When I have found a way to express the inexpressible, I will tell you how I love you.
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, from a diary entry written c. June 1911
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, from a diary entry written c. June 1911
Horror and self-isolation. I hate it here. I hate it without you. I could almost touch you and I know at the same time that I cannot touch you. Nobody I want to see at all because there is only one person I ever want to see and that is you.
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. August 1943
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. August 1943
I try to reach out for the peace I find with you.
— Franz Kafka, from a letter to Felice Bauer written c. July 1916
— Franz Kafka, from a letter to Felice Bauer written c. July 1916
It was very satisfying to sit there & read - And as I put down the book I sat quite a while with eyes closed, I wished for you to be near me. You were in every word I read. You are in everything I see and feel
— Georgia O’Keeffe, from a letter to Alfred Stieglitz written c. May 1922
— Georgia O’Keeffe, from a letter to Alfred Stieglitz written c. May 1922
But he greatly loved you and still does, with a love that is deep and lonely; he will feed on it a long time.
You were his last passion, and the only thing that reconciled him to himself.
— Gustave Flaubert, from a letter to Louise Colet written c. September 1843
— Gustave Flaubert, from a letter to Louise Colet written c. September 1843
I love you till no vein in my body is quiet without you.
I am ill, really, with the thought of losing you.
— Edmund Wilson, from a letter to Edna St. Vincent Millay written c. May 1920
— Edmund Wilson, from a letter to Edna St. Vincent Millay written c. May 1920
I have to say to you that I hate it without you. I have to say to you that I love you in life and after death, and that even though I drink I am good. I am not drinking much. I am too lonely even for that.
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. December 1943
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. December 1943
Take care of yourself, and take care of me in your heart.
(How long will it take me to convince you that I love you, that I do love you? You’ll see it soon, if you haven’t already. Hold on to me, go on loving me.)
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
(How long will it take me to convince you that I love you, that I do love you? You’ll see it soon, if you haven’t already. Hold on to me, go on loving me.)
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
Your being has been the door that allowed me to reach fresh air for the first time.
— Rainer Maria Rilke, from a letter to Lou Andreas-Salomé written c. October 1903
— Rainer Maria Rilke, from a letter to Lou Andreas-Salomé written c. October 1903
Nobody ever loved anybody the way I love you…and nobody ever loved anybody the way you love me.
— Eugen Boissevain, from a letter to Edna St. Vincent Millay written c. June 1940
— Eugen Boissevain, from a letter to Edna St. Vincent Millay written c. June 1940
At bottom, you see, you are the only thing that counts for me, for you are everything—beauty, love, poetry, in a word life.
— Guillaume Apollinaire, from a letter to Madeleine Pagès written c. June 1915
— Guillaume Apollinaire, from a letter to Madeleine Pagès written c. June 1915
I have only you in this world. You are always with me. It’s better than a song in the blood. I only have you, and I love only you.
— Doris Dana, from a letter to Gabriela Mistral written c. April 1949
— Doris Dana, from a letter to Gabriela Mistral written c. April 1949
You know my desire. I have only one.
It has your face and your form and the term of my life.
— Colette, from a letter to Henry de Jouvenel written c. November 1912
— Colette, from a letter to Henry de Jouvenel written c. November 1912
What I most want to say is how real you are, always, for me.
(What a blessed thing this sense of reality is, so long as it remains to one.)
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Raymond Queneau written c. February 1952
(What a blessed thing this sense of reality is, so long as it remains to one.)
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Raymond Queneau written c. February 1952
I asked no more than this, his continual presence at my side, and long days and nights ahead of us, and laughter and talk, and an open road, and the sun.
— Daphne du Maurier, from “I Will Never Be Young Again,” published c. 1932
— Daphne du Maurier, from “I Will Never Be Young Again,” published c. 1932
I think of you always all the time. I can see you in bed, more lovely than anything that has been at all.
I love you. I love you more, even, than when I said I loved you only a few seconds ago.
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. August 1943
— Dylan Thomas, from a letter to Caitlin Thomas written c. August 1943
I feel moody today. I wish you were here. You are my ill and its cure.
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
You must realize that I worship you.
— Richard Burton, from a letter to Elizabeth Taylor written c. June 1973
— Richard Burton, from a letter to Elizabeth Taylor written c. June 1973
Your existence is necessary to mine
— Vincenzo Bellini, from a letter to Francesco Florimo written c. October 1925
— Vincenzo Bellini, from a letter to Francesco Florimo written c. October 1925
I'll stay with you until I am dead.
— Ernest Hemingway, from The Complete Works; "The Old Man and the Sea,"
— Ernest Hemingway, from The Complete Works; "The Old Man and the Sea,"
To be endlessly fascinating to each other - To be more than that. To be to each other, body and soul, sufficient reasons for living, though there might not be a single other satisfaction to be had.
— Kurt Vonnegut, from Mother Night; "Chapter Six Hundred & Fourty Three,"
— Kurt Vonnegut, from Mother Night; "Chapter Six Hundred & Fourty Three,"
You are closest to my heart, closer than any other human being.
— Anne Sexton, from a letter to Linda Gray Sexton written c. July 1969
— Anne Sexton, from a letter to Linda Gray Sexton written c. July 1969
I'm missing you extremely, but I feel curiously happy and serene. I want to do nothing but sit about dreamily, thinking about you and about the great strangeness of everything, and how good it is.
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Wallace Robson written c. December 1951
Dearest, in terror, let us run to one another - yes?
— Salomea Andronikova, from a letter to Teffi Alexandrovna written c. January 1927
— Salomea Andronikova, from a letter to Teffi Alexandrovna written c. January 1927
I'm very glad to have known and loved you. It is good to love like this. You'l be in my heart always and if ever at any time you should need me you know that I'll do anything or be anything for you.
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Michael Oakeshott written c. December 1950
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Michael Oakeshott written c. December 1950
It is your love that has forever been love to me.
— Virginia Woolf, from a letter to Gwen Raverat written c. March 1925
— Virginia Woolf, from a letter to Gwen Raverat written c. March 1925
I am the ocean; the earth; whatever dies for you.
— Alice Notley, from In The Pines: Poems; "The Black Trailor (A Noir Fiction),"
— Alice Notley, from In The Pines: Poems; "The Black Trailor (A Noir Fiction),"
I feel in a peculiar sort of way that I mustn't let you down.
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Frank Thompson written c. November 1942
— Iris Murdoch, from a letter to Frank Thompson written c. November 1942
We met, we recognized each other, we abandoned ourselves one to the other. We have lived a love of burning, pure crystal. Do you realize what happiness we have, and what has been given to us?
— Maria Casares, from a letter to Albert Camus written c. March 1952
— Maria Casares, from a letter to Albert Camus written c. March 1952
Tied to one another by the bonds of the earth, by intelligence, heart and flesh, nothing I know can surprise or separate us.
— Albert Camus, from a letter to Maria Casares written c. February 1950
— Albert Camus, from a letter to Maria Casares written c. February 1950
I need your strength tonight. Keep me with you and away from myself. Don't let me be a bundle of nerves and emotions, now up and upright at the top of the world, and now lying face-down at the bottom of everything.
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, from a diary entry written c. January 1915
— Edna St. Vincent Millay, from a diary entry written c. January 1915
I'm neither beautiful nor admirable. I'm tired and I'm bruised. I feel sick - spiritually sick. I feel bitter, faithless. You are my only hope in life of being beautiful again; of living beautifully. Will you help me? Will you be patiend and loyal and forgiving?
— Martha Gellhorn, from a letter to Bertrand de Jouvenel written c. May 1932
— Martha Gellhorn, from a letter to Bertrand de Jouvenel written c. May 1932
You were cutting, you know. And you did kill the dragon. I am saved.
You came when I had nothing to live for, and gave me life and strength and inspiration and sustenance.
— Anaïs Nin, from a letter to Henry Miller written c. August 1933
— Anaïs Nin, from a letter to Henry Miller written c. August 1933