Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature from The Broke and the Bookish.

It was not easy to pick a topic for this post. I had several ideas, but they all led me to dead ends. When I finally decided I wanted to do quotes, I wasn’t sure what to pick. Shakespeare? Classic lit? Awkward lines from romance novels? But then I thought, love is fantastical, fantastic, and some (though definitely not me) consider it to be a fantasy altogether. So what better genre could there be for picking quotes about love? And it’s just nerdy enough to make me really, really happy… so add these quotes to your Valentine’s day card, send them in a text to people you care about, read lines from these books out loud to your pets–celebrate however you choose, but don’t forget that you don’t have to invent words of love. Writers have been reinventing it for years, and are doing it as we speak.

1. “Perhaps we all give the best of our hearts uncritically–to those who hardly think about us in return.”–T.H. White, The Once and Future King–because the best love is freely given.
2. “Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” –J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire–because love is about hope.
3. “Do I love you? My God, if your love were a grain of sand, mine would be a universe of beaches.”–William Goldman, The Princess Bride–because a good metaphor is always appreciated.
4. “And he took her in his arms and kissed her under the sunlit sky, and he cared not that they stood high upon the walls in the sight of many.”–J.R.R. Tolkien–because sometimes a little PDA doesn’t go amiss.
5. “You know nothing, Jon Snow.” –George R.R. Martin, A Storm of Swords–because he doesn’t, really.
6. “…But when I see the way that mankind loves…you could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable, and strangely easy to mistake for loathing.” –Neil Gaiman, Stardust–because love is hard to define and easy to mistake.
7. “Take me with you. For laughs, for luck, for the unknown. Take me with you.” Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn–because love is about being there.
8. “As he kisses her, the bonfire glows brighter. The acrobats catch the light perfectly as they spin. The entire circus sparkles, dazzling every patron.” –Erin Morgentern, The Night Circus–because a kiss can be magical.
9. “I’ll be looking for you, Will, every moment, every single moment. And when we do find each other again, we’ll cling together so tight that nothing and no one’ll ever tear us apart. Every atom of me and every atom of you… We’ll live in birds and flowers and dragonflies and pine trees and in clouds and in those little specks of light you see floating in sunbeams… And when they use our atoms to make new lives, they wont’ just be able to take one, they’ll have to take two, one of you and one of me, we’ll be joined so tight…” –Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials–because your connection is on the atomic level.
10. “Always.” –J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows–because simple wins.

Have a favorite love quote from literature? Be sure to leave it in the comments!