“If you expect your partner to make you happy, you are demanding love. If you were happy when you were single, you’re more likely to be happy in your relationship. And when you’re happy, you can focus on ‘sharing your love’ instead of ‘demanding happiness.’”— Tiny Buddha, tinybuddha.com
“An effective strategy to effect positive growth and transformation in your relationship is to ‘be the change’ you want to see. If you want more of ‘something,’ start with giving what you want to receive. If you want more patience, be patient. If you want more affection, express your love more demons…”— Marcy Cole, huffingtonpost.com
“Focus on Haves, Not Have-Nots. Energy flows where attention goes. Remember why you fell in love, why you chose your beloved. Focus on what you have, and it will expand. What you appreciate appreciates in value.”— Marcy Cole, huffingtonpost.com
“Silly little tradition that works for us: He tucks me in every night. I go to bed earlier than he does so I can wake up earlier for work, so he'll pull the covers over me, turn down the lights and TV, lie with me for a minute, and give me a little hug. It's a nice quiet moment that reminds us how mu…”— Anonymous Woman, cosmopolitan.com
“Be nice to each other. For the vast majority of couples that come to see me, this is their first homework assignment, and it almost always helps in a significant way. If you’ve been at odds with each other, you have probably stopped doing nice things for one another. Keep opening doors, making nice…”— Barton Goldsmith, psychologytoday.com
“The only way to lasting fulfillment in a relationship is by offering my love freely without expecting anything in return for it.”— Bryan Reeves, thoughtcatalog.com
“To put it simply, love does NOT conquer all. All is a lot. It’s literally everything. To say that love conquers all is hyperbolic and misleading. It’s also a dangerous belief to hold onto because it engenders a kind of hopeful laziness. People who cling to the notion that everything will work out as…”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“Dwelling on the bad things won’t change those things. It’s better to think of all the good times you’ve spent together.”— John Alex Clark, thoughtcatalog.com
“Your partner’s best qualities—the ones that make you love them so damn much—will fail them sometimes. Because a person’s greatest strengths are also their greatest weaknesses.”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“I’m sorry, but there’s no one on the planet who’s immune to temptation.”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“The thing about relationships is that they tend to grow stronger with time all on their own. Moments are constantly transforming into shared memories, good and bad. Nothing can stop the timeline of your existence as a couple from getting longer, day after day, or the roots of your bond from growing…”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“At a certain point in a relationship—once you’ve moved in together and your lives, including your schedules and finances, are nearly 100% intertwined—the prospect of splitting up becomes intimidatingly tedious. Breaking up might seem like a great idea in the aftermath of a nasty fight, but only unti…”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“You will sometimes struggle to find it in your heart to forgive each other.”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“Loving someone means caring enough to give them the space they need to be an asshole or a curmudgeon some days for no apparent reason—to appreciate them when they’re at their darkest as well as their happiest. You won’t like your boyfriend or girlfriend all the time, but you won’t like yourself ever…”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“It’s more important to consciously choose them every single day than it is to believe that you were simply ‘meant to fall in love.’ Whether you realize it or not, you’re the one that decided to take this leap with them – you’re not just a passive pawn on Fate’s chessboard.”— Kim Quindlen, thoughtcatalog.com
“You treasure their casual handwritten notes and cards more than the most expensive thing they’ve ever given you.”— Kim Quindlen, thoughtcatalog.com
“Some of your ‘terms of endearment’ for one another are not terms of endearment at all. Rather, they’re nicknames like ‘nerd’ or ‘pal.’ And you actually prefer it this way.”— Kim Quindlen, thoughtcatalog.com
“Some days, you’ll have to try really hard to love your partner. And that’s okay.”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“You won’t always feel loving towards your significant other. There will be moments when you say you do, but it’s not exactly, entirely true.”— Mélanie Berliet, thoughtcatalog.com
“Being divorced is like being hit by a Mack truck. If you live through it, you start looking very carefully to the right and to the left.”— Jean Kerr, qotd.org