Theme

Love philosophy quotes

Love in philosophy ranges from friendship and desire to care, justice, and the transformation of the self.

Why this theme matters

Greek distinctions among eros, philia, and agape, Confucian relational ethics, and modern debates about romantic love keep the theme philosophically precise rather than merely sentimental.

In the history of philosophy

Plato’s Symposium, Aristotle on friendship, Augustine on ordered loves, and contemporary ethics of care all leave traces in these quotations.

Thinkers in this collection

Plato , Aristotle , Seneca , Augustine of Hippo , Arthur Schopenhauer , Mencius , Mozi , Simone Weil

Frequently asked questions

What is love according to philosophy?

It can be desire, mutual goodwill, recognition, attachment, or a commitment to another’s good—often several of these at once.

Did ancient philosophers value friendship more than romance?

Many Greek and Roman texts give friendship a central ethical role; later European traditions elevate romantic love in different ways.

Where are philosophy quotes about love?

Browse the verified English passages on this page, then follow thinker links for fuller context.

  1. Love is the desire for the perpetual possession of the good.
  2. A friend is another self.
  3. If you wish to be loved, love.
  4. Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!
  5. Compassion is the basis of morality.
  6. Mencius said: Those who love others are constantly loved by others; those who respect others are constantly respected by others.
  7. Care for one another impartially, and benefit one another mutually.
  8. Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
  9. Love is the extremely difficult realisation that something other than oneself is real.
  10. Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.
  11. First, it always is, and neither comes to be nor perishes.
  12. Two loves have made two cities.
  13. Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind.
  14. The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge.
  15. Love, and do what you will.
  16. Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world.
  17. All things are alien to us; time alone is ours.
  18. Treat the elders of your own family with reverence, and extend that to the elders of others; treat your own young with kindness, and extend that to the young of others.
  19. Man naturally desires, not only to be loved, but to be lovely.
  20. We need a moral philosophy in which the concept of love… can once again be made central.
  21. Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a standing in, not a falling for.
  22. Late have I loved you, beauty so ancient and so new.
  23. the Love that moves the sun and the other stars
  24. If all under Heaven love one another universally, there is order; if they hate one another mutually, there is disorder.