gives birth upon ejaculating. This conception of male childbirth further cements the connection Plato’s trying to make between beauty and childbirth—beauty inspires sexual arousal which allows a male to “give birth” and ejaculate during intercourse.)

In a mental sense, a beautiful body or beautiful mind inspires new ideas. Particularly, Diotima suggests that a beloved with a beautiful mind and body can inspire a lover to birth excellent intellectual offspring. These intellectual children are speeches on virtue or wisdom that make up the educational component of a pederastic relationship. 

(Shortform note: Plato seems to have two competing ideas on intellectual offspring in a pederastic relationship. He mentions one just above: A beautiful beloved inspires their lover to birth intellectual offspring. However, Plato’s Theaetetus suggests that Socrates acts as a “midwife of the soul”—just as a normal midwife helps deliver physical offspring, Socrates helps deliver mental offspring. This metaphor suggests that the lover (Socrates) actually inspires the beloved to birth intellectual offspring. Scholars suggest that this contradiction might result from Plato’s personality and ambiguous feelings on homosexual desire —the Symposium ’s view seems to celebrate these desires, while the Theaetetus takes a more restrained approach.)

How We Should Love

Since people only give birth in the presence of beauty, it follows that beauty is crucial for a good life—even if it isn’t the main goal of love. Diotima then explains how to pursue beauty and birth offspring in a way that leads to the happiest life possible.  

Diotima explains that the best way to pursue beauty requires a journey of self-realization that she calls the “ascent”: A process of learning to love beautiful things that are more and more good and meaningful. 

• An ascendant’s natural desire for beauty inspires them to create intellectual offspring—in other words, it inspires them to develop their rational abilities and do philosophy. 
• A long-term dedication to reasoning and thinking about beauty eventually allows the ascendant to understand what beauty itself actually is—and since all good things are beautiful, an understanding of beauty itself allows the ascendant to understand what goodness itself is. 
• Diotima describes this understanding in terms of intellectual reproduction—in the presence of absolute beauty, the pupil can birth intellectual offspring that are absolutely and universally true. 

Anyone who completes the ascent has a happy life (a meaningful life well-lived). By that point, they’ll have created intellectual offspring that are permanently and absolutely good—because these offspring reveal eternal truths about goodness itself. Creating eternal and good offspring gets a human as close as they can to immortality.

The Steps of the Ascent

Diotima outlines six steps of the ascent:

1) Love of one beautiful body: First, an ascendant is physically attracted to one beautiful body, inspiring them to create intellectual offspring.

2) Love of all beautiful bodies: The ascendant will eventually recognize that there’s no reason to desire one physically beautiful body more than another since they all share beautiful attributes in common. Therefore, the ascendant comes to love all beautiful bodies. 

3) Love of all beautiful minds: As the ascendant continues to reason and birth mental offspring, the focus of their desire will shift from physical beauty to mental beauty—they’ll start to love wise and moral individuals regardless of their physical appearance. 

4) Love of beautiful activities and institutions: Once the ascendant appreciates the beautiful minds of wise and moral people, they’ll come to appreciate the activities, laws, and systems in their society that create these beautiful minds. 

5) Love of beautiful knowledge: The ascendant will realize what creates beautiful minds, activities, and institutions—knowledge. From there, they’ll love the beauty of human knowledge and will seek it out.

6) Love of beauty itself: By pursuing beautiful knowledge and birthing intellectual offspring, the ascendant expands the scope of their knowledge and reason until they can finally understand something of beauty itself. This abstract concept of beauty is perfect, eternal, and unchanging—all beautiful things take part in it, but they’re all flawed in comparison. 

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Like what you just read read the rest of the world's best book summary and analysis of plato's "symposium" at shortform ..

Here's what you'll find in our full Symposium summary :

• Plato’s philosophies on love, happiness, education, and reproduction
• Agathon’s description of Eros, the god of love
• What it means to love beauty itself
• ← Annual Wealth Tax: What Is It & How Would It Work?
• Challenge Your Beliefs: Are They Yours or Society’s? →

Darya Sinusoid

Darya’s love for reading started with fantasy novels (The LOTR trilogy is still her all-time-favorite). Growing up, however, she found herself transitioning to non-fiction, psychological, and self-help books. She has a degree in Psychology and a deep passion for the subject. She likes reading research-informed books that distill the workings of the human brain/mind/consciousness and thinking of ways to apply the insights to her own life. Some of her favorites include Thinking, Fast and Slow, How We Decide, and The Wisdom of the Enneagram.

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T4Tutorials.com

Speech about love [1,2,3,5 minutes], 1, 2, 3 minute speech on love.

Dear class fellows, students and my teachers,

Greetings to all and thank you to all of you to give me a chance to speak on love.

I want to talk about something really awesome today – love, especially the love we share with our parents.

Love is an amazing feeling and its all about caring with someone.

Your mom and dad take care of you, they help you when you’re sad or sick, and they happy for you when you do cool things. Oh My friends! I want to tell you that it is an actual face of true love.

When you mess up or make mistakes, they still love you.

Love with parents is super special. It’s not just about saying “I love you.” It’s also about doing things together, like playing games, helping each other, or just talking and laughing.

Sometimes, you might feel a bit upset, and that’s okay. Your parents are there to give you big, warm hugs and make things better.

Love with parents is a bit like a magic power. It makes you feel safe, happy, and all warm inside. It’s like a super cozy blanket for your heart.

So, let’s appreciate our parents’ love. Tell them that you love them. I advice to all of you that please daily spend some time with parents.

Dear class fellows! Thanks for listening, and go share some love with your amazing parents!

Qoutes of some internationally famous personalities for Speech on love

• “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
• “Where there is love, there is life.”
• “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
• “The best thing to hold onto in life is each other.”
• “I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you simply, without problems or pride.”
• “All you need is love.”
• “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
• “There is no charm equal to tenderness of heart.”
• “Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.”
• “Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.”
• “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
• “The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”
• “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”
• “Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.”
• “Everything I understand, I understand only because I love.”

5 Minutes Speech on Love

Dear teachers and students!

Greetings to all. and thank you to all of your to give me a chance to speak on love.

Love is a strong feeling that has the ability to unite people and give them a sense of true life. It may come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from romantic love between partners to love between family and friends.

Love is an activity as well as a sensation. It entails providing someone with support and caring while also making sacrifices to ensure their happiness. It involves prioritising the needs of others and supporting them in both good and terrible circumstances.

Although it is not always simple, true love is worthwhile. It necessitates forbearance, tolerance, and patience. It is about developing mutually and assisting one another’s personal and marital progress.

Love involves more than simply enjoying the good times; it also involves overcoming obstacles as a couple. It is about supporting one another even when times are difficult. There are many different kinds of love and I am here to tell you about the types of love. • The romantic love • the love of friends • The love with books • the love of companions • The love with pets • the love of family, • spiritual love and many other loves

To sum up, love is a crucial aspect of the human experience. It gives our life meaning and purpose and is what actually makes us feel alive. Love is something to be cherished and fostered, whether it is the love between lovers or the love between family and friends.

Examples of sentences that can be used in starting of this speech

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• Speech Writing /

Speech on Love for School Students in English

• Updated on  
• Feb 8, 2024

Speech on Love: Love is an emotional feeling with a strong and intense affection for another person. It involves care, attachment, devotion, and responsibility. When people are in love, they experience warm emotions and desire to be close to those they have feelings for.

Love helps us to connect. The connection of love is beyond selfish needs and leads to care and sacrifice. Love can exist between romantic partners, family members, friends, and even animals can fall in love. Love is something that comes through personal experience that shapes one’s life and relationships. 

Also Read: Speech on Love is More Powerful Than Hate

Table of Contents

• 1 Speech on Love in English: Sample 1
• 2 Speech on Love in English: Sample 2
• 3 10 Lines on Speech on Love

Speech on Love in English: Sample 1

‘Ladies and gentlemen, respected faculty and dear friends, today I am here to present to present with you my perspective on the speech on love.

Love comes to us in many ways. The most fundamental form of love is the love for our family and friends. The love of our mother holds us close from the moment we are born. She feeds us with unconditional love. As we grow, our deep bonds with siblings, grandparents, relatives, and friends grow stronger with each passing year. We share laughs, tears, hopes, and dreams with them. Our togetherness supports each other in the ups and downs of life. 

Let me help to understand love with an example. Last year when my sister Shalini had a severe accident, our entire family came together to take care of her. We take care of her treatments, meals, and finances. Furthermore, we keep her spirits high by playing music of her choice and spending quality time together. With the power of love and care, she recovered fast. This experience taught me the importance of family bonds and care which is unbreakable and is difficult in the most difficult times of our life. 

Do we share the same bonds with our friends too? Yes, the same love is true for our close friends. Friends are the next family to us. They are yet another member of our family which we choose for ourselves. They know us deeply and accept us for what we are. My best friend 

Aswani is my childhood friend and has been by my side since middle school. We went through many struggles together but still, we share an unbreakable bond. He brings ice cream and movie tickets to comedy movies whenever I am upset, just to cheer me up. That is the power of true love for friends and friendship.

Love gives us strength, comfort, and courage to face any circumstance of life. The love of family and friends is precious. It is important to express our love and appreciation to our dear ones every day. Thank you.’

Also Read: 10 Best Idioms for Love to Express Your Heart

Speech on Love in English: Sample 2

‘To the honorable guest, teachers, and my dear classmates: Today I am honoured to keep my point of view through my speech on love. 

As soon as we listen to the word love, a picture of our loved and dear ones fills our hearts. It’s very natural to love our parents, siblings and friends. But love is not limited to human beings only. We love our home, our community, our natural environment, and our country. 

Our country provides us with identity, security, and freedom to pursue our dreams. We can in return pay our patriotism and civic responsibilities as gifts to the nation.

For example, we should follow our fundamental duties, vote in elections, keep peace in the country, and take part in social events for the betterment of the society as well as for the country. My parents who are immigrants cast their vote than anything. They never miss any election either local or national. Their dedication is something that motivates me to exercise my love for the betterment of the nation in the form of civil duty.

Another way to serve our country love is through community service. Last year, I volunteered at the Save Earth From Plastic program. The team of volunteers removed many plastics from our local rivers. Through this small action, I connected with the love for the beauty of nature as well as the country. With this small service, I felt proud that I protected my nation from being polluted. 

Furthermore, our love for the country also includes humanity and treating all citizens with humanity and dignity. No matter what the circumstances are, we should not forget the love of equality among us. Participating in protests against injustice serves the purpose of the warmth of different and similar views on the subject.

Our country is a secular and sovereign state. Loving the differences as well as the similarities helps us to give courage, compassion, and love to all who care about our homeland. Let us love our country more for generations to come.

Thank you.’

Also Read: 99+ Psychology Facts About Human Behaviour You Would Find Interesting

10 Lines on Speech on Love

Let us understand the 10 lines of speech on love sweetly and shortly.

1. Love is a strong and intense, long-going, deep affection for another person. It involves care, attachment, devotion, and responsibility.

2. Love helps humans to connect deeply.

3. Love can exist between romantic partners, family members, and friends or between people, and concepts or ideals.

4. The most fundamental form of love is the love for our family and friends.

5. The love of our mother holds us close from the moment we are born. She feeds us with unconditional love.

7. We share laughs, tears, hopes, and dreams with them. Our togetherness supports each other in the ups and downs of life. 

8. As soon as we listen to the word love, a picture of our loved and dear ones fills our hearts. But can I say that in addition to loving our family and friends, it is important to love our country too?

9. Our country provides us with identity, security, and freedom to pursue our dreams. We can in return pay our patriotism and civic responsibilities as gifts to the nation as love.

10. Loving the differences as well as the similarities helps us to give courage, compassion, and love to all who care about our homeland. Let us love our country more for generations to come.

Also Read: 5 Best Social-Emotional Learning Activities

Ans: In my speech, love is a strong and intense, long-going, deep affection for another person as well as for the country. 

Ans: Love supports us in hard times. Also, it helps us to bear our responsibilities towards our family, friends, and country.

Ans. ‘When everything goes to hell, the people who stand by you without flinching–they are your family.’ – Jim Butcher

Ans: I express my love by making sad people happy by gifting them their favorite things and marking my presence whenever they need me. 

Related Blogs

This was all about the speech on love. We hope we were able to provide you with every detail that you were looking for. For more information on such interesting speech topics for your school, visit our speech writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Deepika Joshi

Deepika Joshi is an experienced content writer with expertise in creating educational and informative content. She has a year of experience writing content for speeches, essays, NCERT, study abroad and EdTech SaaS. Her strengths lie in conducting thorough research and ananlysis to provide accurate and up-to-date information to readers. She enjoys staying updated on new skills and knowledge, particulary in education domain. In her free time, she loves to read articles, and blogs with related to her field to further expand her expertise. In personal life, she loves creative writing and aspire to connect with innovative people who have fresh ideas to offer.

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Symposium by Plato

Symposium by plato summary and analysis of diotima questions socrates and the speech of diotima.

Diotima Questions Socrates

Socrates retells a speech he heard from Diotima, a woman he describes as wise, but who was apparently a fictitious character. Once again, the structure of the speech begins with telling of the qualities of Love before talking of his works. Diotima also questions Socrates, who used to think that Love was beautiful and good. Socrates retells this questioning. When Diotima stated this, Socrates inferred that Love was ugly and bad.

Diotima scolds him, and they establish that just because something is not beautiful, does not automatically make it ugly. Someone can be not wise and not ignorant, understanding things (so he’s not ignorant), but not understanding the reasons behind such things (so he’s not wise). Correct judgment places a person between wisdom and ignorance. Similarly, a person, and Love, can be neither beautiful nor ugly, but in between.

Love is also not a god, Diotima and Socrates agree. Gods are beautiful and happy, Socrates would not deny. Diotima defines happiness as possessing good and beautiful things. If Love desires these things, he needs them and does not have them. Therefore, he cannot be a god since he does not have good and beautiful things. Socrates asks what he is then, to which she responds he is in between mortal and immortal; a spirit. Love is a messenger between mean and gods. Gods and men interact through spirits, and one of them is Love. Socrates ends by asking about Love’s mother and father, ending the questioning and introducing Diotima’s speech.

The Speech of Diotima

Diotima’s speech begins with descriptions of Love himself. Love was conceived on the day of Aphrodite’s birth to Poros (a word for resource) and Penia (poverty). This is why Love follows Aphrodite and why he loves beauty. Being the son of Poros and Penia, Love is always poor, far from delicate and beautiful, but rather tough and always living with Need. He is also a schemer after the good and beautiful, resourceful, and in pursuit of intelligence.

He is neither mortal nor immortal, poor but never completely without resources, and in between wisdom and ignorance. Being in pursuit of wisdom, he cannot be ignorant, to be able to know he needs wisdom. Therefore, he is a lover of wisdom. This is the “nature of Spirit called Love” (49). Love, therefore, is not being loved, but rather, being a lover.

Before discussing the use of Love for humans, Diotima asks what a lover of beautiful things desires. Socrates responds that the lover desires to possess the beautiful things. The word good is then exchanged with beautiful; they discuss what a lover of good things desires. When a lover has the good things he desires, he will have happiness. The desire for happiness is established to be common for all people, but then, why are some said to be in love and others not? Diotima states this is because a special kind of love is separated from other loves to be referred to as such. For other loves we use other words such as poetry.

Diotima also refutes Aristophanes ' story, saying a person will not pursue their other half, unless the other half is good. People only love what is good. The object of Love is wanting to possess good forever. The following question becomes, what is the purpose of love? Diotima says it is giving birth in beauty, in body or in soul. She explains that everyone is pregnant; reproduction only occurs in harmony. Reproduction is only beautiful, being a godly (immortal) process, and Beauty is in harmony with the divine. Love wants “reproduction and birth in beauty” (53). Reproduction is what mortals have as access to immortality, as it occurs for ever. If Love wants to possess good forever, it must want immortality.

The question broached next is what causes love and desire in animals. Animals also seek immortality, which only comes about through reproduction. Reproduction occurs constantly, defining the term as replacing the new for the old. A person changes in their life and is said to be the same person, even though he is always being renewed, in manners and body. Similarly, studying is a way to preserve a piece of knowledge, replacing an old memory with a new one. For the sake of immortality everything shows zeal for its offspring, which is Love. Socrates asks if this is really true, and Diotima answers it is, using the example of honor. Humans pursue honor, wanting to become famous and immortal. They expect the memory of their virtue and brave acts to live on forever.

Some men are pregnant in body, which is why they pursue women--to achieve immortality through childbirth. Others are pregnant in soul. These are people like poets and craftsmen who give birth to wisdom and virtue. The most beautiful wisdom to come out of this is the art of politics, claims Diotima. A man who stays virtuous and becomes pregnant with wisdom will search for beauty. If he is lucky enough to find someone beautiful in soul, he will make him teem with ideas about virtue. Making contact and company with someone beautiful allows him to conceive and give birth to what he is carrying inside him. The best immortality is giving birth in the soul, particularly poetry, as they are remembered forever. This is evident by the honor they are given through shrines; this also happens for politicians, but never for people solely pregnant in the body.

Diotima ends her speech outlining what she refers to as the rites of love, otherwise referred to ask the ladder of love. First, Love leads a person to love one body and beget beautiful ideas. From these ideas, this person realizes that the beauty of one body is found in all bodies and if he is seeking beauty in form, he must see beauty in all bodies and become lover to all beautiful bodies. After that, the person moves on to thinking the beauty of souls is greater than the beauty of bodies. Here, Diotima specifically refers to giving birth through the soul to make young men better. This results in the lover seeing love in activities and laws, over the beauty of bodies. She also refers to these as beautiful customs, from which the lover loves beautiful things, or other kinds of knowledge. The lover will lastly fall on giving birth to many beautiful ideas and theories, finding love of wisdom. This love never passes away and is always beautiful. The end lesson is learning of this very Beauty (wisdom), coming to know what is beautiful. Only at this point will a lover be able to give birth to true virtue. This person will be loved by the gods and is one of the few who could become immortal.

With this, Socrates addresses the group speaking as himself, having finished telling Diotima’s speech. This is why Socrates honors Love, the rights of Love, and practices them, urging others to do so as well.

Quoting Diotima questioning Socrates, Plato adds another layer of distance from the reader. This conversation occurred at an unspecified time previous to the dinner and may actually be a fictitious conversation--Diotima is generally regarded a fictional creation of Socrates within the dialogues. The instability of the narration deepens when approaching the most serious speech to further undermine the authority of the words.

Diotima’s speech is the most serious speech of the night, completely changing the atmosphere of the room by its end. It has some light touches, but rises to a remarkable crescendo in tone in lines 208c-209e. The end of this speech is radically different than anything else. However, Diotima engages with the previous speeches, and their parts contribute to her whole speech. There are clear instances that suggest this engagement: Diotima coming from Manitea, a town Aristophanes used as an example, she’s a fighter of disease like Eryximachus , she’s a teacher like Pausanias . Paralleling Socrates’ deconstruction of Agathon ’s speech through questioning, not to put him down, but to create a stronger argument, Diotima does this throughout her speech. She takes the elements of truth in each speech and separates them from their false interpretation (such as when she directly criticizes Aristophanes’ conclusion that all lovers look for their other half (205e)).

An example of this deconstruction is building form Phaedrus ’ interpretations of the stories of Achilles and Alcestis. Phaedrus concludes their actions were self-sacrificial, brave, and for the good of their lover and beloved, respectively. Diotima uses these examples as well. She interprets the stories as Achilles and Alcestis dying for immortal glory, not for the lover or beloved. Ultimately, it was also for love, since the ultimate object of love is immortality, according to Diotima. The same stories are used as are the bravery and love Phaedrus described, but the interpretation changes, fitting the argument she builds.

The “Rites of Love,” otherwise referred to as the “Ladder of Love,” is the ultimate conclusion in Diotima’s speech. The last rung of the ladder makes one a “lover of wisdom,” or a philosopher, which in one respect is not surprising, since Plato is a philosopher. Philosophy is love’s highest expression, which allows a person to see Beauty. However, the relationship between Beauty and the beautiful things it is responsible for is not explained.

Prior to explaining the ladder, Diotima claims reproduction is the purpose of love. However, pregnancy is placed outside the ladder. The end makes it possible for the lover to give birth to true virtue, but that is a result of seeing Beauty, not part of the ladder itself. The idea of reproduction is interesting, however. Two role reversals occur: male pregnancy is plausible and pregnancy precedes intercourse. Plato uses sexual imagery for mental creativity, but never raises the question of whether metaphorical intercourse with the mind is needed to be pregnant with virtuous acts and ideas, or how the pregnancy occurs at all.

Diotima is generally accepted to be a fictional creation of Socrates (or Plato). This device (creating a character and conversation) is unprecedented in rhetoric. In terms of frame narrative, it creates another layer of distance from the original teller of the story to the reader, at a point where the most serious speech occurs. It may be Plato implying that these are his views on Love, not Socrates’, particularly as Socrates admits he cannot understand Diotima and she warms him he may not be able to be initiated into “the final and highest mystery” (210a) of love.

Symposium by Plato Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Symposium by Plato is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Which of these steps is crucial when doing a close reading of nonfiction?

Are you giving me choices here?

1. How does Plato, using integrative thinking, ultimately find a way to connect erotic love, beauty and the absolute into a unified whole?

I'm familiar with the concept of integrative thinking but unsure on the details of it that would cover such a complex set of variables.

“Might makes right” is a statement that might be heard..... ?

State of Nature

Study Guide for Symposium by Plato

Symposium study guide contains a biography of Plato, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Symposium by Plato
• Symposium by Plato Summary
• Character List

Essays for Symposium by Plato

Symposium essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Symposium by Plato.

• The Impossibility of Evil Without Ignorance and the Progression Toward Good
• The Structure of Plato's Symposium
• Plato's Psychology - The Tripartite Soul
• Love and the Importance of the Speeches
• Pederasty Without Sexual Relations

E-Text of Symposium by Plato

Symposium e-text contains the full text of Symposium by Plato

• Persons of the Dialogue
• Full text of Symposium

Wikipedia Entries for Symposium by Plato

• Introduction
• Literary form
• Setting and historical context
• Principal characters

• Types of Public Speaking →

The Ultimate Guide to Nailing Your Wedding and Anniversary Speeches

Feeling the pressure to give a memorable speech at a wedding or anniversary celebration? You’re not alone – hundreds of people find themselves in this scenario every year, tasked with articulating love stories and shared memories eloquently.

This blog post brings together essential advice on how to craft a heartfelt, funny, yet concise talk that is sure to leave an impression. Ready to wow your audience? Read on.

Key Takeaways

• Crafting a heartfelt and memorable wedding or anniversary speech involves acknowledging the couple’s love story, incorporating personal anecdotes, balancing sentimentality and brevity, practicing beforehand, and ending on a high note.
• Using humor effectively in wedding or anniversary speeches can bring lightheartedness and laughter to the occasion, creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
• When giving a wedding or anniversary speech in front of a large audience, it is crucial to maintain proper etiquette by being well-prepared, engaging the audience with eye contact and appropriate body language, tailoring the speech to fit the occasion, avoiding common mistakes such as referencing inside jokes or preaching during the speech delivery, thanking and acknowledging important individuals.

Crafting a Heartfelt and Memorable Wedding or Anniversary Speech

Craft a heartfelt and memorable wedding or anniversary speech by acknowledging the couple’s love story, including personal anecdotes, balancing sentimentality and brevity, practicing the speech beforehand, and ending on a high note.

Acknowledging the couple’s love story

Paying tribute to the couple’s love story forms the heart of any memorable wedding or anniversary speech. It offers an intimate look at their journey, carefully woven together in a narrative that resonates with every guest.

It’s essential to take cues from such heartfelt tributes while crafting personalized wedding vows or speeches for your loved ones’ grand occasions. Incorporate elements like emotional arcs and meaningful milestones; remember to highlight achievements, showcase good qualities, illustrating how these shaped the relationship over time.

This form of storytelling can turn any basic toast into one of those unforgettable emotional wedding speeches that leave everyone in awe!

Including personal anecdotes

Crafting heartfelt wedding speeches often involve incorporating personal anecdotes. These stories add a warm touch and offer an intimate look into the couple’s love story, making your speech genuinely unique and memorable.

For maximum impact, choose anecdotes that reveal something about the bride or groom’s character or illustrate their bond. Such narratives not only engage the audience but also help to paint a vivid picture of the couple’s journey together, cementing their connection with the guests.

However, it’s crucial to remember that simplicity is key in wedding speeches; ensure your anecdote is brief yet impactful.

Personal anecdotes can be particularly powerful when utilized in maid of honor speeches as they offer a behind-the-scenes view into the bride’s life and her relationship dynamics. They infuse authenticity into your words while adding humor or sentimentality as needed.

As you craft your speech, consider how you want your audience to feel – maybe moved by a touching memory or chuckling at a shared funny moment between you and the couple? Focus on this emotional response during practice sessions for a successful delivery on their special day ensuring everyone leaves with sincere and happy memories.

Balancing sentimentality and brevity

Achieving the perfect equilibrium between sentimentality and brevity in a wedding or anniversary speech may seem like quite the challenge. Yet, with thoughtful planning and diligent practice you can craft an address that is both emotionally resonant and pleasantly concise.

Let’s start by focusing on the heartfelt aspect; your speech should thread the needle of emotion, highlighting key moments in the couple’s love story without dragging down the celebratory mood of the occasion.

Personal anecdotes serve this purpose well as they add a touch of nostalgia while also keeping things relatable to all attendees. But here’s where conciseness comes into play — keep stories short and sweet! Remembering to confine yourself to poignant yet succinct narratives will make your words not only memorable but also enjoyable for listeners.

Etiquette expert Liz Bryant suggests having 13 essential rules for giving a memorable wedding toast which includes avoiding lengthy monologues, staying relevant, being timely amongst others making it more engaging than tiring speeches saving guests from what could potentially transform into an endurance test instead of endearing token of your affection towards them.

Practicing the speech before the big day

Crafting a heartfelt and memorable wedding or anniversary speech is no easy task, which is why practicing the speech before the big day is crucial. By rehearsing your speech beforehand, you can ensure that you deliver it with confidence and clarity.

Take the time to familiarize yourself with the content, focusing on capturing the essence of the couple’s love story and incorporating personalized anecdotes that will resonate with both them and the audience.

Balancing sentimentality and brevity is essential, so practice trimming unnecessary details while still conveying your emotional tribute effectively. By putting in the effort to practice ahead of time, you’ll be able to deliver a flawless speech that leaves a lasting impression on everyone present at this special celebration.

Ending on a high note

Crafting a memorable and impactful wedding or anniversary speech involves ending on a high note. It’s the moment where you leave the audience with a lasting impression and an emotional experience they won’t forget.

By carefully selecting your closing words, you can create a powerful finale that evokes heartfelt emotions and resonates with everyone in the room. Adding inspiring quotes to your speech is a great way to achieve this.

With  over 140 wedding quotes  available, you can find the perfect words to bring depth and meaning to your speech. These quotes are designed to stir emotions, evoke memories, and leave a lasting impact on both the couple and their loved ones.

Using Humor Effectively in Wedding or Anniversary Speeches

Using humor in wedding or anniversary speeches can bring lightheartedness and laughter to the occasion, creating a memorable and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

The role of humor

Humor plays a vital role in delivering an engaging and memorable wedding or anniversary speech. Incorporating comedy into your speech adds emotional variety to the event, providing a lighthearted counterpoint to more serious moments.

It helps create a bond between you as the speaker and the audience, allowing them to connect with you on a deeper level. By using humor effectively, you can not only entertain but also inspire your listeners.

Whether it’s sharing funny stories or incorporating clever jokes and quotes, adding humor to your speech can make it more enjoyable for everyone involved. So don’t be afraid to infuse your special occasion speeches with laughter and wit – it will truly leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Dos and don’ts of using humor

Using humor can be a powerful tool in wedding or anniversary speeches, but it’s important to understand the dos and don’ts of incorporating it effectively. Dos include using humorous anecdotes and witty remarks to engage the audience, maintaining a lighthearted tone throughout the speech, and delivering jokes with good timing and pacing.

It’s also crucial to ensure that the humor is appropriate for the occasion and doesn’t offend any guests. On the other hand, some don’ts to keep in mind are avoiding offensive or controversial jokes, not relying too heavily on inside jokes that only a few people will understand, and not making fun of anyone in a mean-spirited way.

By following these guidelines, you can captivate your listeners with captivating storytelling and leave them with fond memories of your speech.

Wedding and Anniversary Speech Etiquette

When giving a wedding or anniversary speech in front of a large audience, it is crucial to maintain proper etiquette and avoid common mistakes.

Giving the speech in front of a large audience

When delivering a wedding or anniversary speech in front of a large audience, it’s important to keep a few key things in mind to ensure that your words have the desired impact. First and foremost, make sure you are well-prepared and know your speech inside out.

Practice beforehand and familiarize yourself with the flow and structure of your speech. This will help boost your confidence when speaking in front of a crowd.

Additionally, engage the audience by maintaining eye contact and using appropriate body language. A confident posture and gestures can go a long way in capturing their attention. Remember that public speaking is all about connecting with your listeners, so try to speak clearly and audibly while conveying genuine emotion.

One helpful tip is to tailor your speech to fit the occasion – whether it’s lighthearted or more formal. Injecting humor at appropriate moments can also help break the ice and establish rapport with the audience.

However, be mindful not to overdo it as too much humor may detract from the sentimental aspects of wedding or anniversary speeches.

Avoiding common mistakes

To give an exceptional wedding or anniversary speech, it’s crucial to avoid some common mistakes. For starters, steer clear of referencing inside jokes that only a few people in the audience will understand.

Instead, focus on stories and anecdotes that resonate with everyone and highlight the couple’s love story. Another mistake to avoid is trying to impart wisdom or preach during your speech. Keep it light-hearted and heartfelt instead.

Furthermore, be mindful of the length of your speech. Going too long can lose the interest of your audience and make them restless. Remember, brevity is key when delivering a memorable speech.

Additionally, knowing your audience is essential for success. Consider who will be present at the wedding or anniversary celebration and adjust your content accordingly. Avoid telling stories that predate the bride and groom as they might not be familiar with them.

Lastly, adequate preparation is vital for avoiding blunders during your speech delivery. Don’t wing it! Practice beforehand to ensure you’re comfortable speaking in front of a large crowd.

Thanking and acknowledging important individuals

In wedding and anniversary speeches, expressing gratitude and recognition towards important individuals is crucial. Whether it’s the parents, members of the wedding party, or the guests themselves, acknowledging their role in the couple’s journey is a meaningful gesture.

A heartfelt thank-you toast can convey deep appreciation and touch people’s hearts. By mentioning specific contributions or sharing personal anecdotes, you can make your speech more personalized and engaging.

Understanding the  etiquette of wedding speech order  and avoiding common mistakes will ensure that your gratitude shines through while adhering to tradition. Don’t forget to express thanks for everyone who made the day possible – it will leave a lasting impression on all those involved.

In conclusion, crafting a heartfelt and memorable wedding or anniversary speech requires careful thought, personal anecdotes, and a balance of sentimentality and brevity. By practicing your speech beforehand and ending on a high note, you can captivate your audience and create lasting memories for the couple.

Remember to use humor effectively and adhere to proper speech etiquette while expressing gratitude towards important individuals. With these tips in mind, you’ll deliver an unforgettable speech that celebrates love, commitment, and cherished moments.

1. How long should a wedding or anniversary speech be?

The length of a wedding or anniversary speech can vary depending on the structure and format of the event, as well as personal preferences. However, it is generally recommended to keep speeches between 5 to 10 minutes to maintain engagement and avoid becoming too lengthy.

2. What are some tips for delivering a memorable wedding or anniversary speech?

To deliver a memorable speech, it is important to personalize your message, include heartfelt anecdotes or stories about the couple, practice beforehand to ensure smooth delivery, maintain good eye contact with the audience, and speak with genuine emotion and enthusiasm.

3. Should I use humor in my wedding or anniversary speech?

Using humor in your speech can add an entertaining element and help engage the audience. However, it’s vital to find a balance between lighthearted jokes that everyone can appreciate and avoiding potentially offensive material that could embarrass the couple or other attendees.

4. Can I include advice or words of wisdom in my wedding or anniversary speech?

Absolutely! Including advice or words of wisdom in your speech is often appreciated by couples and guests alike. Sharing insights about love, marriage, and relationships can bring depth and meaning to your message while also offering valuable guidance for the future journey of the couple’s life together.

148 Love Quotes for Her That'll Make Your Sweetheart Swoon

• Jamie is a Senior Editor for The Knot where she oversees all sex and relationship editorial content.
• Before joining The Knot Worldwide, she worked with an array of digital publications that include Brides, The Zoe Report, Bustle and MyDomaine.
• Jamie graduated with a degree in English and Media, Culture & Communications from New York University.

There's no quicker path to writer's block than to attempt to find the right words to express your love to your partner. (Our hats are off to those of you writing your own wedding vows !) But that's where these love quotes for her come in: By taking inspiration from acclaimed poets, authors, songwriters and screenwriters, you'll be able to banish that block and convey how you truly feel.

Whether you're looking for love sayings for her to include in a card for a special occasion, ideas for wedding vows or prose to pen in a love letter, we've got you covered with some of the best "I love you" quotes for her. From the humorous to the sweet to the ultra-romantic, these love quotes for her are practically guaranteed to melt the heart of the lady you love. (Pro tip: Hide little notes full of short love quotes for her to discover beneath her pillow, in her car or packed in her lunch.)

Below, find 100+ love quotes for her to help you express your affections—and get ready for your partner to swoon over these romantic sayings for her!

I n this article:

I Love You Quotes for Her

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When you want to be direct, there's no better way than to choose an "I love you" quote for her. Those three little words are the best way to tell her, without question, that you adore her.

1. "Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches." — The Princess Bride

2. "I love you right up to the moon—and back." —Sam McBratney, Guess How Much I Love You 3. "I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life." — Atonement

4. "You have bewitched me, body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on." — Pride and Prejudice 5. "I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you." — Ben Folds, "The Luckiest"

6. "I do know some things. I know I love you. I know you love me." — Game of Thrones 7. "I said I love you and that's forever, and this I promise from the heart. I could not love you any better. I love you just the way you are." — Billy Joel, "Just the Way You Are" 8. "I love you the way a drowning man loves air. And it would destroy me to have you just a little." —Rae Carson, The Crown of Embers 9. "So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you." —Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

10. "Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide, but I love you until the end of time." — Moulin Rouge 11. "Whatever happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now…because I love you." — Groundhog Day 12. "I love you. I knew it the minute I met you. I'm sorry it took so long for me to catch up. I just got stuck." — Silver Linings Playbook

13. "I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep." — Pablo Neruda, "Love Sonnett XVII"

Skip the sappy and opt for something cute and fun for your honey. Scribble a sweet note with one of these cute love quotes for her before you leave in the morning to totally make her day.

1. "For all the things my hands have held, the best by far is you." — Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness, "Cecilia and the Satellite" 2. "You should know how great things were before you. Even so, they're better still today. I can't think of who I was before you ruined everything in the nicest way." — Jonathan Coulton, "You Ruined Everything" 3. "You think you're one of millions but you're one in a million to me." — Brad Paisley, "The World" 4. "But the you who you are tonight is the same you I was in love with yesterday, the same you I'll be in love with tomorrow." —Gayle Forman, If I Stay 5. "It's a miracle, just like the sunshine makes the flower grow. That's just the way you change my whole life show, through the sunshine of your tender love." — Stevie Wonder, "Thank You Love"

6. "We are made of particles that existed since the moment the universe began. I like to think those atoms traveled 14 billion years through time and space to create us so that we could be together and make each other whole. — The Big Bang Theory 7. "You're the sail of my love boat, you're the captain and crew; You will always be my necessity—I'd be lost without you." — Hold Everything 8. "You see, this is all we need. A couple smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks." — Reality Bites 9. "You're the best thing I never knew I needed. So now it's so clear I need you here always." — Ne-Yo, "Never Knew I Needed" 10. "My dearest friend, if you don't mind, I'd like to join you by your side where we can gaze into the stars and sit together, now and forever. For it is plain as anyone can see, we're simply meant to be." — The Nightmare Before Christmas 11. "If I had to dream up the perfect woman, she wouldn't even come close to you." ­— Boy Meets World

12. "We are all a little weird and life's a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love." — Dr. Seuss

13. "You, you make loving fun. And I don't have to tell you, but you're the only one. —Fleetwood Mac, "You Make Loving Fun"

Everyone wants to know that they and their partner are in sync. Show her your hearts are in harmony with these love quotes for her that speak straight from the heart.

1. "Sometimes your nearness takes my breath away; and all the things I want to say can find no voice. Then, in silence, I can only hope my eyes will speak my heart." — Robert Sexton 2. "You are the one girl that made me risk everything for a future worth having." —Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry 3. "You are the finest, loveliest, tenderest, and most beautiful person I have ever known—and even that is an understatement." — F. Scott Fitzgerald 4. "You and I, it's as though we have been taught to kiss in heaven and sent down to earth together, to see if we know what we were taught." —Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago 5. "Because of you I can feel myself slowly but surely becoming the me I have always dreamed of being." —Tyler Knott Gregson, "Becoming" 6. "You make me happier than I ever thought I could be and if you let me, I will spend the rest of my life trying to make you feel the same way." — Friends 7. "Your words are my food, your breath is my wine. You are everything to me." — Sarah Bernhardt 8. "It's like my life isn't even real to me unless you're there and you're in it and I'm sharing it with you." — Gilmore Girls 9. "I come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is and always will be...yours." —Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility 10. "I want to tell you with my last breath that I have always loved you. I would rather be a ghost, drifting by your side as a condemned soul, than enter heaven without you. Because of your love, I will never be a lonely spirit." — Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

11. "So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday." — The Notebook

12. "It feels good to be the one, that you want when all I want is you." — Jack Johnson, "Never Fade"

13. "In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine." — Maya Angelou

14. "When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." —When Harry Met Sally

Turn on the charm with these incredibly romantic love quotes for her, perfect for including in a Valentine's Day card or even having framed as artwork to gift to your partner .

1. "I could not tell you if I loved you the first moment I saw you, or if it was the second or third or fourth. But I remember the first moment I looked at you walking toward me and realized that somehow the rest of the world seemed to vanish when I was with you." —Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince 2. "When they ask me what I liked the best, I'll tell them, it was you." — City of Angels 3. "Not even in my weakest moment have I considered letting you go." —Judith McNaught, Whitney, My Love 4. "If I could ask God one thing, it would be to stop the moon. Stop the moon and make this night and your beauty last forever." — A Knight's Tale 5. "If I had but an hour of love, if that be all that is given me, an hour of love upon this earth, I would give my love to thee." —Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones 6. "I know that somehow, every step I took since the moment I could walk was a step towards finding you." —Nicholas Sparks, Message in a Bottle 7. "No measure of time with you will be long enough, but we'll start with forever." —Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn

8. "If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you." — A.A. Milne

9. "I know by experience that the poets are right: love is eternal." —E.M. Forster, A Room with a View

10. "I can hear her heartbeat for a thousand miles, and the heavens open every time she smiles." —Van Morrison, "Crazy Love"

11. "I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest. —William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

If you're looking for a perfect love quote to put in a card, text or email, these sweet love quotes will let her know she's the only one for you. (Pro tip: If you choose an excerpt from song lyrics, add it to a favorite playlist to cue up during your next date night.)

1. "If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you. When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me." — Led Zeppelin, "Thank You" 2. "He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking." — Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina 3. "I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world." — Frank O'Hara, "Having a Coke with You" 4. "A magnificence that comes out of your eyes, in your voice, in the way you stand there, in the way you walk. You're lit from within." — The Philadelphia Story 5. "My days are brighter; my sky a deeper blue; my nights are sweeter when I'm with you." —George Strait, "Living and Living Well" 6. "My night has become a sunny dawn because of you." — Ibn Abbad 7. "I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul." —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities 8. "I couldn't crack the love code, dear, 'til you made the lock on my heart explode." — Rent 9. "For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home." —Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss 10. "You're a beautiful woman, you deserve a beautiful life. Nothing less." — Water for Elephants 11. "Bless your soul, so precious and delicate. Powerfully compassionate, your friendship held me together when the threat of unraveling, had me at the brink feeling inadequate." — Brother Ali, "My Beloved" 12. "Will I catch the moon like a bird in a cage? It's for you, I swoon, I'm always in love." — Wilco, "I'm Always in Love" 13. "And when you smile, the whole world stops and stares for a while, cause you're amazing, just the way you are." —Bruno Mars, "Just The Way You Are" 14. "I feel wonderful because I see the love light in your eyes." — Eric Clapton, "Wonderful Tonight" 15. "Have I told you lately that I love you? Have I told you there's no one above you? Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness, ease my troubles, that's what you do." — Van Morrison, "Have I Told You Lately" 16. "Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again. Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am whole again." —The Cure, "Lovesong"

17. "I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things." —John Green, "The Fault In Our Stars"

Pass the tissues! The best love quotes for her will probably cause her to shed a tear (or two!), but that's a good thing. You could even quote these words as part of a touching reception toast or ceremony vows.

1. "For you see, each day I love you more, today more than yesterday and less than tomorrow." — Rosemonde Gerard 2. "Love is when you meet someone who tells you something new about yourself." —André Breton, Mad Love 3. "Each time you happen to me all over again." —Edith Wharton, The Age of Innocence 4. "And what do all the great words come to in the end, but that? I love you—I am at rest with you—I have come home." —Dorothy L. Sayers, Busman's Honeymoon 5. "I want you today, tomorrow, next week and for the rest of my life." — I.A. Dice, The Sound of Salvation 6. "One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: That word is love." — Sophocles 7. "Our love cannot be measured, it just is." — John Paul Stevens 8. "The only thing we never get enough of is love; and the only thing we never give enough of is love." — Henry Miller 9. "In case you ever foolishly forget; I'm never not thinking of you." —Virginia Woolf, Selected Diaries 10. "I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever." — Rabindranath Tagore 11. "No matter where I went, I always knew my way back to you. You are my compass star." —Diana Peterfreund, For Darkness Shows the Stars 12. "You know I'd fall apart without you. I don't know how you do what you do, 'cause everything that don't make sense about me makes sense when I'm with you." —Hunter Hayes, "Wanted" 13. "You are imperfect, permanently and inevitably flawed. And you are beautiful." — Amy Bloom

Is her love language words of affirmation? Speak her language and go for one of these deep love quotes for her to let her know just how much you care.

1. "I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being." — Hafiz of Shiraz 2. "You and I could paint the sky together. As the world goes by, we'll go on forever." — Kaskade, "Eyes" 3. "Yours is the light by which my spirit's born: yours is the darkness of my soul's return. You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars." — E. E. Cummings, "#38" 4. "So bright, the flames burned in our hearts, that we found each other in the dark." — City and Colour, "We Found Each Other in the Dark" 5. "Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear." —Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre 6. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach, when feeling out of sight; for the ends of being and ideal grace." — Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Sonnet 43" 7. "For 'twas not into my ear you whispered but into my heart. 'Twas not my lips you kissed, but my soul." — Judy Garland, "My Love Is Lost" 8. "One day you will ask me which is more important—my life or yours? I will say mine and you will walk away not knowing that you are my life." — Khalil Gibran 9. "And I'd choose you; in a hundred lifetimes, in a hundred worlds, in any version of reality, I'd find you and I'd choose you." —Kiersten White, The Chaos of Stars 10. "Soul meets soul on lovers' lips. —Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus Unbound

11. "I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone." — Lord of The Rings

12. "The minute I heard my first love story I started looking for you, not knowing how blind that was. Lovers don't finally meet somewhere. They're in each other all along." —Rumi

13. "Love is a quiet, reassuring, relaxing, pottering, pedantic, harmonious hum of a thing; something you can easily forget is there, even though its palms are outstretched beneath you in case you fall." — Dolly Alderton, Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir

Looking to spice things up? Make her blush (in all the right ways) with these sexy love quotes for her. Hot tip: Use 'em for the most literary of sexts .

1. "You're the only thing on this planet worth worshipping." —Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

2. "I can't forget the taste of your mouth. From your lips, all the heavens pour out. I can't forget when we are one. With you alone I am free." —Santana ft. Dave Matthews, "Love of My Life"

3. "Only the united beat of sex and the heart can create ecstasy." —Anaïs Nin

4 . "Beneath the chandelier of stars and atmosphere, tangled like the roots on the ground. The windows opened up, the wind is blowing and we're both not making a sound. It's like I'm melting on into you." —Taylor Swift, "This Is Really Happening"

5. "And last night you were in my room and now my bedsheets smell like you. Every day discovering something brand new; I'm in love with your body." —Ed Sheeran, "Shape of You"

6. "Something 'bout the way the hair falls in your face; I love the shape you take when crawling towards the pillowcase. You tell me where to go and though I might leave to find it, I'll never let your head hit the bed without my hand behind it. —John Mayer, "Your Body Is a Wonderland"

7. "You know I love it when you're loving me. Sometimes it's better when it's publicly; I'm not ashamed, I don't care who sees us hugging and kissing, our love exhibition." —John Legend, P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)

8. "I'll try to talk refined, for fear that you'll find out how I'm imagining you" — Hozier, "Talk"

9. "So join me in this bed that I'm in. Push up on me and sweat, darling. So I'm gonna put my time in; I won't stop until the angels sing." — Ed Sheeran, "South of the Border"

10. A touch from your real love, it's like heaven taking the place of something evil and lettin' it burn off from the rush. —Lana Del Rey, "Cherry"

There's nothing better than making the person you love laugh. For a way to say "I love you" with the perfect touch of humor, check out these funny love quotes for her.

1. "Remember, we're madly in love, so it's alright to kiss me anytime you feel like it." — The Hunger Games 2. "She is the only evidence of God I have seen with the exception of the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry." — St. Elmo's Fire 3. "Yes, I'm drunk. And you're beautiful. And tomorrow morning, I'll be sober but you'll still be beautiful." — The Dreamers 4. "You're so beautiful, you could be a waitress. You're so beautiful, you could be an air hostess in the '60s. You're so beautiful, you could be a part-time model." — Flight of the Conchords, "The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room)" 5. "I never get out my leaf blower when Oprah is on. And when you're telling me about your feelings I try not to yawn. And when we're at parties I don't talk about your spastic bladder. When you're cleaning the gutters on the roof I hold the ladder. And if that isn't love…I don't know what love is." —Weird Al Yankovic, "If That Isn't Love" 6. "Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you. The right person is still going to think the sun shines out of your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with." — Juno 7. "I love you so much I almost forgot to brood." — Angel 8. "When I'm around you, I kind of feel like I'm on drugs. Not that I do drugs. Unless you do drugs, in which case I do them all the time. All of them." — Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

9. "5, 6, 7, 8; I want you to be my mate. 1, 2, 3, 4; You're the one that I adore." — But I'm a Cheerleader

How can you tell if it's true love? It's definitely not an exact science, but we guarantee she'll be true ly amazed if you write out one of these true love quotes in a card, letter or text.

1. "So I pray everyday more than anything, friends will stay as we begin to lay this foundation for a family. Love ain't simple—why can't it be? Anything worth having you work at annually, granted we've known each other for some time. It don't take a whole day to recognize sunshine." — Common, "The Light" 2. "When you meet the right person, you know it. You can't stop thinking about them. They are your best friend and your soulmate. You can't wait to spend the rest of your life with them. No one and nothing else can compare." — How I Met Your Mother 3. "Make of our hands one hand. Make of our hearts one heart. Make of our vows one last vow: Only death will part us now." — West Side Story 4. "With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew." — The Beatles, "Within You Without You" 5. "I cannot exist without you... I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again... My Life seems to stop there—I see no further. You have absorb'd me." — John Keats, in a letter to Fanny Brawne 6. "The same as I love you, you'll always love me too. This love isn't good unless it's me and you." — Tegan and Sara, "I Know I Know I Know" 7. "Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words 'make' and 'stay' become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free." — Tom Robbins 8. "I kiss your vision as it rises before my mind." — Winston Churchill, in a letter to Clementine Churchill 9. "I search your profile for a translation. I study the conversation like a map, 'cause I know there is strength in the differences between us. And I know there is comfort where we overlap." — Ani Difranco, "Overlap" 10. "We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each other's minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted." — Johnny Cash, in a letter to June Carter 11. "This matter, it's something bigger than anything ever graced my heart." — Foo Fighters, "Dear Lover" 12. "My blind eyes are desperately waiting for the sight of you." —Richard Burton, in a letter to Elizabeth Taylor 13. "She wasn't doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together." —J.D. Salinger, "A Girl I Knew"

14. "But once in awhile, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You're the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much." —Johnny Cash, in a letter to June Carter

Skip the epic love letter and opt for one of these short and sweet love quotes, which may perfectly capture your feelings in just a few words.

1. "As you wish." — The Princess Bride

2. "Love me and the world is mine." —David R. Reed, Jr., "Love Me and the World Is Mine"

3. "You make everything feel possible. You make me possible." — Brothers & Sisters

4. "All of me loves all of you." —John Legend, "All of Me" 5. "Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time." —Casablanca 6. "To live without loving is not really to live." — Moliere 7. "There are never enough 'I love yous.'" — Lenny Bruce 8. "Come, live in my heart and pay no rent." — Samuel Lover, "Live in my Heart and Pay No Rent" 9. "Love is old, love is new. Love is all, love is you." — The Beatles, "Because" 10. "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be." —Robert Browning, "Rabbit Ben Ezra" 11. "I need you so much closer." — Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism" 12. "My heart shall be thy garden." — Alice Meynell, "My Heart Shall Be Thy Garden" 13. "O tell her, brief is life but love is long." — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "The Princess: O Swallow" 14. "Never above you. Never below you. Always beside you." — Walter Winchell

1 5. "I love you and it's getting worse." — Joseph E. Morris

16. "It feels good to be the one, that you want when all I want is you." —Jack Johnson, "Never Fade"

17. "The water shines only by the sun. And it is you who are my sun." — Charles De Leusse

18. "You are all of my today and all of my tomorrows." — Leo Christopher

19. "If I know what love is, it is because of you." — Hermann Hesse

20. "If you are not too long, I will wait here for you all my life."— Oscar Wilde

21. "Ever thine. Ever mine. Ever ours." — Ludwig van Beethoven, "Immortal Beloved"

Contributions by Kathleen McCann and Diane Hall

2 Minute Speech On Love In English

Good morning to everyone in this room. I’d want to thank the principal, the teachers, and my dear friends for allowing me to speak to you today about the love. The most important thing in a person’s life is love. It is covered in every branch of science and every great work of literature. Humans are social beings as well.

We have been living this way for ages; we rely on one another to tell us how our clothes fit and whether we seem healthy or thin. We receive the frank opinions of individuals who care about us, love us, and prioritize our happiness in all of these matters.

With intense feelings of attachment, love is a collection of feelings, actions, and beliefs. So a person may declare, for instance, that they love their dog, freedom, or God. The idea of love could transform into something unfathomable, and it might also occur to each individual differently.

Love may have many different attitudes, sentiments, and emotions. For some people, love is an emotional bond rather than merely a physical interest in another person. We might say that a person’s love for another person is more of a feeling. So, to feel more than just like someone is to experience love.

Love is a special gift that may mold us and our lives. As a result, we can say that love is a fundamental human need. It is essential to our way of life, to society, and relationships. In a trying period, it provides us with energy and motivation. Finally, we can conclude that it surpasses all other aspects of existence. Thank you. 

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'i love telling my story': thousands of students compete in national speech competition at bellevue west high school.

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Thousands of students from all over the county gathered at Bellevue West High School on Friday.

They battled it out on stage in a speech competition.

The National Individual Events Tournament of Champions brought out more than 2,000 students from 250 schools across the nation.

Some of the categories include dramatic speech, humorous, and informative speaking.

"At the end of the day, I just love competing and I love telling my story in every single one of my events. I think that's the most important part of this entire thing, telling the story and trying to get the message across because, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about," Azeneth Corrales, a competitor from Harlingen, Texas.

The competition runs throughout the weekend with the awards ceremony on Sunday morning.

For more information, click here .

Click here for the latest headlines from KETV NewsWatch 7

America’s Colleges Are Reaping What They Sowed

Universities spent years saying that activism is not just welcome but encouraged on their campuses. Students took them at their word.

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

N ick Wilson, a sophomore at Cornell University, came to Ithaca, New York, to refine his skills as an activist. Attracted by both Cornell’s labor-relations school and the university’s history of campus radicalism, he wrote his application essay about his involvement with a Democratic Socialists of America campaign to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize Act . When he arrived on campus, he witnessed any number of signs that Cornell shared his commitment to not just activism but also militant protest, taking note of a plaque commemorating the armed occupation of Willard Straight Hall in 1969.

Cornell positively romanticizes that event: The university library has published a “ Willard Straight Hall Occupation Study Guide ,” and the office of the dean of students once co-sponsored a panel on the protest. The school has repeatedly screened a documentary about the occupation, Agents of Change . The school’s official newspaper, published by the university media-relations office, ran a series of articles honoring the 40th anniversary, in 2009, and in 2019, Cornell held a yearlong celebration for the 50th, complete with a commemorative walk, a dedication ceremony, and a public conversation with some of the occupiers. “ Occupation Anniversary Inspires Continued Progress ,” the Cornell Chronicle headline read.

As Wilson has discovered firsthand, however, the school’s hagiographical odes to prior protests have not prevented it from cracking down on pro-Palestine protests in the present. Now that he has been suspended for the very thing he told Cornell he came there to learn how to do—radical political organizing—he is left reflecting on the school’s hypocrisies. That the theme of this school year at Cornell is “Freedom of Expression” adds a layer of grim humor to the affair.

Evan Mandery: University of hypocrisy

University leaders are in a bind. “These protests are really dynamic situations that can change from minute to minute,” Stephen Solomon, who teaches First Amendment law and is the director of NYU’s First Amendment Watch—an organization devoted to free speech—told me. “But the obligation of universities is to make the distinction between speech protected by the First Amendment and speech that is not.” Some of the speech and tactics protesters are employing may not be protected under the First Amendment, while much of it plainly is. The challenge universities are confronting is not just the law but also their own rhetoric. Many universities at the center of the ongoing police crackdowns have long sought to portray themselves as bastions of activism and free thought. Cornell is one of many universities that champion their legacy of student activism when convenient, only to bring the hammer down on present-day activists when it’s not. The same colleges that appeal to students such as Wilson by promoting opportunities for engagement and activism are now suspending them. And they’re calling the cops.

The police activity we are seeing universities level against their own students does not just scuff the carefully cultivated progressive reputations of elite private universities such as Columbia, Emory University, and NYU, or the equally manicured free-speech bona fides of red-state public schools such as Indiana University and the University of Texas at Austin. It also exposes what these universities have become in the 21st century. Administrators have spent much of the recent past recruiting social-justice-minded students and faculty to their campuses under the implicit, and often explicit, promise that activism is not just welcome but encouraged. Now the leaders of those universities are shocked to find that their charges and employees believed them. And rather than try to understand their role in cultivating this morass, the Ivory Tower’s bigwigs have decided to apply their boot heels to the throats of those under their care.

I spoke with 30 students, professors, and administrators from eight schools—a mix of public and private institutions across the United States—to get a sense of the disconnect between these institutions’ marketing of activism and their treatment of protesters. A number of people asked to remain anonymous. Some were untenured faculty or administrators concerned about repercussions from, or for, their institutions. Others were directly involved in organizing protests and were wary of being harassed. Several incoming students I spoke with were worried about being punished by their school before they even arrived. Despite a variety of ideological commitments and often conflicting views on the protests, many of those I interviewed were “shocked but not surprised”—a phrase that came up time and again—by the hypocrisy exhibited by the universities with which they were affiliated. (I reached out to Columbia, NYU, Cornell, and Emory for comment on the disconnect between their championing of past protests and their crackdowns on the current protesters. Representatives from Columbia, Cornell, and Emory pointed me to previous public statements. NYU did not respond.)

The sense that Columbia trades on the legacy of the Vietnam protests that rocked campus in 1968 was widespread among the students I spoke with. Indeed, the university honors its activist past both directly and indirectly, through library archives , an online exhibit , an official “Columbia 1968” X account , no shortage of anniversary articles in Columbia Magazine , and a current course titled simply “Columbia 1968.” The university is sometimes referred to by alumni and aspirants as the “Protest Ivy.” One incoming student told me that he applied to the school in part because of an admissions page that prominently listed community organizers and activists among its “distinguished alumni.”

Joseph Slaughter, an English professor and the executive director of Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, talked with his class about the 1968 protests after the recent arrests at the school. He said his students felt that the university had actively marketed its history to them. “Many, many, many of them said they were sold the story of 1968 as part of coming to Columbia,” he told me. “They talked about it as what the university presents to them as the long history and tradition of student activism. They described it as part of the brand.”

This message reaches students before they take their first college class. As pro-Palestine demonstrations began to raise tensions on campus last month, administrators were keen to cast these protests as part of Columbia’s proud culture of student activism. The aforementioned high-school senior who had been impressed by Columbia’s activist alumni attended the university’s admitted-students weekend just days before the April 18 NYPD roundup. During the event, the student said, an admissions official warned attendees that they may experience “disruptions” during their visit, but boasted that these were simply part of the school’s “long and robust history of student protest.”

Remarkably, after more than 100 students were arrested on the order of Columbia President Minouche Shafik—in which she overruled a unanimous vote by the university senate’s executive committee not to bring the NYPD to campus —university administrators were still pushing this message to new students and parents. An email sent on April 19 informed incoming students that “demonstration, political activism, and deep respect for freedom of expression have long been part of the fabric of our campus.” Another email sent on April 20 again promoted Columbia’s tradition of activism, protest, and support of free speech. “This can sometimes create moments of tension,” the email read, “but the rich dialogue and debate that accompany this tradition is central to our educational experience.”

Evelyn Douek and Genevieve Lakier: The hypocrisy underlying the campus-speech controversy

Another student who attended a different event for admitted students, this one on April 21, said that every administrator she heard speak paid lip service to the school’s long history of protest. Her own feelings about the pro-Palestine protests were mixed—she said she believes that a genocide is happening in Gaza and also that some elements of the protest are plainly anti-Semitic—but her feelings about Columbia’s decision to involve the police were unambiguous. “It’s reprehensible but exactly what an Ivy League institution would do in this situation. I don’t know why everyone is shocked,” she said, adding: “It makes me terrified to go there.”

Beth Massey, a veteran activist who participated in the 1968 protests, told me with a laugh, “They might want to tell us they’re progressive, but they’re doing the business of the ruling class.” She was not surprised by the harsh response to the current student encampment or by the fact that it lit the fuse on a nationwide protest movement. Massey had been drawn to the radical reputation of Columbia’s sister school, Barnard College, as an open-minded teenager from the segregated South: “I actually wanted to go to Barnard because they had a history of progressive struggle that had happened going all the way back into the ’40s.” And the barn-burning history that appealed to Massey in the late 1960s has continued to attract contemporary students, albeit with one key difference: Today, that radical history has become part of the way that Barnard and Columbia sell their $60,000-plus annual tuition.

Of course, Columbia is not alone. The same trends have also prevailed at NYU, which likes to crow about its own radical history and promises contemporary students “ a world of activism opportunities .” An article published on the university’s website in March—titled “Make a Difference Through Activism at NYU”—promises students “myriad chances to put your activism into action.” The article points to campus institutions that “provide students with resources and opportunities to spark activism and change both on campus and beyond.” The six years I spent as a graduate student at NYU gave me plenty of reasons to be cynical about the university and taught me to view all of this empty activism prattle as white noise. But even I was astounded to see a video of students and faculty set upon by the NYPD, arrested at the behest of President Linda Mills.

“Across the board, there is a heightened awareness of hypocrisy,” Mohamad Bazzi, a journalism professor at NYU, told me, noting that faculty were acutely conscious of the gap between the institution’s intensive commitment to DEI and the police crackdown. The university has recently made several “cluster hires”—centered on activism-oriented themes such as anti-racism, social justice, and indigeneity—that helped diversify the faculty. Some of those recent hires were among the people who spent a night zip-tied in a jail cell, arrested for the exact kind of activism that had made them attractive to NYU in the first place. And it wasn’t just faculty. The law students I spoke with were especially acerbic. After honing her activism skills at her undergraduate institution—another university that recently saw a violent police response to pro-Palestine protests—one law student said she came to NYU because she was drawn to its progressive reputation and its high percentage of prison-abolitionist faculty. This irony was not lost on her as the police descended on the encampment.

After Columbia students were arrested on April 18, students at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study decided to cancel a planned art festival and instead use the time to make sandwiches as jail support for their detained uptown peers. The school took photos of the students layering cold cuts on bread and posted it to Gallatin’s official Instagram. These posts not only failed to mention that the students were working in support of the pro-Palestine protesters; the caption—“making sandwiches for those in need”—implied that the undergrads might be preparing meals for, say, the homeless.

The contradictions on display at Cornell, Columbia, and NYU are not limited to the state of New York. The police response at Emory, another university that brags about its tradition of student protest, was among the most disturbing I have seen. Faculty members I spoke with at the Atlanta school, including two who had been arrested—the philosophy professor Noëlle McAfee and the English and Indigenous-studies professor Emil’ Keme—recounted harrowing scenes: a student being knocked down, an elderly woman struggling to breathe after tear-gas exposure, a colleague with welts from rubber bullets. These images sharply contrast with the university’s progressive mythmaking, a process that was in place even before 2020’s “summer of racial reckoning” sent universities scrambling to shore up their activist credentials.

In 2018, Emory’s Campus Life office partnered with students and a design studio to begin work on an exhibit celebrating the university’s history of identity-based activism. Then, not long after George Floyd’s murder, the university’s library released a series of blog posts focusing on topics including “Black Student Activism at Emory,” “Protests and Movements,” “Voting Rights and Public Policy,” and “Authors and Artists as Activists.” That same year, the university announced its new Arts and Social Justice Fellows initiative, a program that “brings Atlanta artists into Emory classrooms to help students translate their learning into creative activism in the name of social justice.” In 2021, the university put on an exhibit celebrating its 1969 protests , in which “Black students marched, demonstrated, picketed, and ‘rapped’ on those institutions affecting the lives of workers and students at Emory.” Like Cornell’s and Columbia’s, Emory’s protests seem to age like fine wine: It takes half a century before the institution begins enjoying them.

N early every person I talked with believed that their universities’ responses were driven by donors, alumni, politicians, or some combination thereof. They did not believe that they were grounded in serious or reasonable concerns about the physical safety of students; in fact, most felt strongly that introducing police into the equation had made things far more dangerous for both pro-Palestine protesters and pro-Israel counterprotesters. Jeremi Suri, a historian at UT Austin—who told me he is not politically aligned with the protesters—recalls pleading with both the dean of students and the mounted state troopers to call off the charge. “It was like the Russian army had come onto campus,” Suri mused. “I was out there for 45 minutes to an hour. I’m very sensitive to anti-Semitism. Nothing anti-Semitic was said.” He added: “There was no reason not to let them shout until their voices went out.”

From the May 1930 issue: Hypocrisy–a defense

As one experienced senior administrator at a major research university told me, the conflagration we are witnessing shows how little many university presidents understand either their campus communities or the young people who populate them. “When I saw what Columbia was doing, my immediate thought was: They have not thought about day two ,” he said, laughing. “If you confront an 18-year-old activist, they don’t back down. They double down.” That’s what happened in 1968, and it’s happening again now. Early Tuesday morning, Columbia students occupied Hamilton Hall—the site of the 1968 occupation, which they rechristened Hind’s Hall in honor of a 6-year-old Palestinian girl killed in Gaza—in response to the university’s draconian handling of the protests. They explicitly tied these events to the university’s past, calling out its hypocrisy on Instagram: “This escalation is in line with the historical student movements of 1968 … which Columbia repressed then and celebrates today.” The university, for its part, responded now as it did then: Late on Tuesday, the NYPD swarmed the campus in an overnight raid that led to the arrest of dozens of students.

The students, professors, and administrators I’ve spoken with in recent days have made clear that this hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed and that the crackdown isn’t working, but making things worse. The campus resistance has expanded to include faculty and students who were originally more ambivalent about the protests and, in a number of cases, who support Israel. They are disturbed by what they rightly see as violations of free expression, the erosion of faculty governance, and the overreach of administrators. Above all, they’re fed up with the incandescent hypocrisy of institutions, hoisted with their own progressive petards, as the unstoppable force of years’ worth of self-righteous rhetoric and pseudo-radical posturing meets the immovable object of students who took them at their word.

In another video published by The Cornell Daily Sun , recorded only hours after he was suspended, Nick Wilson explained to a crowd of student protesters what had brought him to the school. “In high school, I discovered my passion, which was community organizing for a better world. I told Cornell University that’s why I wanted to be here,” he said, referencing his college essay. Then he paused for emphasis, looking around as his peers began to cheer. “And those fuckers admitted me.”

40 Bible Verses About Mothers to Share With the Moms in Your Life

"Honor her for all that her hands have done."

Bible Verses About Love

Bible verses about family.

Whether you call her Mom, Momma, Mommy, or Mother, that name is so much more than just a title. It captures the unbreakable bond, unconditional love, and never-ending care between a mother figure and child. It's a relationship characterized by constant support, memorable teachings, and selfless sacrifices—ones that we'll never forget, no matter how old we are.

That's why Mother's Day is so special. Given the incredible impact they have on our lives and all they do for us, it's important to remind mom just how much she means to you. And what better way than an entire day dedicated to her? To celebrate, you could make her a delicious breakfast-in-bed or buy her a thoughtful Mother's Day gift . But the most significant present is perhaps a heartfelt Mother's Day card full of meaningful Mother's Day messages and Mother's Day quotes —including biblical scriptures. Because at the heart of it all, mothers are nothing short of a gift from God.

While there are no words that can fully express the love you have for your mother, the Bible has many passages about honoring mothers and wives and recognizing the role they play in our lives. Here, we've rounded up 40 Bible verses about mothers for you to share with these most special women. So, if you're looking for what to write in a Mother's Day card , look no further. There's scripture that will work as mother-daughter quotes , mother-son quotes , quotes from husbands, and even Mother's Day quotes for friends . Each one really shows how much of a blessing she is!

Bible Verses About Mothers

• Proverbs 31:28–29: "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.'"
• Proverbs 31:10-12: " Who could ever find a wife like this one―she is a woman of strength and mighty valor! She’s full of wealth and wisdom, the price paid for her was greater than many jewels. Her husband has entrusted his heart to her, for she brings him the rich spoils of victory. All throughout her life she brings him what is good, and not evil."
• Isaiah 66:13: "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you."
• Deuteronomy 6:6–7: "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
• Proverbs 31:25: "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."
• Proverbs 23:22-25 " Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old. Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy."
• Psalm 139:13-14: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
• 1 Peter 3:4: "You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
• Proverbs 31:31: "Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
• Proverbs 31:26: "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
• Deuteronomy 4:9: "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
• John 16:21 "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world."
• Luke 2:51: "And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart."
• Ezekiel 19:2: " Say: What a lioness among lionesses was your mother! She bedded down among the strong young lions and reared her cubs."
• Song of Solomon 8:2: " I would lead you, I would bring you to my mother’s house; she would teach me what to do. I would give you spiced wine to drink, some of my fresh pomegranate juice."
• 2 Timothy 1:5: " I’m reminded of your authentic faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. I’m sure that this faith is also inside you."
• Luke 8:21: "He replied, 'My mother and brothers are those who listen to God's word and do it.'"
• Ezekiel 19:10-11: " Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted beside the waters; she bore lush fruit and foliage because of the plentiful water, and she produced mighty branches, fit for rulers’ scepters."
• Proverbs 14:1: " The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down."

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7: " Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
• 1 John 4:12: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."
• Galatians 5:22-23: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
• John 15:12 " This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you."
• Romans 12:9-10: "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
• 1 John 4:19: " We love each other because he loved us first."
• 1 Corinthians 13:13: " Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love."
• 1 Peter 4:8: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
• Psalm 143:8: "Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life."

• Proverbs 6:20-22: " My child, obey your father’s godly instruction and follow your mother’s life-giving teaching. Fill your heart with their advice and let your life be shaped by what they’ve taught you. Their wisdom will guide you wherever you go and keep you from bringing harm to yourself. Their instruction will whisper to you at every sunrise and direct you through a brand new day."
• Joshua 24:15: " But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."
• Exodus 20:12: "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you."
• Acts 16:31: "They replied, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.'"
• Proverbs 1:8-9 " Pay close attention, my child, to your father’s wise words and never forget your mother’s instructions. For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions."
• Psalm 133:1: "How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!"
• Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it."
• Ephesians 6:1-3: "Children, if you want to be wise, listen to your parents and do what they tell you, and the Lord will help you. For the commandment, 'Honor your father and your mother,' was the first of the Ten Commandments with a promise attached: "You will prosper and live a long, full life if you honor your parents."
• 3 John 1:4: "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth."
• Leviticus 19:3: " Each of you must respect your mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the Lord your God."
• Proverbs 17:6: "Grandchildren are the crown of the elderly, and the glory of children is their parents."
• Psalm 127:3: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."

Macie Reynolds is the assistant editor of E-Commerce and SEO for The Pioneer Woman.

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Ariana Madix Fires Back at Love Island Fan's Host Criticism: "Doing What I Do Best"

Ariana Madix is the new host of Love Island USA , but she's not letting critical fans get away with negative talk before the show starts.

Things are already heating up online before the new season of Love Island USA even premieres. The show's new host for Season 6, Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix, fired back at a Love Island fan who posted their thoughts about her taking over the hosting duties for the show. 

How to Watch

Watch Vanderpump Rules on Bravo Tuesdays at 8/7c and next day on  Peacock . Catch up on the Bravo app .  

In a teaser for Love Island USA on Peacock’s Instagram page , Madix receives that oh so famous text, which references how Islanders communicate on the show, except this one reads, “Ariana Madix, will you host Peacock’s new Love Island USA?” She responds with a cheerful, “Yes!”

Most  Love Island USA fans were excited to see her in action as the host for the first time, but one fan wrote, “You are no Maya” in reference to the host of U.K.’s Love Island , and Love Island Games, the legendary Maya Jama . 

Madix, being no stranger to drama, wasted no time clapping back in the comments.

“That’s obvious dear. I could never be nor am I trying to be the queen that is Maya Jama. And guess what? It would be weird if I did. I am me and I am going to bring my best self to my dream hosting job doing what I do best: BE MYSELF. Have a good day.”

After dropping the mic (metaphorically) several fans rushed to her defense to cheer her on for speaking her truth. 

Where did former Love Island USA host Sarah Hyland go?

Love Island USA host Sarah Hyland.

As previously reported , previous Love Island USA  host, Sarah Hyland, shared on her Instagram stories that a different project is sadly preventing her from returning to Fiji and as host in Season 6.

“I’m disappointed the news had to break this way but it is in fact true that I will not be returning to the island this summer,” she wrote at the time. She added that the reason is because she has committed to filming another project that conflicts with the shooting dates for Love Island USA . 

Hyland joined the show in Season 4 and hosted for two seasons. 

When was Madix chosen to host Love Island USA ?

Ariana Madix appearing as a guest host on Love Island USA Season 5

There were many rumors swirling around on the internet about who would take over for Hyland. In March, the Vanderpump Rules star confirmed she was hired as the new host of Love Island USA. In an Instagram video, she said, “Talk about a bombshell. This summer, I’m trading rhinestone buckles for bikinis. I’m hosting the next season of Love Island USA, streaming this summer on Peacock. I can’t wait to stir up some trouble in paradise.” Madix’s hosting duties will include moving the couples along through the show’s process until a winner is chosen,

The new season of Love Island USA airs on July 11 on Peacock.  

This article first appeared on USA Insider .

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Notable Speech marches to shock 2000 Guineas triumph at Newmarket

Notable Speech defied odds of 16/1 to clinch Classic glory in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, with hot favourite City Of Troy left in the dust; also on the day, Seven Questions sprung a surprise in the Palace House Stakes and Unequal Love started her campaign in style with Listed honours.

Saturday 4 May 2024 17:19, UK

Notable Speech was a shock winner as City Of Troy failed to land a blow in the Qipco 2000 Guineas Stakes at Newmarket.

Aidan O'Brien's colt was sent off the 4-6 favourite after an unbeaten juvenile campaign which culminated in an impressive success in the Dewhurst Stakes.

However, he looked under pressure early on in the hands of Ryan Moore and faded out of the race entirely, leaving 16-1 chance Notable Speech to take up the lead.

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Under William Buick, the Charlie Appleby-trained chestnut pulled away in the final furlong to win comfortably by a length and a half.

The Richard Hannon-trained duo of Rosallion and Haatem took minor honours, with a length and three-quarters between them at the line.

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Notable Speech did not run as a juvenile and had only raced on the all-weather prior to his Classic success, winning each of his three outings at Kempton.

"You don't see too many come off an all-weather success to a Guineas success, we've given him all the time, thinking he was a good horse," Appleby said.

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"He was given that time, a few lads sat on him last year in August time, when you start to see these horses developing more, and they were just saying 'he's a nice horse'.

"He was still far too weak to do anything with, as always I'm in the very privileged position to be allowed to give the horses the time that they need, with no pressure.

"He came out on the all-weather there and we all know what he did - he was three from three - in that last start, I think he put a bit of a 'wow factor' into what he achieved, with his acceleration.

"William did say 'I think he's a French Guineas' horse because he's quick, and so therefore we toyed with whether to go there. We were waiting for the Craven to see how the Guineas picture would formulate and we decided to put him in the Guineas.

"We brought him here for a racecourse gallop to give ourselves more confidence in running the horse and that morning here, he was exciting."

Appleby admitted he was not confident of beating City Of Troy, but gained plenty of encouragement from that racecourse workout last month.

He added: "William was very impressed with him after this last start and when we brought him here for the racecourse gallop, he put that 'wow factor' back in.

"I worked him with a good horse, I told William I was going to put some speed into the gallop and he fired this horse into the dip and out of it, and he flew out of it - Will said he didn't even know it was there.

"We came here after that with confidence that we had the right horse to be here. I wasn't saying he was going to win a Guineas off the back of what City Of Troy had done as a two-year-old, but I just felt we had the right horse to be in the field and be competitive."

William Buick said: "It was a tough race but I'm glad we came here. It's amazing. I've finished second twice so I know how it feels to go back in having not won it - I've never had a ride like him ever before. I'm over the moon.

"It's a huge team effort for this horse to come here today. I'm delighted for myself but I'm also delighted for everyone who's involved with the horse.

"Notable Speech is a great horse. He's a proper miler and he's certainly the fastest miler I've ever ridden - I think he can do things other horses can't with his turn of foot.

Royal Ascot now looks likely to be the next port of call, with Appleby keen to stick to a mile with the Godolphin-owned colt.

He said: "I'd be surprised if we went beyond a mile. I would imagine it will be Royal Ascot (St James's Palace Stakes) next, but as always we'll let the dust settle and let everyone enjoy themselves and speak to all connections."

Seven Questions has all the answers

Seven Questions was a surprise winner of the William Hill Palace House Stakes at Newmarket.

The three-year-old was partnered by Callum Shepherd and started as the outsider of the field at 33-1 for trainer George Scott.

He was always near the front end of the race, which turned into a real battle in the closing stages as a clutch of runners were in with a shout.

However, Seven Questions picked up the lead in the final strides to see off runner-up Vadream by a head, with a further short head back to the third-placed Beautiful Diamond.

Scott said: "It's a big team effort with this horse as he's as quirky as they come. He spent the night at the racecourse last night because when he gets on the box he gets very stirred up, so he had an away night about half a mile away from his stable!

"They saddled him an hour ago and he's trying to kick everyone, but he's a talented horse on his day and he got a brilliant ride. He's a very good rider Callum, he's able to do things on horses that you can't teach.

"I went to watch City Of Troy warming up rather than watch him! He's given us some of our scariest moments on the racecourse, but often those horses are the most talented."

Seven Questions was campaigned without success in Dubai in the early part of the year, with his best effort coming when third in January.

Scott will now look to Royal Ascot with his charge, although his target at that fixture could now need further consideration.

The trainer added: "We'll have to re-evaluate now, won't we? It was very much a question of whether he was going to go to the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes or whether he's a King's Stand or Diamond Jubilee horse, so we'll see.

"It's special having a winner on 2000 Guineas day, I'm a Newmarket boy and this is our flagship meeting."

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Unequal Love claims Listed honours

William Haggas is excited to see how high Unequal Love can climb in the sprinting ranks after making a successful start to her campaign in the William Hill British EBF Ellen Chaloner Stakes at Newmarket.

The daughter of Dutch Art won four of her seven starts as a three-year-old last season and rounded off her campaign with a fourth-placed finish behind the reopposing Funny Story in the Boadicea Stakes over the course and distance in October.

With both fillies having been off the track since, Funny Story was preferred in the market at 11-4, but 4-1 shot Unequal Love took her revenge with a one-length victory in the hands of Tom Marquand. Star Guest, the 2-1 favourite, was just a head further behind in third.

Haggas said: "We were getting 3lb from Ralph Beckett's filly (Funny Story) for a start, but she's improved physically, so I hope she'll have a good season.

"I think Tom wanted to wait a bit longer, but Rossa (Ryan, rider of Funny Story) was looking like trying to box him in with a good bit of race riding and that forced Tom to go a bit earlier than he wanted, but she stayed on well up the hill.

"I don't think she wants the ground too firm or too soft."

Unequal Love holds an entry in the Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh on May 25 and Haggas confirmed that Group Two contest as an intended target.

"It's Irish 2,000 Guineas day I think in Ireland and it's a Group Two race against the boys, but there's no point putting her in and not running," the trainer added.

"She's got her black type now, so it's onwards and upwards."

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