“
in a world
full of
temporary things
you are
a perpetual
feeling.
”
”
Sanober Khan
“
That's when you know for sure somebody loves you. They figure out what you need and they give it to you -- without you asking.
”
”
Adriana Trigiani (Very Valentine (Valentine, #1))
“
I saw Jonathan after he faced the fear demon, you know. It showed itself to him as you. That told me all I needed to know. The greatest fear in Jonathan’s life is the love he feels for his sister.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
“
Jace looked as if she had slapped him. "Why are you determined not to believe us?"
"Because she loves you," said Valentine.
Clary felt the blood drain out of her face.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1))
“
In my time, love often followed trends, yet greater love grows through it all.
”
”
Matthew Edward Hall (San Mateo: Proof of The Divine)
“
It doesn't have to be on Valentine's Day. It doesn't have to be by the time you turn eighteen or thirty-three or fifty-nine. It doesn't have to conform to whatever is usual. It doesn't have to be kismet at once, or rhapsody by the third date.
It just has to be. In time. In place. In spirit.
It just has to be.
”
”
David Levithan
“
Happy Valentines Day to those who have found love, in whatever shape or form, and to those who are still hunting, don’t give up. If you feel bad, send yourself a card. You must be worth it...
”
”
Jeanette Winterson
“
You never called me back," he said. "I called you so many times and you never called me back."
Magnus looked at Alec as if he'd lost his mind. "Your city is under attack," he said. "The wards have been broken, and the streets are full of demons. And you want to know why I haven't called you?"
Alec set his jaw in a stubborn line. "I want to know why you haven't called me back."
Magnus threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of utter exasperation. Alec noted with interest that when he did it, a few sparks escaped from his fingertips, like fireflies escaping from a jar. "You're an idiot."
"Is that why you haven't called me? Because I'm an idiot?"
"No." Magnus strode toward him. "I didn't call you because I'm tired of you only wanting me around when you need something. I'm tired of watching you be in love with someone else - someone, incidentally, who will never love you back. Not the way I do."
"You love me?"
"You stupid Nephilim," Magnus said patiently. "Why else am I here? Why else would I have spent the past few weeks patching up all your moronic friends every time they got hurt? And getting you out of every ridiculous situation you found yourself in? Not to mention helping you win a battle against Valentine. And all completely free of charge!
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
“
Clary,
Despite everything, I can't bear the thought of this ring being lost forever, any more then I can bear the thought of leaving you forever. And though I have no choice about the one, at least I can choose about the other. I'm leaving you our family ring because you have as much right to it as I do.
I'm writing this watching the sun come up. You're asleep, dreams moving behind your restless eyelids. I wish I knew what you were thinking. I wish I could slip into your head and see the world the way you do. I wish I could see myself the way you do. But maybe I dont want to see that. Maybe it would make me feel even more than I already do that I'm perpetuating some kind of Great Lie on you, and I couldn't stand that.
I belong to you. You could do anything you wanted with me and I would let you. You could ask anything of me and I'd break myself trying to make you happy. My heart tells me this is the best and greatest feeling I have ever had. But my mind knows the difference between wanting what you can't have and wanting what you shouldn't want. And I shouldn't want you.
All night I've watched you sleeping, watched the moonlight come and go, casting its shadows across your face in black and white. I've never seen anything more beautiful. I think of the life we could have had if things were different, a life where this night is not a singular event, separate from everything else that's real, but every night. But things aren't different, and I can't look at you without feeling like I've tricked you into loving me.
The truth no one is willing to say out loud is that no one has a shot against Valentine but me. I can get close to him like no one else can. I can pretend I want to join him and he'll believe me, up until that last moment where I end it all, one way or another. I have something of Sebastian's; I can track him to where my father's hiding, and that's what I'm going to do. So I lied to you last night. I said I just wanted one night with you. But I want every night with you. And that's why I have to slip out of your window now, like a coward. Because if I had to tell you this to your face, I couldn't make myself go.
I don't blame you if you hate me, I wish you would. As long as I can still dream, I will dream of you.
_Jace
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
“
They'll say you are bad
or perhaps you are mad
or at least you
should stay undercover.
Your mind must be bare
if you would dare
to think you can love
more than one lover.
”
”
David Rovics
“
This fire that we call Loving is too strong for human minds. But just right for human souls.
”
”
Aberjhani (Elemental: The Power of Illuminated Love)
“
What a lover’s heart knows let no man’s brain dispute.
”
”
Aberjhani (Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black)
“
I think everything that happened in Idris-Valentine, Max, Hodge, even Sebastian-I kept shoving it all down, trying to forget, but it's catching up with me. I... I'll get help. I'll get better. I promise."
"You promise."
"I swear on the Angel." He ducked his head down, kissed her cheek.
"The hell with that. I swear on us.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Fallen Angels (The Mortal Instruments, #4))
“
Un-winged and naked, sorrow surrenders its crown to a throne called grace.
”
”
Aberjhani (The River of Winged Dreams)
“
Valentine Weather
Kiss me with rain on your eyelashes,
come on, let us sway together,
under the trees, and to hell with thunder.
”
”
Edwin Morgan (A Book of Lives (Poetry Book Society Recommendation))
“
The greatest fear of Jonathan is the love he feels for his sister.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
“
in the afterglow
of an evening rain
i lay down
in the grass
and think of you
my body aches
like an after-kiss
breaking in soft fires
and wildflowers
my dear,
i will always be
this tender for you.
”
”
Sanober Khan (A Thousand Flamingos)
“
Most people are slow to champion love because they fear the transformation it brings into their lives. And make no mistake about it: love does take over and transform the schemes and operations of our egos in a very mighty way.
”
”
Aberjhani (Journey through the Power of the Rainbow: Quotations from a Life Made Out of Poetry)
“
I want to try with someone who loves me enough to try with me. I want to grow old looking at the same face every morning. I want to grow old looking at the same face every night at the dinner table. I want to be one of those old couples you see still holding hands and laughing after fifty years of marriage. That's what I want. I want to be someone's forever.
”
”
Rachel Gibson (The Trouble With Valentine's Day (Chinooks Hockey Team, #3))
“
This is what our love is––a sacred pattern of unbroken unity sewn flawlessly invisible inside all other images, thoughts, smells, and sounds.
”
”
Aberjhani (The River of Winged Dreams)
“
But isn't that what love is, Clarissa? Ownership? 'I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine,' as the Song of Songs goes."
"No. And don't quote the Bible at me. I don't think you get it...It's not just that someone belongs to you, it's that you give yourself to them. I doubt you've ever given anything to anyone. Except maybe nightmares."
"To give yourself to someone?" The thin smile didn't waver. "As you've given yourself to Jonathan?"
"What?"
"You think I haven't seen the way you two look at each other? The way he says your name? You may not think I can feel, but that doesn't mean I can't see feelings in others.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
“
I'll paint you moments of gold, I'll spin you Valentine evenings...
”
”
David Bowie
“
If I say your voice is an amber waterfall in which I yearn to burn each day, if you eat my mouth like a mystical rose with powers of healing and damnation, If I confess that your body is the only civilization I long to experience… would it mean that we are close to knowing something about love?
”
”
Aberjhani (Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black)
“
Love doesn’t have to be on Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t have to be by the time you turn eighteen or thirty-three or fifty-nine. It doesn’t have to conform to whatever is usual. It doesn’t have to be kismet at once, or rhapsody by the third day.
It just has to be. In time. In place. In spirt.
It just has to be.
”
”
David Levithan (How They Met, and Other Stories)
“
Dear Valentine, I love you. Whoever you are.
”
”
Charles M. Schulz (The Complete Peanuts, 1971-1972 (The Complete Peanuts, #11))
“
Red", I write "is the color of life. It's blood, passion, rage. It's menstrual flow and after birth. Beginnings and violent end. Red is the color of love. Beating hearts and hungry lips. Roses, Valentines, cherries. Red is the color of shame. Crimson cheeks and spilled blood. Broken hearts, opened veins. A burning desire to return to white.
”
”
Mary Hogan (Pretty Face)
“
I fell in love with you on Valentine’s day, Emilie, but I need more than just seven minutes.
”
”
Lynn Painter (The Do-Over)
“
This song goes out to the girl who is my everything. I'm not an easy man to love, and music is about the best way I know how to express my feelings to her. This is called Faithfully.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock the Heart (Black Falcon, #1))
“
Mom, how do you know if the guy is the guy?”
You mean if he’ll be a good husband?” She pauses, then says “The ticket is for the man to love the woman more than she loves him.”
Shouldn’t it be equal?”
Mom cackles. “It can never be equal.”
But what if the woman loves the man more?”
A life of hell awaits her. As women, the deck is stacked against us because time is our enemy. We age, while men season. And trust me, there are plenty of women out there looking for a man, and they don’t mind staking a claim on somebody else’s husband, no matter how old, creaky, and deaf they are.
”
”
Adriana Trigiani (Very Valentine (Valentine, #1))
“
It doesn`t matter if you have a valentine or not - just love yourself and be your own.
”
”
Kim Kardashian West
“
I love you, Nick Stark... It won't count tomorrow and it'll be like I never said it, but on this Valentine's Day, I fell in love with you.
”
”
Lynn Painter (The Do-Over)
“
I love you with every inch of my broken soul. I know it's a mess, but I'm giving you all the pieces, hoping you will make sense of it.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock My Bed (Black Falcon, #2))
“
Now come the whispers
bearing bouquets of moonbeams
and sunlight tremblings.
”
”
Aberjhani (The River of Winged Dreams)
“
I'm up for it. Whatever it is. As long as it means I'll always be with you.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (Bloody Valentine (Blue Bloods, #5.5))
“
True love is like little roses,
sweet, fragrant in small doses.
”
”
Ana Claudia Antunes (Pierrot & Columbine (The Pierrot´s Love Book 1))
“
Every Valentine's Day, the student council sponsered a holiday fundraiser by selling roses that would be delievered in class. The roses came in four colors:white, yellow, red, pink, and the subtleties of thier meaning were parsed and analyzed by the female population to no end. Mimi had always understood it thus:white for love, yellow for friendship, red for passion, and pink for a secret crush.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (Masquerade (Blue Bloods, #2))
“
I hope you feel better about yourself. I hope you feel alive. I hope that good things happen to you, and I hope that when the inevitable bad things happen you can handle them and learn a lesson and move on. I hope you know you're not alone and I hope you spend plenty of time with your family and/or friends and I hope you write more and get a seven-figure book deal. I hope next year no more celebrities die and I hope you get an iPhone if you want one. Or maybe a pony. I hope someone writes a song for you on Valentines Day that's a bit like Hey There Delilah, and I hope they have a good singing voice, or at least one better than mine. I hope that you accept yourself the way you are, and figure out that losing 20 pounds isn't going to magically make you love yourself. I hope you read a lot. I hope you don't have to almost die to figure out how valuable life is. I hope you find the perfect nail polish/digital camera/home/life partner. I hope you stop being jealous of others. I hope you feel good, about yourself and the people around you and the world. I hope you eat heaps of salt and vinegar chips because they're the best kind. I hope you accomplish all your hopes & dreams & aspirations and are blissfully happy & get married to Edward Cullen/George Clooney/Megan Fox/Angelina Jolie (delete whichever are inappropriate) & ride a pretty white horse into the sunset & I hope it's all sweet and wonderful because you deserve it because you did well this year in the face of sparkly vampires/great evil/low self-esteem.
”
”
Steph Bowe
“
As Luke knelt down beside his corpse, Clary couldn’t help but remember what he had said about having loved Valentine once, about having been his closest friend. Luke, she thought with a pang. Surely he couldn’t be sad — or even grieved?
But then again, perhaps everyone should have someone to grieve for them, and there was no one else to grieve for Valentine.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
“
Today's Valentine's Day. There's a whole day devoted solely to love. Does that make any sense? Nah. Love makes us all crazy. But it's fun too.
”
”
Lisa Greenwald (Sweet Treats & Secret Crushes)
“
What do you think it would have been like if Valentine had brought you up along with me? Would you have loved me?"
Clary was very glad she had put her cup down, because if she hadn't, she would have dropped it.
Sebastian was looking at her not with any shyness or the sort of natural awkwardness that might be attendant on such a bizarre question, but as if she were a curious, foreign life-form.
"Well," she said. "You're my brother. I would have loved you. I would have...had to.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
“
The love a parent had for a child, there is nothing else like it. No other love so consuming. No father-not even Valentine-would sacrifice his son for a hunk of metal, no matter how powerful.” (The Inquisitor)
“You don’t know my father. He‘ll laugh in your face and offer you some money to mail my body back to Idris.” (Jace)
“Don’t be absurd-”
“You‘re right,” Jace said. “Come to think of it, he‘ll probably make you pay the shipping charges yourself.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
“
The only mistake when it comes to love, is not going for it.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock the Heart (Black Falcon, #1))
“
To a man, sex is the ultimate expression of love. It is pure pleasure. But to a woman there exists something greater than pleasure―gestures of adoration. A gentle caress on the cheek, an attentive smile, a soft kiss while swept away in a slow dance, the whispered words 'You're beautiful'―these are the tokens of love that women cherish.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year)
“
I love you Ender. More than ever. No matter what you decide.
”
”
Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game (Ender's Saga, #1))
“
I want you to know that you are my soul and my HEART.
You are my today, my tomorrow and my PAST.
Nothing and no one can ever break us APART.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
Let's forgive someone for Valentines day, it's a great way to show love, and forgive yourself too for the hurt you held onto.
”
”
Jay Woodman
“
A soulmate will never leave you. They will always be apart of your life until one day the chance is given for them to become your life. It is then you will become one.
”
”
Faye Hall
“
Love is the only answer to every question. It is the only thing that will serve you in every situation. It is the route and the destination. It is medication, liberation and should be at the heart of and expression of your vocation.
”
”
Rasheed Ogunlaru
“
Maybe, in the end, that's all that love was - doing the hard thing. Not roses and valentines and walks on the beach, but simply being present, day after ordinary day. The extraordinary romanticism of ordinary life.
”
”
Thrity Umrigar (Honor)
“
I knew then that Jocelyn would never come back to me, because of you. You are the only thing in the world she ever loved more than she loved me. And because of that she hates me. And because of that, I hate the sight of you
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
“
February - the month of love..?!!
No wonder the shortest one in the calendar.
”
”
Dinesh Kumar Biran
“
There is a sign in the heavens
Another light in the darkness
A better time is beginning
There is a fire star coming
I see the mark of the ice bear
In the tears of the dragon
And you'd better start wishing
There is a fire star coming
Stay with me, my love......
....Until the stars have blinked their last
Wherever on this earth you walk
He will arouse, excite, inspire,
My Valentine, my one dark fire.......
”
”
Chris d'Lacey (Fire Star (The Last Dragon Chronicles, #3))
“
Living without you is like living in a cloudy winter. It's so gloomy, cold and bitter.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
If every lover was treated like they matter — everyday; valentine’s day wouldn’t be so 'special.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
Prove that you love me through a lingering gaze and never losing that twinkle of adoration in your eyes.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year)
“
Valentine, just a few words to tell you how I love you. I have loved you since the first day I saw you. Whenever that was.
”
”
Charles M. Schulz
“
To Rosie
You wrote that card didn't you?
From Alex
To Alex
What card?
From Rosie
To Rosie
Very funny. I no it was you.
From Alex
To Alex
I really don't know what you're talking about. Why would I send you a Valentine's card?
From Rosie
To Rosie
Ha ha! How did you no it was a Valentine's Card! The only way you could no is if you sent it. You love me, you want to marry me.
From Alex
”
”
Cecelia Ahern (Love, Rosie)
“
A day without you beside me
is like a day without warm sunshine.
It's cold and gloomy.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
SHE is neither pink nor pale,
And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.
She has more hair than she needs;
In the sun ’tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of colored beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.
She loves me all that she can,
And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
And she never will be all mine.
”
”
Edna St. Vincent Millay (Renascence and Other Poems (Dover Thrift Editions))
“
And in some way, Clary thought, he meant it, meant his gratitude. He had long ago lost the ability to distinguish between force and cooperation, between fear and willingness, between love and torture. And with that realization came a rush of numbness—what was the point of hating Valentine for being a monster when he didn’t even know he was one?
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3))
“
Run, sweetheart, run.
”
”
Rae Hachton (Frankie's Monster)
“
To my son,
If you are reading this letter, then I am dead.
I expect to die, if not today, then soon. I expect that Valentine will kill me. For all his talk of loving me, for all his desire for a right-hand man, he knows that I have doubts. And he is a man who cannot abide doubt.
I do not know how you will be brought up. I do not know what they will tell you about me. I do not even know who will give you this letter. I entrust it to Amatis, but I cannot see what the future holds. All I know is that this is my chance to give you an accounting of a man you may well hate.
There are three things you must know about me. The first is that I have been a coward. Throughout my life I have made the wrong decisions, because they were easy, because they were self-serving, because I was afraid.
At first I believed in Valentine’s cause. I turned from my family and to the Circle because I fancied myself better than Downworlders and the Clave and my suffocating parents. My anger against them was a tool Valentine bent to his will as he bent and changed so many of us. When he drove Lucian away I did not question it but gladly took his place for my own. When he demanded I leave Amatis, the woman I love, and marry Celine, a girl I did not know, I did as he asked, to my everlasting shame.
I cannot imagine what you might be thinking now, knowing that the girl I speak of was your mother. The second thing you must know is this. Do not blame Celine for any of this, whatever you do. It was not her fault, but mine. Your mother was an innocent from a family that brutalized her. She wanted only kindess, to feel safe and loved. And though my heart had been given already, I loved her, in my fashion, just as in my heart, I was faithful to Amatis. Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae. I wonder if you love Latin as I do, and poetry. I wonder who has taught you.
The third and hardest thing you must know is that I was prepared to hate you. The son of myslef and the child-bride I barely knew, you seemed to be the culmination of all the wrong decisions I had made, all the small compromises that led to my dissolution. Yet as you grew inside my mind, as you grew in the world, a blameless innocent, I began to realize that I did not hate you. It is the nature of parents to see their own image in their children, and it was myself I hated, not you.
For there is only one thing I wan from you, my son — one thing from you, and of you. I want you to be a better man than I was. Let no one else tell you who you are or should be. Love where you wish to. Believe as you wish to. Take freedom as your right.
I don’t ask that you save the world, my boy, my child, the only child I will ever have. I ask only that you be happy.
Stephen
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Lost Souls (The Mortal Instruments, #5))
“
In this life I choose you.
”
”
Truth Devour (Wantin (Wantin #1))
“
It was February sixth: eight days until Valentine's Day. I was dateless, as usual, deep in the vice grip of unrequited love. It was bad enough not having a boyfriend for New Year's Eve. Now I had to cope with Valentine datelessness, feeling consummate social pressure from every retailer in America who stuck hearts and cupids in their windows by January second to rub it in.
”
”
Joan Bauer (Thwonk)
“
If you really love someone and want to build a successful relationship with them, be open with each other, be real to each other and give each other plenty of space, time apart and freedom.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
Tonight I miss you like the sky misses his moon; a delicate epiphany growing on grass. I serenade the breeze into dancing a cha cha cha; the mountains echo in the background. September sky never looked more charming; or the sublime petals of the rose looked so graceful.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
Watching my parents I've learnt a lesson many do not recognize. True love is not signaled by romantic, candle light dinners, red roses glistening with dew, or even Valentine's day celebrations. While these things may accompany our feelings, love is truly more than all those! Love is being with your spouse even when its not pleasing. Sometimes, love is walking down the hall, with your spouse hanging onto your shoulders and walking at a turtle's pace down the hall, just because surgery made life a burden. Love is patient, love is kind, love is Jesus! May we always remember love is not always tied in bows!
”
”
NOT A BOOK
“
I feel like men are more romantic than women. When we get married we marry, like, one girl, 'cause we're resistant the whole way until we meet one girl and we think I'd be an idiot if I didn't marry this girl she's so great. But it seems like girls get to a place where they just kinda pick the best option... 'Oh he's got a good job.' I mean they spend their whole life looking for Prince Charming and then they marry the guy who's got a good job and is gonna stick around.
”
”
Blue Valentine
“
Jack Force was more than she had ever dared wish for, and he was better than a dream or a fantasy because he was real. He was far from perfect, moody and distant at times, and burdened with sharp temper and an impulsiveness that was part of his dark nature. But she felt more love for him than she thought possible. He wasn't perfect, but he was perfect for her. (Schuyler Van Alen)
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (Bloody Valentine (Blue Bloods, #5.5))
“
Death did not play favorites—He loved all equally.
What you cannot escape, you must fight; what you cannot fight, you must endure .
The god's voice—not quite words, just a thread of meaning laid in my receptive mind—
”
”
Lilith Saintcrow (Dead Man Rising (Dante Valentine, #2))
“
Don't wait until it's too late to tell someone how much you love, how much you care.
”
”
Oscar Auliq-Ice
“
The first time I heard you laugh,
I only wanted to say funny things
so you would always be laughing.
You know what happens to chocolate
when you leave it out in the sun?
I’m that unfortunate chocolate
and you, you are the laughing sun.
For this reason, I am offering myself to you
not as a martyr or some selfless fool,
but as a self-indulgent moth
who actively pursues the light
without much fear for the flame.
The moth who revels in the heat
and declares:
Burn me.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
We offer love to our customers. And in return, we receive the finest smiles. And even if we cannot return their affection, at least we can offer a rose.
”
”
Bisco Hatori (Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 4 (Ouran High School Host Club, #4))
“
A broke man’s lover doesn’t feel ‘loved’ on her Birthday, Christmas, and, on Valentine’s Day.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“
That we can only control ourselves. No matter how much we wish we could twist and bend someone’s will to ours, they have to want it too.
”
”
Kasie West (Love, Life, and the List: A Cute Young Adult Light-Romance)
“
Lanie Vance, I have loved you from the moment I saw you … I love you with every inch of me. I’m drawn to your fire and passion, and I don’t think I can ever be without it again. I want you every day for the rest of my life.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock the Band (Black Falcon, #1.5))
“
We'll be together there," said Valentine. "As we should be." That sounds terrific,thought Clary.Just you, your comatose wife, your shell-shocked son, and your daughter
who hates your guts. Not to mention that your two kids may be in love with each other. Yeah, that sounds like
a perfect family reunion.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1))
“
You don’t ever expect to fall in love with words. No one can anticipate such a thing. But should it happen, God help you, because it will seem that no existent man is enough; none can equal what you have perfected in your mind.
”
”
Jennifer DeLucy (A Valentine Anthology)
“
When the Washington Post telephoned me at home on Valentine's Day 1989 to ask my opinion about the Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwah, I felt at once that here was something that completely committed me. It was, if I can phrase it like this, a matter of everything I hated versus everything I loved. In the hate column: dictatorship, religion, stupidity, demagogy, censorship, bullying, and intimidation. In the love column: literature, irony, humor, the individual, and the defense of free expression. Plus, of course, friendship—though I like to think that my reaction would have been the same if I hadn't known Salman at all. To re-state the premise of the argument again: the theocratic head of a foreign despotism offers money in his own name in order to suborn the murder of a civilian citizen of another country, for the offense of writing a work of fiction. No more root-and-branch challenge to the values of the Enlightenment (on the bicentennial of the fall of the Bastille) or to the First Amendment to the Constitution, could be imagined. President George H.W. Bush, when asked to comment, could only say grudgingly that, as far as he could see, no American interests were involved…
”
”
Christopher Hitchens (Hitch 22: A Memoir)
“
You will never know the purest love you can give a person, until the day you hurt because they hurt. You genuinely want them to succeed in life and be free from all the chains that keep them from being happy, whether you are in their life or not.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
“
Two different things. Work is survival, and love sustains you. You have work anytime. But love? Not always.
”
”
Adriana Trigiani (Brava, Valentine)
“
To love is to destroy
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments, #1))
“
Since my trips to Earth, I've only managed to assemble a few basics facts about humans, condensing them in to four, overall points: kids got Reese's, teens got recess, adults got recessions, and seniors got receding.
”
”
Tai Odunsi (Cupid's Academy: The Miseducation of Mergatroyd, Love god in Training)
“
Give me Pablo Neruda, picnic beneath a full moon & iridescent stars, black olives, cherries, dark things, canoe on a river...that's romance.
”
”
Brandi L. Bates (Soledad)
“
Marriage is not kick-boxing, it's salsa dancing.
”
”
Amit Kalantri
“
Here lies a she sun, and a he moon there;
She gives the best light to his sphere;
Or each is both, and all, and so
They unto one another nothing owe;
And yet they do, but are
So just and rich in that coin which they pay,
That neither would, nor needs forbear, nor stay;
Neither desires to be spared nor to spare.
They quickly pay their debt, and then
Take no acquittances, but pay again;
They pay, they give, they lend, and so let fall
No such occasion to be liberal.
More truth, more courage in these two do shine,
Than all thy turtles have and sparrows, Valentine.
”
”
John Donne (The Complete English Poems)
“
The only thing we should scream into the world is love.
”
”
Jill Telford
“
The soul, they say, is divine and the flesh is iniquity. But I am a musician and I ask this - without the wood and the strings of the violin, where would the sonata find form?
”
”
Kathleen Valentine (The Old Mermaid's Tale: A Novel of the Great Lakes)
“
His voice, I remember it sounding like Christmas morning and my birthday and Valentine’s Day and home and I loved him.
”
”
Jessa Hastings (Magnolia Parks (The Magnolia Parks Universe, #1))
“
She has a charm that is incomparable. She has a beautiful heart that flows with love. And she has a sensitive soul that enthralls with magic. She was the spark I had been waiting for all my life.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
Mars knew that love wasn't all red-paper valentines and candy hearts. Love wasn't always joy. Love could be hot-blooded pain down to the bone. Sometimes love was despair. And sometimes love was wrong.
”
”
Randy Russell (Dead Rules)
“
She'd never set a fantasy in a ski lodge, but she was thinking about it now. She couldn't help it. The man was throwing off pheromones like he was a nuclear reactor at Chernobyl. Sitting so close to ground zero, the fallout was lethal.
”
”
Rachel Gibson (The Trouble With Valentine's Day (Chinooks Hockey Team, #3))
“
A bride, before a "Good-night" could be said,
Should vanish from her clothes into her bed,
As souls from bodies steal, and are not spied.
But now she's laid; what though she be?
Yet there are more delays, for where is he?
He comes and passeth through sphere after sphere;
First her sheets, then her arms, then anywhere.
Let not this day, then, but this night be thine;
Thy day was but the eve to this, O Valentine.
”
”
John Donne (The Complete English Poems)
“
From space, astronauts can see people making love as a tiny speck of light. Not light, exactly, but a glow that could be mistaken for light--a coital radiance that takes generations to pour like honey through the darkness to the astronaut's eyes.
In about one and a half centuries--after the lovers who made the glow will have long been laid permanently on their backs--metropolises will be seen from space. They will glow all year. Smaller cities will also be seen, but with great difficulty. Shtetls will be virtually impossible to spot. Individual couples, invisible.
The glow is born from the sum of thousands of loves: newlyweds and teenagers who spark like lighters out of butane, pairs of men who burn fast and bright, pairs of women who illuminate for hours with soft multiple glows, orgies like rock and flint toys sold at festivals, couples trying unsuccessfully to have children who burn their frustrated image on the continent like the bloom a bright light leaves on the eye after you turn away from it.
Some nights, some places are a little brighter. It's difficult to stare at New York City on Valentine's Day, or Dublin on St. Patrick's. The old walled city of Jerusalem lights up like a candle on each of Chanukah's eight nights...We're here, the glow...will say in one and a half centuries. We're here, and we're alive.
”
”
Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated)
“
Isn't that what most everyone wants? To be loved by someone so fiercely that you hold their world in your hands, that you were the one to keep it safe.
”
”
Kelsie Leverich (The Valentine's Arrangement (Hard Feelings, #1))
“
I love you so much that sometimes it hurts.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock the Band (Black Falcon, #1.5))
“
I would have to break the ice with a warm smile that would melt her heart.
”
”
Tai Odunsi (Cupid's Academy: The Miseducation of Mergatroyd, Love god in Training)
“
One Valentine's Day I woke up to find that my husband had laid a trail of red hearts from the bed and halfway around the house to my present. The gift was small because we didn't have much money but I was touched to the heart by the effort he had made to surprise and please me.
”
”
Lynne Graham
“
The power of love is that it sees all people.
”
”
DaShanne Stokes
“
To embrace love, we risk heartbreak. To resist love, we risk emptiness.
”
”
Jennifer Lane (Aced (Blocked #2))
“
Relationships never truly die. Though they may come to an end, their essence lives on, forever etched in the threads of our cherished memories.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
My name? My name is nothing compared to Orion.”
“No, I love your name. You’ve got tons of nickname opportunities. I got O, and that’s it. Oh, actually, I also had people calling me ‘Oreo’ in high school. Hated that.”
“That’s bad, but at least you didn’t have to deal with ‘Valentino’s Day’ every Valentines Day. I had to ask out my friends’ crushes for them like I was Cupid.”
“I’m so sorry, Cupid.”
“It’s okay, Oreo.
”
”
Adam Silvera (The First to Die at the End (They Both Die at the End, #0))
“
Sjofn is the Goddess of Love. And love,” her eyelids suddenly fluttered dreamily, “love,” she breathed then she focused on me with a strange intensity that made me, even me, squirm a little, “love is everything.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Wildest Dreams (Fantasyland, #1))
“
We gather here today,” said Robert, reaching out his arms expansively, “to honor my son, Alexander Gideon Lightwood, who has single-handedly destroyed the forces of the Endarkened and who defeated in battle the son of Valentine Morgenstern. Alec saved the life of our third son, Max. Along with his parabatai, Jace Herondale, I am proud to say that my son is one of the greatest warriors I have ever known.” He turned and smiled at Alec and Magnus. “It takes more than a strong arm to make a great warrior,” he went on. “It takes a great mind and a great heart. My son has both. He is strong in courage, and strong in love. Which is why I also wanted to share our other good news with you. As of yesterday, my son became engaged to be married to his partner, Magnus Bane—”
A chorus of cheers broke out. Magnus accepted them with a modest wave of his fork. Alec slid down in his chair, his cheeks burning. Jace looked at him meditatively.
“Congratulations,” he said. “I kind of feel like I missed an opportunity.”
“W-what?” Alec stammered.
Jace shrugged. “I always knew you had a crush on me, and I kind of had a crush on you, too. I thought you should know.”
“What?” Alec said again.
Clary sat up straight. “You know,” she said, “do you think there’s any chance that you two could ...” She gestured between Jace and Alec. “It would be kind of hot.”
“No,” Magnus said. “I am a very jealous warlock.”
“We’re parabatai,” Alec said, regaining his voice. “The Clave would—I mean—it’s illegal.”
“Oh, come on,” said Jace. “The Clave would let you do anything you wanted. Look, everyone loves you.” He gestured out at the room full of Shadowhunters. They were all cheering as Robert spoke, some of them wiping away tears. A girl at one of the smaller tables held up a sign that said, ALEC LIGHTWOOD, WE LOVE YOU.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments, #6))
“
She wakes, she smiles .... because she is enevloped in the warmth of loving you.
”
”
Truth Devour (Wantin (Wantin #1))
“
I don't mean to immortalize you with my words. It's just the only way I know how to bleed.
”
”
Nitya Prakash
“
You can’t expect people to give you the things you love, unless you know how to ask.
”
”
Genevieve Valentine (The Girls at the Kingfisher Club)
“
Sometimes we meet someone and feel like we have known them all our lives.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
Love yourself, love life, and remember love may be waiting just around the corner for you.
”
”
Cindy Dees (Deadly Valentine: An Anthology (Silhouette Romantic Suspense))
“
Piper, don't hate Valentine's day," he says. I sigh and look down at him. His eyes are still closed. "I'll be your Valentine.
”
”
Heather Hepler (Love? Maybe.)
“
Life is a book. We fill the pages.
”
”
Victoria Valentine
“
No matter how much time and space may come between us, I still feel you.
”
”
Ken Poirot
“
If she's not your first and last thought of the day, let her go. She deserves better.
”
”
Dinesh Kumar Biran
“
When were were cast out of Paradise, we lost part of our soul forever. As part of our punishment, we were cursed never to learn to love again. Instead, we were bound to a destiny that was set from the beginning. Azrael and I never chose each other; the choice was made for us. We never knew anything else.
The ring you hold is part of my soul that your mother helped me recover. It was she who saved us from the Dark and led us back to the Light. As her daughter, you too are an Angel of Light. The fire does not harm you. I lost the ring during the crisis in Rome. But now it has been returned to me.
This ring has been blessed by Gabrielle herself.
I have never given this ring, my soul, to anyone. Azrael has never had any part in this.
This is the only part of myself that is truly mine, and now it is yours.
”
”
Melissa de la Cruz (Bloody Valentine (Blue Bloods, #5.5))
“
Kissing him is like the wildest, most thrilling thing that has ever happened to me. It's like diving into the deep end over and over. He touches the curve of my lip with his tongue, just once, so softly, and I think the whole world is ending, the sudden warmth of his mouth jolting through me like a shock. I hold on like I'm falling off the top of a tall cliff or I'm lost at sea, like he's the only thing solid in the whole tilting world.
”
”
Brenna Yovanoff (Paper Valentine)
“
Valentine clears his throat. "So. Why can't you just say it?"
"Say what?"
"You know what."
"It's hardly the time or place."
"It is if you're dying."
"I can't."
"You're a dick. Just fucking say it!"
"I can't! I'm... English."
"What am I, a Martian? I say it all the time. I know you love me, why can't you say it?"
"If you know, then why do I have to?"
"You're missing the point a bit."
"I took your bullet, you little twat, don't you dare question whether I love you."
"Yeah, but you could say it."
The throb of the gunshots is pounding all down his arm and body. The pain's so bad he wants to cry, like he's five and he's skinned his knee coming off his bike.
"Je t'aime," he says, through gritted teeth, to shut the kid up. "Je ne sais pas pourquoi. Tu es... complètement bête, tu t'habilles comme une pute travestie, je hais ta musique, tu es fou, tu me rends fou, mais je suis fou de toi et je pense à toi tout le temps et je t'aime, oui. Tu comprends? Je t'aime. Seulement... pas en anglais. Je ne peux pas."
Valentine's shifting about like he's uncomfortable. "I ain't got no idea what you just said but I think I need to change my pants."
"Maintenant, ta gueule.
”
”
Richard Rider (Stockholm Syndrome (Stockholm Syndrome, #1))
“
What did you do on Armistice Night? My beloved is mine and I am his!
”
”
Ford Madox Ford (Parade's End)
“
In modern times couples are more concerned about loyalty than love.
”
”
Amit Kalantri (Wealth of Words)
“
She has this amazing aura around her which catches you off-guard. A girl’s innocence combined with a woman’s sensitivity. A charm that is alluring and attractive at the same time.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
…you know how hard it is to be utterly, drop dead gorgeous," she said, twirling that shiny instrument of torture she liked to call her hair.
”
”
Tai Odunsi (Cupid's Academy: The Miseducation of Mergatroyd, Love god in Training)
“
Maski hindi Valentine's Day nagpamudmod ang Malakanyang ng Valentine's package na may lamang five hundred pesos, tatlong latang sardinas, at isang torotot na kapag hinipan mo ay nagsasabing I love you, love mo din ba ako? Ang fatigue na uniform ng army ay ginawang pink para daw mapalapit sa sambayanan.
”
”
Ricky Lee
“
Would you have joined the Circle. Would you have stood by Valentine's side at the Uprising? Raise your hand, if you think it's possible."
Simon was unsurprised to see not a single hand in the air. He'd played this game back in mundane school, every time his history class covered World War II. Simon knew no one ever thought they would be a Nazi.
Simon also knew that, statistically, most of them were wrong.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (The Evil We Love (Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, #5))
“
I'm sorry, all right. I'd take it all back if I could. I don't mean to hurt you, Kitten. I fucking love you and I don't know how to handle it.
”
”
Michelle A. Valentine (Rock My Bed (Black Falcon, #2))
“
Love is found when you don't have to give it. It is the emotion of generosity and kindness that is compelled by no one. It is performed on the battlefield, in our daily tasks, in the marketplace, the factories, at school, in the offices, and in the halls and corridors of government.... But only when one truly gives of himself and without compulsion.
”
”
James Michael Pratt (The Lost Valentine)
“
True love is like a metal tested in a fire. Fires of adversity surround us daily. Are we to love only when it is merely convenient? Like gold or silver, which very hot fire must heat to purge them of impurities, love must be thrust into the fire from time to time to make it purer, stronger and more resilient. And in the same way, live shines its brightest right out of the flames.
”
”
James Michael Pratt (The Lost Valentine)
“
I love you more than applesauce,
than peaches and a plum,
than chocolate hearts and cherry tarts
and berry bubblegum.
I love you more than lemonade
and seven-layer cakes,
than lollipops and candy drops
and thick vanilla shakes.
I love you more than marzipan,
than marmalade on toast,
oh, I love pies of any size,
but I love YOU the most.
”
”
Jack Prelutsky (It's Valentine's Day (Mulberry Read-Alones))
“
Valentine's Day is just a capitalist scam, designed to make people currently in a relationship spend unnecessary money in a fruitless attempt to ensure undying love and devotion. For those of us not in a relationship, Valentine's Day is simply added pressure to identify ourselves within the context of a romantic relationship, whipping us into a frenzy that only the presence of our soul mates can relieve.
”
”
Heather Hepler (Love? Maybe.)
“
Fearful that they would be caught, the young lovers cast themselves into the sea with their stone, saying these words, "May we ever be united in love and hidden as long as this stone hides in deep waters.
”
”
Rebecca Boucher (Novel Hearts)
“
And did you know that Valentine’s Day originally started when this emperor like a million years ago made marriage illegal because he thought it made soldiers weak? This priest—Valentine—married people in secret anyway, and he ended up having his head cut off because of it. So the first Valentine was some guy’s head. There’s some history for you.
It’s sort of perfect, when you think about it. Isn’t falling in love a lot like losing your head?
”
”
Michael Thomas Ford (Suicide Notes)
“
Beauties are like flowers, and I, like a bee,
can't help but feel drawn to each one I see.
”
”
Mouloud Benzadi
“
The best narrative is one of infinite love. A spiritual affair--one not of the material world. Intermingled, with no beginning nor end--it will always stand the test of time.
”
”
Terry A. O'Neal
“
She loved me deeply, madly and passionately. She knew no other way!
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
There is only one woman in man's life : the other one.
”
”
Ljupka Cvetanova (The New Land)
“
If you love yourself first, you will find your Valentine much quicker!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Wherever and whenever possible, give your love to everyone and every being and see every day as the Day of Valentine, the Day of Love for all beings!
”
”
Mehmet Murat ildan
“
Valentine's day without your love is like a year without the Internet.
”
”
Santosh Kalwar
“
Valentine’s Day is an extraordinary moment for recalling the lasting power of a true love.
”
”
M.F. Moonzajer
“
My affection for you is not my problem.
”
”
Ljupka Cvetanova (The New Land)
“
If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.
”
”
Maya Angelou (Summary & Study Guide The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou)
“
Like a driver who has lost control of his vechicle, I was bracing for the impending crash."
From: "My Worst Valentine's Day.Ever: a Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
Love is the name of an irrepressible moment formed inside one complete pulsation of a heart
”
”
Munia Khan
“
Very sweetly, he always told her he loved her just the way she was. Although, honestly he had no idea. She shuddered to think what she would really look like if she stopped waxing, plucking, highlighting, manicuring, applying make-up and
dressing with care and concentration.
”
”
Carmen Reid (How Not To Shop (Annie Valentine, #3))
“
Stephen Herondale would have killed me if he’d ever met me. I would not have been safe living among people like you, or like him. I am the wife and mother of warriors who fought and died and never dishonored themselves as you have. I have worn gear, wielded blades, and slain demons, and all I wished was to overcome evil so that I could live and be happy with those I loved. I’d hoped I had made this a better, safer world for my children. Because of Valentine’s Circle, the Herondale line, the line that was my son’s children’s children, is finished. That happened through you and your Circle and your husband. Stephen Herondale died with hate in his heart and the blood of my people on his hands. I can imagine no more horrible way for mine and Will’s line to end. I will have to carry for the rest of my life the wound of what Valentine’s Circle has done to me, and I will live forever.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (The Last Stand of the New York Institute (The Bane Chronicles, #9))
“
I love you more than my past. I love you more than the obstacles the present is throwing our way. Because you are my future, and I'm going to love you forever because you are my always.
”
”
Marley Valentine (Without You (Without You #1))
“
And just as I'm about to lay on the Yi-Wang-Smooth, I see Lay #1 and Lay #3 show up to our table and take the two empty seats nearby.
From: "My Worst Valentine's Day.Ever: a Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
Did she make you laugh? Did she love you as much as you loved her? Did she protect you and warm you and keep you from suffering? Valentine turned her eyes away from him, unable to face the empty answer in his face but not wanting to stop saying what she had thought for so long. "I saw how fascinating her mystery was to you. For my part, I think that the mystery is always greatest where there is the most-emptiness. A person full of life is never mysterious, on the contrary.
”
”
Judith Krantz (Scruples)
“
Your skin reminds me of everything beautiful I've ever loved...
how the moon gets jealous at how you mock her crescent figure with the shape of your mouth...
echo of unborn galaxies bounce forth through your vocal chords...
”
”
Brandi L. Bates
“
So I'm delighted to open up a bit about these particular details, in honor of Valentine's Day (when every balding, chubby, and short actuary wants people - especially the babes out there - to know about his studly past"
From: "My Best Valentine's Day.Ever: a Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
Certainly, the average fashion magazine gives women ridiculous relationship advice that makes it easy to understand why women are so eager to overcompensate: “Play hard to get, then cook him a four-course meal … bake him Valentine’s cookies with exotic sprinkles shipped from Malaysia (just like Martha Stewart). Don’t forget the little doilies and the organic strawberries that you drove two hours to get. Then serve it all to him on the second date, wearing a black lace nightie.” And what is this a recipe for? Disaster.
”
”
Sherry Argov (Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl-A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship)
“
Once in a while, our thoughts drift and fade, back into the recessed hiding places where our memories are stored. At times we recall them- the memories of our loves, our youths, our life experiences. These dreams appear to us, and for seconds, minutes, or hours we are there once again.
”
”
James Michael Pratt (The Last Valentine)
“
She is forever beautiful just like the roses.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
You are lovelier than all the roses in the world.
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
She was like a mermaid enrapturing me the sailor with all her charms!
”
”
Avijeet Das
“
a husband should treat a wife like a queen and that a wife should treat a husband like a well-loved servant.
”
”
Sugar Jamison (My Curvy Valentine (Perfect Fit, #3.5))
“
Happy and giggly and bustly, the Hogfly ignored Hiccup’s strangled cries of:
“Hoglfy! Come back here, Hogfly!”
“Ooh!” it squeaked in delighted confusion. “You all look so lovely! How am I to choose which one of you to be my friend?”
It perched on the sinister swoop of the Razorwing’s nose.
“Where’s my biscuit? Are you married? Be my valentine…”
“I can’t bear to watch…” groaned Fishlegs.
It was like seeing an enthusiastic bunny rabbit trying to make friends with a heavily armed, bunny-eating cobra.
”
”
Cressida Cowell (How to Betray a Dragon's Hero (How to Train Your Dragon, #11))
“
Every book has at least one good thing…Love stories and bad news and evil masterminds, plots as thick as sludge, places and people she wishes she could know in real life, and words whose loveliness and music make her want to cry when she says them aloud.
”
”
Elizabeth Wetmore (Valentine)
“
Summoning my inner Kojak, I tried to convince myself that she would have sat next to me even had there been somewhere else on the bus to sit. Unfortunately, I didn't do a very good job of self-persuasion. Good thing I wasn't in court suing myself, because I would have lost.
From: "My Best Valentine's Day.Ever: A Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
At times like these, size really does matter," I point out, at I extend my ginormous umbrella over her in a way that stops any rain droplets from falling on her.
My Best Valentine's Day Ever, A Short Story by Zack Love
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
Nothing belongs to itself anymore.
These trees are yours because you once looked at them.
These streets are yours because you once traversed them.
These coffee shops and bookshops, these cafés and bars, their sole owner is you.
They gave themselves so willingly, surrendering to your perfume.
You sang with the birds and they stopped to listen to you.
You smiled at the sheepish stars and they fell into your hair.
The sun and moon, the sea and mountain, they have all left from heartbreak.
Nothing belongs to itself anymore.
You once spoke to Him, and then God became yours.
He sits with us in darkness now
to plot how to make you ours.” K.K.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
“
New York City is legendary for sleeping around. There's hot tail everywhere and it's such a big city that two-timing and even three-timing is very doable, if you plan it right."
From "My Worst Valentine's Day.Ever. (a Short Story)
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
I love you, Meghan,” he said quietly, his gaze never leaving my face. A warm glow spread through my stomach, and not from the wine. “I never thought I could be happy again. But you...when I’m with you, everything I’ve endured, everything that’s happened to me, it was all worth it. I will give you a thousand Valentine’s Days, if it makes you smile like that.”He put down his wine and stepped close, taking my glass and setting it on the table. His strong arms wrapped around my waist, drawing me against him. “Forever, Meghan Chase,” he murmured, stroking my cheek. “I’m yours, forever.
”
”
Julie Kagawa (An Iron Fey Valentine (The Iron Fey, #4.4))
“
Everyone should be encouraged at every turn to develop their own modest yet unique repertoire—to find a few dishes they love and practice at preparing them until they are proud of the result. To either respect in this way their own past—or express through cooking their dreams for the future. Every citizen would thus have their own specialty. Why can we not do this? There is no reason in the world. Let us then go forward. With vigor.
”
”
Anthony Bourdain (Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook)
“
In Poetry class, Professor Sappho teaches us how to compose love ballads. She's a swell teacher and all but I'm not sure I understand her. She's always going on and on about her weekend trips with the other goddesses to the island of Lesbos.
”
”
Tai Odunsi (Cupid's Academy: The Miseducation of Mergatroyd, Love god in Training)
“
I poked him in the chest. 'First of all, yes, it was. Lacy cards and love tokens were widely exchanged even in Victorian times. By now, you should know better than to screw with me on historical trivia.
”
”
Molly Harper (Nice Girls Don't Date Dead Men (Jane Jameson, #2))
“
Love is an afternoon of fishing when I'd sooner be at the ballet.
Love is eating burnt toast and lumpy graving with a big smile.
Love is hearing the words 'You're beautiful' as I fail to squeeze into my fat jeans.
Love is refusing to bring up the past, even if doing so would be a slam dunk to prove your point.
Love is your hand wiping away my tears, trying to erase streaks of mascara.
Love is the warm hug that extinguishes an argument.
Love is a humbly-uttered apology, even if not at fault.
Love is easy to recognize but so hard to define; however, I think it boils down to this...
Love is caring so much about the feelings of someone else, you sacrifice whatever it takes to help him or her feel better.
In other words, love is my heart being sensitive to yours.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year)
“
I lifted my head up once more, noticing the contentment in his eyes as he looked at me. It was similar to the peace I had seen on his face after I lost the bet to stay with him in the apartment, after I told him I loved him for the first time, and the morning after the Valentine’s dance. It was similar, but different. This was absolute—permanent. The cautious hope had vanished from his eyes, unqualified trust taking its place.
I recognized it only because his eyes mirrored what I was feeling.
”
”
Jamie McGuire (Beautiful Disaster (Beautiful, #1))
“
What's wrong with the world Peter?
God, I don't know. Where do you start? People give up. We're defeatists and we stop striving or fighting or enjoying things. It doesn't matter what you're talking about - war, work, marriage, democracy, love, it all fails because everybody gives up trying after a while, we can't help ourselves. And don't ask me to solve it because I am the worst. I'd escape tomorrow if I could, from every single thing I've always wanted.
”
”
Jenny Valentine (Finding Violet Park)
“
Again, the terror, the acknowledgment of wasted years and death. Valentin, responsive and confident, still nestled in his arms. His cheek touched the soft cheek and felt the brush of the delicate eyelashes. With inner desperation he pressed the child close - as though an emotion as protean as his love could dominate the pulse of time.
”
”
Carson McCullers (The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories)
“
Are you waiting for someone to come and get you?” I whisper. I sound small and thirsty. He doesn’t answer. Instead, he bends his head and kisses me, just once, then let’s me go.
When Connor would kiss Angelie in the halls last spring, he did it like he was trying to suck the chocolate off the outside of a Klondike bar.
It could last for hours. This is more like seeing a star fall - thrilling and soundless and then over.
”
”
Brenna Yovanoff (Paper Valentine)
“
My phone vibrates and I glance at it.
Good night. <3 Rae
That little heart emoticon gives me the goofiest swell of emotion in history. Hell, I think I could give Wyatt a run for his money. He’s the king of goof.
Night. I add a heart because it seems like the appropriate thing to do. Guess that makes me the king of goof’s bitch? Or is that love’s bitch?
Either way, this girl owns me.
”
”
Marquita Valentine (Live for You (Boys of the South, #1))
“
Love is the only emotion strong enough to sweep us off our feet, but remain unmoved when we are knocked to our knees. And if I am willing to embrace the former but flee from the latter, I’ve confused love with infatuation.
”
”
Craig D. Lounsbrough
“
This was getting uglier by the minute, I thought. There really was no easy escape, since we were sitting far from the exit and the waiters knew me from prior dinner dates with Ashley and I hadn't paid the tab yet.
From: "My Worst Valentine's Day.Ever: a Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
Villanelle for my valentine
Old love, I thought I'd never see the time
because of all we've done and often said
when I'd be yours, my dear, and you'd be mine.
And what relief to soften, and resign
the battle of the heart over the head.
old love, I thought I'd never see the time
when qualms and cold feet that could undermine
all we've held out for, dissipate instead
now that I'm yours, my dear and you are mine.
I'm still amazed how our two lives align
the two of us! A pair! Take it as read,
old love, I thought I'd never see the time
The tangle of our jumpers in the line,
the battle for the blankets in our bed
confirm that I am yours, and you are mine.
So then, this is my pledge, my valentine:
my hand's in yours for all that lies ahead.
Oh love, there's never been a better time
now that I'm yours, and finally, you're mine.
”
”
Elise Valmorbida (The Book of Happy Endings: True Stories About Finding Love)
“
I love you , Valentine’ is actually a popular phrase used in greeting cards.”
If you were sending me one, what would it say?” he asks.
I love you, too, Roman.”
And there it is, words that I dread to say and do mean, because with them comes the responsibility of owning it, moving forward together and deciding for real who we are to each other. Now we’re not just lovers discovering what we like and sharing what we know. In this mutual declaration, we’re accountable to each other. We’re in love, and now, our relationship has to build slowly and beautifully in order to hold all the joy and misery that lies ahead.
”
”
Adriana Trigiani (Very Valentine (Valentine, #1))
“
Ollie Girl, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, lived my life a little too carelessly, in ways that people didn’t approve of. But I wouldn’t change a thing. Because I was waiting for you. Waiting for a love that would walk into my life and blow my whole world up. I want to celebrate every Valentine’s Day & birthday with you. Love, Carter
”
”
Becka Mack (Consider Me (Playing For Keeps, #1))
“
Everything is going as planned until I notice that Ashley has barely touched her wine glass or food after ordering the priciest bottle and several of the most expensive dishes on the menu.
From "My Worst Valentine's Day.Ever: a Short Story
”
”
Zack Love (Stories and Scripts: an Anthology)
“
To her own heart, which was shaped exactly like a valentine, there came a winglike palpitation, a delicate exigency, and all the fragrance of all the flowery springtime love affairs that ever were seemed waiting for them in the whisky bottle. To mingle their pain their handshake had promised them, was to produce a separate entity, like a child that could shift for itself, and they scrambled hastily toward this profound and pastoral experience.
”
”
Jean Stafford (The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford)
“
YOU
You are that song that plays rarely on the radio,
But when it does I have to sing it out loud…
You are the water that formed a puddle on a rainy day,that I played in,
When I was only eight years old.
You are the first snowfall of the season,
And the reason I like the morning...
You’re a single seashell that washed up onto the shore.
You are my set of old medals
Hidden deep in a drawer…
You are the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the planets.
You are the first breath of a baby just born.
Eres una dandelion que encuentro,
I pull, make a wish, then blow.
You are the sunrise that I tried to paint
after I woke up in Eilat.
You give the nights its meaning…
to dream, while others just sleep.
You are my 3rd grade valentine,
Read, frayed and loved a thousand times.
Eres perfección envuelto en humildad…
Eres oro, plata, y diamantes…
Eres mi querido viejito Pooh, que nunca lo abandonare.
You are my first time driving my brother’s Impala,
When I was just fourteen.
You are the name hidden deep inside my name…
And I’m the fingers interlaced with yours.
Eres el PS: I love you at the end la carta,
Y yo soy el PS: I love you too.
Somos el principio, el medio y la ultima palabra
De mi libro final.
Eternamente nosotros, nosotros, nosotros…
Porque nosotros siempre es mejor
Que solamente… yo…
YOU
”
”
José N. Harris
“
Upon my soul!' Tietjens said to himself, 'that girl down there is the only intelligent living soul I've met for years.' A little pronounced in manner sometimes; faulty in reasoning naturally, but quite intelligent, with a touch of wrong accent now and then. But if she was wanted anywhere, there she'd be! Of good stock, of course: on both sides! But positively, she and Sylvia were the only two human beings he had met for years whom he could respect: the one for sheer efficiency in killing; the other for having the constructive desire and knowing how to set about it. Kill or cure! The two functions of man. If you wanted something killed you'd go to Sylvia Tietjens in sure faith that she would kill it: emotion, hope, ideal; kill it quick and sure. If you wanted something kept alive you'd go to Valentine: she's find something to do for it. . . . The two types of mind: remorseless enemy, sure screen, dagger ... sheath!
Perhaps the future of the world then was to women? Why not? He hand't in years met a man that he hadn't to talk down to - as you talk down to a child, as he had talked down to General Campion or to Mr. Waterhouse ... as he always talked down to Macmaster. All good fellows in their way ...
”
”
Ford Madox Ford (Parade's End)
“
It's funny. Friendships are Catch twenty-twos when you're single and in your thirties. Friends are your life rafts. You try to help each other meet people, you confide in each other, you spend Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, all those emotional land-mine holidays together. But sooner or later one of you is going to meet someone and be gone into the world of couples.
”
”
Will McIntosh (Love Minus Eighty)
“
Then, Valentine’s Day came. There was a dance, and balloons and flowers and cheaply made rings and all sorts of lame teddy bears and stuffed animals, as if teenagers can be wooed with the same shit as five-year-olds. It was the Dietzes’ most hated holiday of the year, too, because it dealt with the consumerization of something sacred. Mom and Dad had agreed never to buy each other anything on the day. It was a false, Hallmark holiday. A sham. A moneymaking sideshow for insecure couples who didn’t have true love. I agreed with this, for the most part.
”
”
A.S. King (Please Ignore Vera Dietz)
“
Not until I felt your sunshine,
Did I realize that I had been in the shade.
Not until I saw all your colors,
Did I realize that mine had faded.
Not until I heard your dreams,
Did I realize that I was still sleeping.
And not until I experienced my life with you,
Did I realize that I was barely
Breathing.
NOT UNTIL I MET YOU by Suzy Kassem
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
“
I pity you Juliet. You don't know what love is. You think it's Valentine's Day, and weekends in Italy. You think it's drinking champagne in some expensive restaurant and being bought stupid bloody underwear. But that's just the trimmings. The decoration. They're just gestures. Without trust, and respect, and kindness, they don't mean shit. I thought love was about caring about someone day in and day out, about being there when it's rucking amazing and still wanting to be there when it feels like crap, I thought it was about forever.
”
”
Alexandra Potter (Calling Romeo)
“
Under the twinkling trees was a table covered with Guatemalan fabric, roses in juice jars, wax rose candles from Tijuana and plates of food — Weetzie's Vegetable Love-Rice, My Secret Agent Lover Man's guacamole, Dirk's homemade pizza, Duck's fig and berry salad and Surfer Surprise Protein Punch, Brandy-Lynn's pink macaroni, Coyote's cornmeal cakes, Ping's mushu plum crepes and Valentine's Jamaican plantain pie. Witch Baby's stomach growled but she didn't leave her hiding place. Instead, she listened to the reggae, surf, soul and salsa, tugged at the snarl balls in her hair and snapped pictures of all the couples.
”
”
Francesca Lia Block (Witch Baby (Weetzie Bat, #2))
“
Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not eny anyone or anything. Love never boasts and it's never proud. Love is not rude, it's not self serving, self absorbed or conceited. Love is no t easily provoked to anger. It doesn't hold grudges nor does it keep records of who was right and who was wrong. Love does not consult with evil instead it rejoices in the truth. Love always protects. Love always trust. Love always hopes. Love always perseveres. And love never fails.
”
”
Paul the Apostle
“
People stick hearts on Valentine's cards and get married in white dresses and give each other flowers. They think love is every-thing going right. That's not love. That's self-indulgence. That's good luck. Love is when you walk into the burning building. Love is when the person who means most to you in the world is breathing through a mask and pissing in a bag. Love is when they no longer know your name.
”
”
Mark Haddon (Polar Bears)
“
It was Valentine's Day and I had spent the day in bed with my life partner, Ketel One. The two of us watched a romance movie marathon on TBS Superstation that made me wonder how people who write romantic comedies can sleep at night.
At some point during almost every romantic comedy, the female lead suddenly trips and falls, stumbling helplessly over something ridiculous like a leaf, and then some Matthew McConaughey type either whips around the corner just in the nick of time to save her or is clumsily pulled down along with her. That event predictably leads to the magical moment of their first kiss. Please. I fall all-the-time. You know who comes and gets me? The bouncer.
Then, within the two hour time frame of the movie, the couple meet, fall in love, fall out of love, break up, and then just before the end of the movie, they happen to bump into each other by "coincidence" somewhere absolutely absurd, like by the river. This never happens in real life. The last time I bumped into an ex-boyfriend was at three o'clock in the morning at Rite Aid. I was ringing up Gas-X and corn removers.
”
”
Chelsea Handler (My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands)
“
It is my fault".
"You're right. It is". At that Jace looked up in absolute astonishment. Surprise at being agreed with battled with horror and relief in equal measures.
"Is it?"
"The harm is not deliberate, of course. But you are like me. We poison and destroy everything we love. There is a reason for that".
"What reason?"
Valentine glanced up at the sky. "We are meant for a higher purpose, you and I. The distractions of the world are just that, distractions. If we allow ourselves to be turned aside from our course by them, we are duly punished."
"And our punishment is visited on everyone we care about? That seems a little hard on them."
"Fate is never fair[...]
”
”
Cassandra Clare (City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2))
“
I said, “What do I think? That's what I'm asking you? What is there to think?” “Looks like he wants you to be his valentine.” “Louise, I can read. But what does it mean?” “Oh, you know. His valentine. His love.” There was that hateful word again. That treacherous word that yawned up at you like a volcano. “Well, I won't. Most decidedly I won't. Not ever again.” “Have you been his valentine before? What do you mean never again?” I couldn't lie to my friend and I wasn't about to freshen old ghosts. “Well, don't answer him then, and that's the end of it.” I was a little relieved that she thought it could be gotten rid of so quickly. I tore the note in half and gave her a part. Walking down the hill we minced the paper in a thousand shreds and gave it to the wind.
”
”
Maya Angelou (I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (Maya Angelou's Autobiography, #1))
“
The heart is a mystical thing. It keeps us alive by pumping blood to every part of our body. It is a strong organ which scientists say has no memory. But the heart is also a thing of great speculation and power; spoken, written, and even put into songs, by many great authors, singers, actors and poets around the world. The heart is supposed to be the center of love, feeling, loneliness and heartbreak.
And it was that organ, that great red Valentine's Day sought-after-object that was at present causing me trouble
”
”
Renee Lake (Rose Blossom)
“
It’s super-important to have a strong social media presence, and Jane’s always going, When interviewers ask you about your Twitter, say you love reaching out directly to your fans, and I’m like, I don’t even know how to use Twitter or what the password is because you disabled my laptop’s wireless and only let me go on the Internet to do homework research or email Nadine assignments, and she says, I’m doing you a big favor, it’s for nobodies who want to pretend like they’re famous and for self-promoting hacks without PR machines, and adults act like teenagers passing notes and everyone’s IQ drops thirty points on it.
”
”
Teddy Wayne (The Love Song of Jonny Valentine)
“
I saw what Andrew did in our family. I saw that he came in and listened and watched and understood who we were, each individual one of us. He tried to discover our need and then supply it. He took responsibility for other people and it didn't seem to matter to him how much it cost him. And in the end, while he could never make the Ribeira family normal, he gave us peace and pride and identity. Stability. He married Mother and was kind to her. He loved us all. He was always there when we wanted him, and seemed unhurt by it when we didn't. He was firm with us about expecting civilized behavior, but never indulged his whims at our expense. And I thought: This is so much more important than science. Or politics, either. Or any particular profession or accomplishment or thing you can make. I thought: If I could just make a good family, if I could just learn to be to other children, their whole lives, what Andrew was, coming so late into ours, then that would mean more in the long run, it would be a finer accomplishment than anything I could ever do with my mind or hands."
"So you're a career father," said Valentine.
"Who works at a brick factory to feed and clothe the family. Not a brick-maker who also has kids. Lini also feels the same way... She followed her own road to the same place. We do what we must to earn our place in the community, but we live for the hours at home. For each other, for the children.
”
”
Orson Scott Card (Xenocide (Ender's Saga, #3))
“
The grassy park was lined with dozens of kissing booths. Twinkle lights draped back-and-forth between tall trees, making a canopy of stars above the red and pink tables below. People were lined up at each booth, applying lipstick and perfume as they readied for their purchased kisses.
Behind the booths stood a large white gazebo housing a group of musicians. As a love song filled the air, couples intertwined their bodies and swayed to the melody.
Here and there, children ran about wearing red hats and eating lip-shaped chocolates, while women waited impatiently for quickie makeovers under a flashy pink tent.
The park was littered with couples kissing behind trees and making out on park benches. And paper stars were everywhere; in trees, on the ground, above heads, inside mouths….
It was like Valentine’s Day.
On crack.
”
”
Chelsea Fine
“
My second crush,
don't know, who you are,
by thinking of you,
my day pass.
The things, the things, the things changed,
forgot the first, second begins.
The second crush,
my second crush,
don't know who you are,
but, by thinking of you,
my day pass.
Who you are, i don't know,
but seeing you shed tears.
My feelings drop, water stops,
in my eyes.
The things, the things, the things changed.
I fall in love, are you goddess or what.
As i came near you,
my heart beat rise.
Want to stop my legs,
but they attracts.
Like your tears attract the sand,
when they are falling on land.
My heart, my heart, my heart beat rise,
you came, you came, you are closer to my eyes.
I see tears fallen on the ground,
my love rotating around you round and round.
Now, you are the first,
you are the last,
that i told you my sweet heart.
When i see you first time,
it was my last time,
to fall in love, my dear valentine.
The second crush,
my second crush,
don't know who you are,
but, by thinking of you,
my day pass.
The things, the things, the things changed.
Now, crush end,
time spend,
love start,
now, you are my life part.:-)
”
”
Abhishek Singh Sikarwar
“
Valentine had wanted to crush the world as Magnus knew it. But this woman had helped crush him instead, and now she was looking at her daughter as if she would make another world, shining and brand new, just for Clary, so Clary would never be touched by any of the darkness of the past. Magnus knew what it was to want to forget as badly as Jocelyn did, knew the passionate urge to protect that came with love.
Perhaps none of the children of the new generation- not this small stubborn red headed scrap, or half-faerie Helen and Mark Blackthorn at the Los Angeles Institute, or even Maryse Lightwood's children growing up in New York far from the Glass City- would ever have to learn the full truth about the ugliness of the past.
”
”
Cassandra Clare (The Bane Chronicles)
“
Look at your heart! It tells the story of why you were made. It is not perfect in shape and contour, like a Valentine Heart. There seems to be a small piece missing out of the side of every human heart. That may be to symbolize a piece that was torn out of the Heart of Christ which embraced all humanity on the Cross. But I think the real meaning is that when God made your human heart, He found it so good and so lovable that He kept a small sample of it in heaven. He sent the rest of it into this world to enjoy His gifts, and to use them as stepping stones back to Him, but to be ever mindful that you can never love anything in this world with your whole heart because you have not a whole heart with which to love. In order to love anyone with your whole heart, in order to be really peaceful, in order to be really wholehearted, you must go back again to God to recover the piece He has been keeping for you from all eternity.
”
”
Fulton J. Sheen (Finding True Happiness)
“
We Were Lonely My Valentine.
along a pavement of loneliness
you towards me
and I towards you
unknown celestial bodies eclipse at night
we pass and our gravity of loneliness
brings us together
so close to touch
but not close enough
your presence draws my heart
and I feel you can’t pull away
from gravity we stargaze
our loneliness orbits
and companionship to fill the black void
we touch and our solitude
evaporates into the stratosphere
and the night is secluded
I take you as a lover
and you take me as yours
we enter the expanding universe at its core
the night to linger in our arms
we feel humanity
as humans share
we need each other
as strangers share
we feel included and wanted
for one night only we are true lovers
one last kiss my valentine
celestial bodies continue on their extraterrestrial journeys
as I walk in the breaking dawn
along the pavement of loneliness
I know loneliness can be confined
”
”
R.M. Romarney
“
In The Garret
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
All fashioned and filled, long ago,
By children now in their prime.
Four little keys hung side by side,
With faded ribbons, brave and gay
When fastened there, with childish pride,
Long ago, on a rainy day.
Four little names, one on each lid,
Carved out by a boyish hand,
And underneath there lieth hid
Histories of the happy band
Once playing here, and pausing oft
To hear the sweet refrain,
That came and went on the roof aloft,
In the falling summer rain.
'Meg' on the first lid, smooth and fair.
I look in with loving eyes,
For folded here, with well-known care,
A goodly gathering lies,
The record of a peaceful life--
Gifts to gentle child and girl,
A bridal gown, lines to a wife,
A tiny shoe, a baby curl.
No toys in this first chest remain,
For all are carried away,
In their old age, to join again
In another small Meg's play.
Ah, happy mother! Well I know
You hear, like a sweet refrain,
Lullabies ever soft and low
In the falling summer rain.
'Jo' on the next lid, scratched and worn,
And within a motley store
Of headless dolls, of schoolbooks torn,
Birds and beasts that speak no more,
Spoils brought home from the fairy ground
Only trod by youthful feet,
Dreams of a future never found,
Memories of a past still sweet,
Half-writ poems, stories wild,
April letters, warm and cold,
Diaries of a wilful child,
Hints of a woman early old,
A woman in a lonely home,
Hearing, like a sad refrain--
'Be worthy, love, and love will come,'
In the falling summer rain.
My Beth! the dust is always swept
From the lid that bears your name,
As if by loving eyes that wept,
By careful hands that often came.
Death canonized for us one saint,
Ever less human than divine,
And still we lay, with tender plaint,
Relics in this household shrine--
The silver bell, so seldom rung,
The little cap which last she wore,
The fair, dead Catherine that hung
By angels borne above her door.
The songs she sang, without lament,
In her prison-house of pain,
Forever are they sweetly blent
With the falling summer rain.
Upon the last lid's polished field--
Legend now both fair and true
A gallant knight bears on his shield,
'Amy' in letters gold and blue.
Within lie snoods that bound her hair,
Slippers that have danced their last,
Faded flowers laid by with care,
Fans whose airy toils are past,
Gay valentines, all ardent flames,
Trifles that have borne their part
In girlish hopes and fears and shames,
The record of a maiden heart
Now learning fairer, truer spells,
Hearing, like a blithe refrain,
The silver sound of bridal bells
In the falling summer rain.
Four little chests all in a row,
Dim with dust, and worn by time,
Four women, taught by weal and woe
To love and labor in their prime.
Four sisters, parted for an hour,
None lost, one only gone before,
Made by love's immortal power,
Nearest and dearest evermore.
Oh, when these hidden stores of ours
Lie open to the Father's sight,
May they be rich in golden hours,
Deeds that show fairer for the light,
Lives whose brave music long shall ring,
Like a spirit-stirring strain,
Souls that shall gladly soar and sing
In the long sunshine after rain
”
”
Louisa May Alcott (Little Women)
“
That day was an education for me. I'll never forget it. Standing in teh doorway, watching the reaction of the men and women gathered there, I witnessed the poewrful effect of unwavering, uncomplaining, uncompromising leadership. It changed me. It was one of those moments when you say to yourself, [in italics] That's what I want to be when I grow up. and you know you've grown up a little already, simply because you recognize it.
Norman called Ducky-Bob's party supply and ordered chairs while I wheeled the second bed out to the hallway. Mommy, Margaret Valentine, and I rushed around, getting everything we needed to cater the cramped but memorable even, and on Tuesday morning, about three dozen top members of the Chili's team jammed into Norman's room at Presbyterian Hospital. Norman didn't what his people to see him lying down, so I'd helped him get into a jogging suit and robe, and propped him up on one of those rolling carts they use to distribute meals. He was in unthinkable pain, but he spoke to them from his heart about how much he appreciated them, how committed he was to the success of the organization, and how far they could all go together.
”
”
Nancy G. Brinker (Promise Me: How a Sister's Love Launched the Global Movement to End Breast Cancer)
“
Oh, stop talking," I cried, in a hunted tone. "I can't bear it. If you are going to arrest me, get it over."
"I'd rather NOT arrest you, if we can find a way out. You look so young, so new to Crime! Even your excuse for being here is so naive, that I—won't you tell me why you wrote a love letter, if you are not in love? And whom you sent it to? That's important, you see, as it bears on the case. I intend," he said, "to be judgdicial[sic], unimpassioned, and quite fair."
"I wrote a love letter" I explained, feeling rather cheered, "but it was not intended for any one, Do you see? It was just a love letter."
"Oh," he said. "Of course. It is often done. And after that?"
"Well, it had to go somewhere. At least I felt that way about it. So I made up a name from some malted milk tablets——"
"Malted milk tablets!" he said, looking bewildered.
"Just as I was thinking up a name to send it to," I explained, "Hannah—that's mother's maid, you know—brought in some hot milk and some malted milk tablets, and I took the name from them."
"Look here," he said, "I'm unpredjudiced and quite calm, but isn't the `mother's maid' rather piling it on?"
"Hannah is mother's maid, and she brought in the milk and the tablets, I should think," I said, growing sarcastic, "that so far it is clear to the dullest mind."
"Go on," he said, leaning back and closing his eyes. "You named the letter for your mother's maid—I mean for the malted milk. Although you have not yet stated the name you chose; I never heard of any one named Milk, and as to the other, while I have known some rather thoroughly malted people—however, let that go."
"Valentine's tablets," I said. "Of Course, you understand," I said, bending forward, "there was no such Person. I made him up. The Harold was made up too—Harold Valentine."
"I see. Not clearly, perhaps, but I have a gleam of intellagence[sic]."
"But, after all, there was such a person. That's clear, isn't it? And now he considers that we are engaged, and—and he insists on marrying me."
"That," he said, "is realy[sic] easy to understand. I don't blame him at all. He is clearly a person of diszernment[sic]."
"Of course," I said bitterly, "you would be on HIS side. Every one is."
"But the point is this," he went on. "If you made him up out of the whole cloth, as it were, and there was no such Person, how can there be such a Person? I am merely asking to get it all clear in my head. It sounds so reasonable when you say it, but there seems to be something left out."
"I don't know how he can be, but he is," I said, hopelessly. "And he is exactly like his picture."
"Well, that's not unusual, you know."
"It is in this case. Because I bought the picture in a shop, and just pretended it was him. (He?) And it WAS."
He got up and paced the floor.
"It's a very strange case," he said. "Do you mind if I light a cigarette? It helps to clear my brain. What was the name you gave him?"
"Harold Valentine. But he is here under another name, because of my Familey. They think I am a mere child, you see, and so of course he took a NOM DE PLUME."
"A NOM DE PLUME? Oh I see! What is it?"
"Grosvenor," I said. "The same as yours.
”
”
Mary Roberts Rinehart (Bab: A Sub-Deb)