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Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.
. . . . . .
Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore:—
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honour more.

— Richard Lovelace

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Love

More quotes by Richard Lovelace

Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
Minds innocent and quiet take
That for an hermitage.

Those glories come too late
That on our ashes wait.

inscription on title-page of Posthumous Poems (1659)

The gods that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.

I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.

Lucasta (1649)

Cease, large example of wise thrift a while.

Lucasta (1649)

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Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind,
And therefore is wing'd Cupid painted blind.

William Shakespeare A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Not for the body, but for the heart; companion and company are needed.

Sanu Sharma

Love seldom haunts the breast where learning lies,
And Venus sets ere Mercury can rise.

Alexander Pope

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Richard Lovelace (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.